Mr. Steven Szatynski is the Senior Dean at the Wuhan campus and has been with KnowledgeLink for 5 years. He graduated from the State University of New york at Buffalo with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. After graduation, he traveled to China to study Mandarin and teach. His previous work experiences include Wuhan University and HuaShiYi attached High School. While living in China, he has learned a lot about Chinese culture and has achieved fluency in Mandarin. Steve has lived in Wuhan for 10 years now and considers it his second home.

I graduated from Illinois State University with a degree in History-Social Sciences Education and a Minor in English. Upon graduating, I was a paraeducator in the Special Education Department of one of the top High Schools in our state. There I learned from my colleagues and developed my philosophy regarding education; Every child has the ability and capacity to learn, but some students might need a little help.  I eventually found my way to KL and was allowed to have my classroom thousands of miles from where I earned my degree.  I worked in Zhengzhou’s No. 11 High School for the Saint Mary’s Program and helped get the program started. I taught their first group of sophomores. I learned so much from my students and colleagues that the first year. From Zhengzhou, I moved to our Saint Mary’s Program in Guiyang, where I taught Social Studies, English, and ESL/Speech for two years and then took on the role of Vice Dean, a position I have held for the last two years.  I intend to be the new Senior Vice Dean of our Saint Mary’s program in Wuhan.  In total, I will have worked with KL and specifically the Saint Mary’s Program for five years. In that time, I have watched our company grow and have gotten to know Frank Phillips and even Shane Foster fairly well and believe their passion for education is inspiring.

 

 I have continued to grow as an educator, but also a person living in this beautiful country with amazing students and kind people. At the end of every year, I tend to look back and reflect on how it went. I always cry a little because I have to say farewell to a group of seniors who take a small piece of my heart each time, but overall I learn something new every year about myself and my profession, and I would not change it for anything.