Full Immersion

At Oberlin, Dewi Beer developed twin passions for teaching and studying Mandarin. Now the spring graduate, who completed majors in economics and East Asian studies and an integrative concentration in education studies, will examine effective education systems and dive deeper into her language studies as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant—or ETA—in Yulin, Taiwan.

“I have always had an interest in education, and the opportunity to teach in a different education system and bring back what I learn to a possible career was very attractive to me,” says Beer, who is from San Francisco. “I took the most advanced Mandarin classes offered at Oberlin, and I’m excited to put what I learned into practice and further develop my language skills through full immersion while working as an ETA.”

Beer is grateful to her professors and other mentors for encouraging her to take challenging courses—among them Chinese calligraphy.

“Oberlin exposed me to a higher level of language learning and gave me a level of confidence that will make a difference in my experience in Taiwan,” she says.

Beer also credits Oberlin for fostering a solid foundation in teaching that spanned multiple settings. She taught a music class in Oberlin’s Langston Middle School under the guidance of Professor of Music Education Jody Kerchner, part of a conservatory course in Pedagogy, Advocacy, and Community Engagement (PACE). She also designed lesson plans for multiple student-taught Experimental College (ExCo) courses and after-school programming for the middle school. From 2019 to 2022, she served as a mentor in the Girls in Motion ExCo, which is dedicated to empowering young people through dance.