Monica
NYU Abu Dhabi ‘22
Spike: Urban Beekeeping Micro-business
Purpose: To save the honey bees and curb air pollution
Monica came to us with an interest in Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and a fear of bees. With our coaching, she became an urban beekeeper, caring for over 25,000 bees on the balcony of her Taipei apartment. She then started a micro-business selling her own brand of honey: “Polluted Honey.” In order to raise awareness of pollution, this honey had special labels that showed the level of pollutants in the air when it was produced.
Caleb
Carleton ’25
Spike: Career Coaching and Purpose-Development Program for Student-Athletes Purpose: To prepare student-athletes for success in a world beyond sports
As a student-athlete previously in middle school, Caleb noticed that many aspiring student-athletes in Taiwan who don’t end up being recruited professionally face a shortage of career and college opportunities. Through a series of workshops and networking events, Caleb made career coaching and life coaching accessible to this overlooked community.
Julia
Northwestern '25
Spike: Pop Up Visual Art Exhibitions in Taipei and Hong Kong Purpose: To create more acceptance of unconventional family structures
Inspired by her own background, Julia crafted a global art exhibition called “We Don’t Talk About That” to break the stigma around single-parent families in Asia.
Allison
Brandeis ‘23
Spike: “Populearn History”: Educational Music Videos
Purpose: Alleviating the challenges of rote learning in Taiwan
Allison became an educational content creator and developed a series of engaging music videos. She rewrote the lyrics of locally beloved pop songs to cover the content Taiwan middle school students were required to memorize in Chinese history class. She partnered with schools and teachers across the country, spoke on the country’s national public radio, and received tens of thousands of views on her videos.
What our students say
Their coaching helped me realize that I could set more ambitious goals and take concrete actions to achieve them.
The program taught me the importance and excitement of being extraordinary in one field. It pushed me to aim high and work hard toward the goals through rigorous planning and creative tools, which I, and most high school students, have never done it before.
The Spike Lab made me realize I have the capability to aim higher and further guided me to achieve goals -creating a unique spike, getting into a top university, and putting more meaning into my high school career- that I never imagined attaining.
The Spike Lab has given me a brand new perspective on who I could be and what I could do as a teenager. They provided perfect guidance as I went through the important process of exploring my interests.
This program has taught me how to reach bigger goals and excel in a field by pushing me to work smarter. The skills and creative, logical thinking I’ve learned have prepared me to succeed even beyond tertiary education.