Our Team
Our team consists of graduates from top institutions in the United States. They have tackled the SAT, excelled in high school, and have been admitted into top institutions. Now, they are here to help you do the same!
Andy Zhang
Yale University
Andy has over 8 years of experience working in education, during which he has been able to help hundreds of students improve their SAT scores by teaching them the study habits and critical thinking heuristics that he, himself, used as a high schooler to improve from 1900 to 2400 in 2 months. In class, Andy promotes a positive atmosphere to motivate students to be better
Peggy Shih
University of California, Berkeley
Peggy has worked extensively with students on College Counseling, SATs, ACT, AP Exams, the DELF, and the JLPT. Once an international student herself, Peggy is passionate about empowering students with the same opportunities that studying abroad has given her. Her career has brought her around the world to Paris, San Francisco, Dubai, Shanghai, and, now, to her hometown Taipei. Peggy can speak 5 languages, Mandarin, English, French, Spanish, and Japanese
Azusa Ueno
Yale University /Manhattan School of Music
Azusa has over 10 years of experience in education, working as a senior tutor for 8 years at a New York City based test prep company before moving to Dubai to continue her career as both an instructor and curriculum developer. She has worked with hundreds of students on standardized tests (SAT, ACT, SAT Subject Tests in Math I/II, Chemistry) and AP Exams (Chemistry and Music Theory). She also teaches specialized subjects (Chemistry, Algebra II/Trig, Pre-Calculus, French, and Japanese). Azusa is a concert pianist who has performed in the US, Japan, Czech Republic, and Dubai as well as a classical album review critic
Jeffrey Tang
University of California, Berkeley
Jeffrey is a graduate from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in History. With a strong passion for education, he has worked with high school and community college students from all backgrounds on the essay editing and college application process. Additionally, Jeffrey has tutored students privately in college-level physics, English, and history. During his free time, Jeffrey loves to cook, play video games, visit batting cages, and dance
Chase Tai
University of California, Berkeley / Harvard University
Chase graduated from Harvard and has helped hundreds of students apply to colleges and graduate schools. Having spent his teenage years in Taiwan and the U.S., he understands the struggles faced by international students and third culture kids. With an undergraduate degree in economics at UC Berkeley, Chase also worked in data analytics, asset management, and sports broadcasting before PANO.
Sabrina Tsai
Johns Hopkins University
Sabrina studied at Johns Hopkins University studying Psychology and English. She has done research in developmental psychology and is interested in the field of clinical psychology, especially doing research with emotional disorders
Michael Yin
Harvard University
Michael majors in Applied Mathematics and intends to major in Economics for his master degree. Although the college application process is not always pleasant, Michael still enjoys and likes the idea of writing essays and helping students discover the stories that they want to share
Ariel Zhang
Yale University
Ariel majors in Psychology and Data Science at Yale. She has over 4 years of experience in teaching SAT and college counseling
Vernon Lin
Yale University / University of Toronto
Vernon completed his undergraduate degree at Yale University and graduated from University of Toronto with a Master of Laws. He will be working at a renowned law firm based in New York. Though he has studied, worked, and lived in multiple cities, Vernon sticks firmly to his Taiwanese roots, as he graduated from Taipei European School. Vernon draws from his personal experience to help students with all aspects of the university-application process
Claire Kuo
Columbia University
Claire majors in Creative Writing and Political Science at Columbia University. She is excited to help students in Taiwan develop their stories and voices because, as a former IBSH student, she was once in their very shoes. But she also adores writing and education
Baaba Abaka-Yankson
Columbia University
Baaba graduated from Columbia University with a degree in International History and Sociology. Subsequently, she worked as a paralegal in an intellectual property law firm in New York City before moving to Ghana to work as a growth analyst at a data science startup. She is currently a paralegal in a corporate law firm in Ghana. She is passionate about international law, multiculturalism, and women empowerment. In her free time, she enjoys reading fiction by African women authors, listening to podcast, shopping at Trader Joe’s, and making brunch for her friends. Baaba has guided many high school students through the college application process and is excited to use her skills and experiences at PANO
Mitchell Lui
University of California, Berkeley/ University of Toronto
Mitchell has over 4 years of experience working with students in both Hong Kong and California. He has helped students prepare for SAT, ACT, AP, IB, etc. He is going to become a lawyer and will practice corporate law at one of Canada’s top law firms. Mitchell is familiar with different application processes and is passionate about helping students improve their writing skills
Victoria Pai
Victoria came to Taiwan after graduating high school to study medicine. After completing her internship and graduating, she has decided to permanently reside in Taipei and plans to train as a surgeon. In class, she hopes to impart a little her passion for reading, learning, and critical thinking to her students
Chichi Chang
University of California, Berkeley
Chichi majors in bioengineering at UC Berkeley. She is going to pursue a PhD to integrate her passions for engineering and medicine. Having studied in Hong Kong and Shanghai, she understands the struggles that many international students face when applying for colleges
Rene H. Tsukawaki
Cornell University
Rene is a multicultural and multilingual Third Culture Kid, who has moved at an interval of 4-5 years internationally for all of her life. She graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in English Literature and minors in Asian American Studies and Inequality Studies. Currently, Rene works for a global tech company, and in her free time enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her dog. She hopes to guide students so that they may realize their own stories and learn how to best share them
Janice Chen
University of Southern California / Carnegie Mellon University
Janice completed her undergraduate degree in Architecture at the University of Southern California. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Master of Integrated Innovation for Product and Services. She grew up in Taipei and graduated from Taipei American School. Janice is currently an Experience Designer who has worked in the healthcare industry
Michele Lin
University of California, Berkeley
Michele completed her undergraduate degree in biology at University of California, Berkeley, and is a recent graduate from a joint masters in translational medicine program at UC Berkeley/UCSF. She specializes in cancer immunology and has over 4 years of experience working in the biotech industry in San Francisco. Outside of healthcare, she is passionate about education and draws upon her own experiences as an international student when she teaches
Aaliyah Ibrahim
Yale University
Aaliyah Ibrahim is a Nigerian graduate from Yale College with a degree in Biomedical Engineering and a certificate for completing the Multidisciplinary Academic Program in Human Rights. Her co-curricular involvement in college included teaching and supporting youth in the Yale Refugee Project and the Yale Young Global Scholar. Aaliyah is also a literature and art enthusiast and can be found actively engaging with poetry or taking photographs
Nana Akua Mensah
Yale University
Nana Akua Mensah completed her Bachelor’s at Yale University where she pursued the Literature concentration in African Studies. She has a passion for post-colonial literature and literature of the African diaspora, and a love for education. After graduation, she worked for a college access program which helped low-income Ghanaian students prep for and apply to top colleges in the U.S. and Canada. Outside these interests, she loves photography and can be found working on editorials for her online publication
Jonathan Zou
University Pennsylvania
Jonathan graduated from the University Pennsylvania as a Vagelos Molecular Life Science Scholar majoring in Biochemistry and submatriculating with a Masters in Chemistry. Having worked as a teaching assistant to Philadelphia students ranging from the kindergarten to collegiate level, Jonathan is excited to draw from his personal and teaching experiences to help more students to the best of his ability
Winn Cui
University of California, Berkeley
Winn earned four degrees from University of California, Berkeley in the fields of Computer Science, Data Science, Cognitive Science, and Molecular and Cell Biology. Having experience in both the tech sector of the SF Bay Area, as well as the biotech sector in San Diego, Winn is applying his knowledge and skills to explore the interdisciplinary cross-sections that lie between the fields of software engineering, AI/ML, education, health, and design
Avery Liou
University of California, Berkeley
Avery majors in computer science at University of California, Berkeley. He hopes to continue to pursue a Master’s degree in computer science and then enter the software development industry. Besides helping prospective college students with their essays
Resla Wesonga
Yale University
Resla Wesonga is pursuing a Masters in Global Affairs at Yale University and received her BA in Political Science and African Studies from Yale University in 2019. Before starting her second stint at Yale, she worked as the outreach coordinator for Princeton in Africa where she helped interview, select and place the new class of Fellows among her many other tasks. She has over 5 years experience working with a lot of international students in college counselling and teaching roles with programs such as the Yale Young Global Scholars, Yale Young African Scholars, and Kenya Scholar Access Program. She is currently enjoying working as a teaching assistant as she explores the socio-economic and political connections between ‘Global South’ countries
Vadim Rubin
University of Maryland
Vadim graduated in the inaugural Asian Studies class from the University of Maryland. He then went on to become a Mandarin Instructor at The New Century School in Baltimore, Maryland. Vadim has successfully helped students increase their SAT I Reading and Writing score by an average of 200 – 300 points and their essay scores by 10-15 points
Mindy Hsu
New York University
Mindy graduated from New York University with a degree in Economics and Business, and grew up in three different countries. Mindy is currently a global marketer at L’Oreal and has worked in the media and entertainment industry in corporate strategy. She is excited to help students translate their unique narratives and perspectives into admissions essays
Rebekah Kim
Yale University
Rebekah graduated from Yale University (during a global pandemic) with a History degree and is currently studying Mandarin at National Taiwan University (online) before attending NYU Law in the fall. She loves working with youth and hopes to pursue a career in the public interest field or with international human rights organizations. Aside from teaching and tutoring, she loves singing, playing instruments, learning languages, and connecting with people. She believes that everyone has an important story to tell and wants to help students grow in expressing their valuable, unique perspectives
Wooseok Ki
University of California, Berkeley
Wooseok is a final-year law student at University of Pennsylvania Law School and received his Bachelor’s degrees at University of California, Berkeley majoring in legal studies & sociology. He has also lived in Seoul and New Jersey, and graduated from Hong Kong International School. He is experienced in mentoring high school and college students with career planning and essay editing, and will be joining a top corporate law firm in New York upon graduation. In his free time, he is a best-selling book author on K-pop, creates dance choreography, and trains mixed martial arts
Maame Boatemaa
New York University/ The London School of Economics
Maame won over $300,000 in grants and scholarships as an undergrad at NYU. She had worked in Zambia as a Princeton in Africa fellow and made a hobby out of helping students get accepted into their dream schools and research programs at Johns Hopkins and NYU, to name a few. As a current graduate student at the London School of Economics, Maame is fully funded to study development through the lens of environmental policy. In her spare time, Maame writes for the Garlic Project and makes YouTube videos about college applications
Shane Chang
University of California, Berkeley
Shane is a graduate from University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Economics. He originally studied Chemical Engineering, but transitioned to Economics in his third year of college. He was born and raised in Taiwan and moved to the United States when he was 8 years old
Ryo Lu
The University of Sydney
Throughout the years of Ryo’s teaching, he holds the belief that English should be taught as an essential tool to help learners improve themselves, instead of being treated merely as another subject at school. As a result, besides passing down language knowledge to learners, managing learner’s motivation, training learners’ learning strategy and helping learners establish a good learning habit are some of the most important aspects in Ryo’s class
Joyce Chung
Johns Hopkins University
Joyce is a graduate from Johns Hopkins University majoring in Public Health, minoring in Applied Mathematics and Statistics, and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Health. She’s passionate about childhood and youth education, and has been teaching for six years in Baltimore City and Washington D.C.. Additionally, Joyce has privately tutored students in subjects like reading, writing, SAT, STEM, and coached college-level engineering projects.
Sam Chao
University of Washington
Sam majors in Geographic Information Systems at University of Washington. He has a love for teaching English because he truly understands how difficult it is to learn English as a second language. As a person whose first language is not English himself, he spent his childhood in Taiwan and has spent the other half of his life in Canada in the United States. He is patient with his students as he guides the hands of his students one step at a time. Outside of PANO, he teaches at other Online English institutions such as Funday in Taiwan.
Michael Chao
Washington University in St. Louis
Michael completed his undergraduate degree in Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. He subsequently earned a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree at Case Western University School of Dental Medicine. Michael graduated from Taipei American School and now resides in Taiwan pursuing a career in academia and dentistry.
Ornella Bayigamba
Yale University
Ornella Bayigamba got a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Engineering and a certificate in Energy Studies from Yale University. Her academic focus has been environmental health and her thesis, which consisted of air quality research, was part of a project submitted to the National Science Foundation. As an international student from Rwanda, Ornella understands how daunting foreign college applications can be and so she has spent several years helping students successfully through that process.
Blaykyi Kenyah
Princeton University
Blay is a passionate educator who has spent many years assisting aspiring students in presenting their best selves to their dream universities through quality essays. During his undergraduate studies in Politics at Princeton University, he worked with high school students, some of whom did not speak English as a first language, as they prepared for applications to competitive US colleges. He is currently an artist and writer, and enjoys music and reading in his leisure time.
Chris Tyler
Washington and Lee University
Chris has spent the entirety of his young professional career mentoring and empowering youths across East Asia. Drawn to the region due to its vibrant culture and increasingly important global geopolitical and economic importance, Chris has made it a priority to prepare tomorrow’s leaders for an increasingly interconnected world. Through this process of democratizing education, Chris has helped students achieve admission to dream schools such as Wellesley, NYU Stern, UC Berkeley, and Stanford. He is a native of Atlanta, GA and attended Washington & Lee University, obtaining a dual degree in Business Administration and East Asian Studies. In his spare time, Chris enjoys hiking, backpacking, yoga, cycling, and tennis.
Carlos Schmidt-Padilla
Harvard University / Stanford University
Carlos holds a Bachelors degree from Harvard University and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, he is a postdoc at Stanford University. He enjoys traveling, trying new cuisines, and getting lost in large urban areas. Carlos looks forward to helping students succeed in the college admissions process
Doris Chiang
Harvard University/ University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Doris grew up in Taipei and moved to America when she was 18 for college. She studied economics at Harvard College (class of 2015) and later pursued a Master’s degree at UNC Chapel Hill. She currently works at a startup in New York and enjoys exploring museums, browsing Reddit, and helping international students succeed in America
Malaika Aryee-Boi
Yale University
Malaika Aryee-Boi graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in History. She made the switch from STEM to the humanities in her second year. Malaika also discovered another passion in education. She has worked in various teaching capacities ranging from the Yale Young Global Scholars Program to college counselling. After graduation, she spent a year at the University of Ghana as a teaching assistant
