Editor's Note:

"Tyler Zhou co-founded the "I Love Tibet" Volunteer Program when he was a sophomore at Kent School ten years ago. After graduating from the Haas School of Business, Tyler entered the venture capital industry, and he has been currently working for Gaw Capital, based in Los Angeles. To further understand his volunteer program, I interviewed Tyler on the afternoon of July 11, 2021."

Zhikai (Oscar) Wang, Program Director,

I Love Tibet, 2021

Kent, School, CT, USA

Oscar: "Why did you start a service program in Tibet? Tibet, for me, has always been a faraway, unreachable, and mysterious place."

Tyler: "My love affair with this project actually began on a casual trip there. There are a lot of misconceptions about Tibet.  While people in the West primarily think about the temples and mountain-tops and remote areas there, modernization has, in fact, touched their world as well.  Westerners are fascinated by the idea of a mystical utopia, where a group of spiritual people are committed entirely to the common good.  For me, the reasons for founding this volunteer program were practical as well as from the heart."

Oscar: "I've heard of the genuine kindness of the people there.  What was your impression of the culture there?

Tyler: "In many ways, the culture there shares similarities with the culture of the Native American peoples here in the U.S.  People carry austere, worn-leather faces most of the time, but when they smile, yeah, you know they mean it, that's it sincere. The cultural differences are, of course, quite stark from our own lives. You see the colorful prayer flags and ritual ornaments, like animal skulls and bones decorating their homes and streets and so on."

Oscar: "What was the most meaningful thing you experienced during your Tibetan service trip?"

Tyler: "Well, I wanted the real thing, the real experience, so I stayed with a local Tibetan family. I got to tag along and take part in local festivals and try out the foods that the locals actually eat in their homes…boiled yak meat, barley wine, and so on. Really nice, but…different. It was in bonding with this family that I decided I wanted to make Tibet and its people a bigger part of my life."

Oscar: "What else impressed you about Tibet?"

Tyler: "Well, the fact that Tibetans do face the daily reality of surviving a harsh environment at an extremely high altitude. I guess that when you are focused more on the basics of life, you can remain somewhat naïve to the world around you. The journey was really hard on some of our volunteers. Seeing my friends and classmates laid out on hospital beds with I.V.s sticking out of their arms…that was…real. You could almost see and feel why the Tibetan people are so focused on the here and now…on the moment."

Oscar: Can you tell me more about the environment there?

Tyler: "Well, I can tell you that Tibet was wilder than I expected. Most of the pictures I had seen before my first visit were of the barren plateaus, lakes, and mountains. But, I never expected to see the variety of exotic animals and birds there. Definitely a land of flourishing life."

Oscar: What advice can you offer for anyone interested in taking part in this activity?

Tyler: "Well, the need plus the learning experience really presents an unparalleled opportunity. The people there really do long for interaction with the outside world. And, when you get a chance to make a difference with the neediest – the orphaned, blind children there…it really forces a change within yourself, a change in your way of viewing your place in the world."

Oscar: Anything you'd like to say to our Tibet program heading there this year?

Tyler: "Well, I'm just glad to hear that this tradition is being carried on by our students at Kent. As I mentioned, the basics are so important. So, to have this kind of long-term, committed relationship with the children, the families over there, it means a lot. It really does."