Every spring, Westford Academy sends the graduating class to explore an internship close to home, whether it be at an elementary school, a doctor’s office or a small business. However, Westford Academy’s Nick Regan, is looking beyond that; all the way to China.

Regan is embarking to China for his capstone project to travel around different provinces and teach English in the schools. Regan will be traveling to Yunnan, China and staying in the ancient city of Lijiang. While he is there, he will be staying in a hotel in the village of Baisha.

The couple who owns the hotel will be hosting Regan for the 35 day project and he will be working for them at the hotel. On top of working at the hotel, he will explore the many different provinces of China and, in particular, he will be going to Jade Mountain to further learn the language.

This kind of capstone project is rare, and is the first one to take place in China.  Completing this project is extremely important to Regan and he stated he would not want to do any other capstone project.

“I thought it was important to apply learning to [the] real world,” said Regan.

Internships usually are related to a future career path for a student. Regan plans on working in international business and trade with China and feels this opportunity is important to his future career path. Therefore, knowing the language of the country is critical.

Regan then looked to his Mandarin teacher, Xue Li, who is from Sichuan, China. The bond between him and his teacher has opened up doors for Regan as she has helped him make this internship possible.

“[Mrs. Li] made it possible, [she gave me an] opportunity to speak to someone [who is] fluent in the language,” Regan.

Regan was also inspired to do this by his love of travel and to learn more about the Chinese language.

“I’ve always wanted to travel, and every year I want to travel somewhere new,” said Regan.

Regan will experience teaching his own language of English to the local children in China. This will be a great opportunity for him to put his Mandarin skills and knowledge he has learned in class to use when communicating with locals.

Regan’s favorite subject in school is Mandarin and he has a growing passion for the language.

“[Mandarin] is unique, [you] speak three different things in one,” said Regan.

Once Regan returns from his internship, he will be attending Salve Regina University in the fall of 2016 and hopes to attend graduate school afterwards.

As for the future, he hopes to find himself in the business world, preferably the stock market, working on Wall Street.

The journey that Regan is about to embark is one that he hopes will open doors and provide the opportunity for him to have an unforgettable experience.