From NE Minneapolis to New Taipei City - Meet Stian Sather

Stian Sather started learning Mandarin Chinese at a very young age. He attended the Chinese immersion K-8 school Yinghua Academy in Northeast Minneapolis and is now an 11th grader at St. Anthony Village High School (SAVHS) who is always seeking greater opportunities to learn and grow.

He spends most of his time at Minneapolis College taking Post-Secondary Enrollment Option (PSEO) classes and is also advancing his Chinese speaking skills with an AP Chinese course through the Minnesota Online High School. All of his hard work and dedication has paid off as he has now been selected for an amazing opportunity. This summer he will officially be studying abroad in Taiwan as part of the U.S. Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program. 

“I was ecstatic when I found out I was accepted,” said Stian. “It has always been a dream of mine to study abroad in Taiwan and immerse deeply into the language and culture there.” 

The NSLI-Y website describes the program as a "scholarship program for U.S. high school students to study critical languages necessary to strengthen the United States’ national security and economic competitiveness.” Possible study abroad locations include Taiwan, Jordan, Morocco, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, and South Korea. Accepted students are able to immerse themselves in the culture while practicing their Chinese, Arabic, Russian, or Korean. One of the best parts? You can be a total newbie to the language to apply and be accepted to the program. Hooray for some accessibility!

Stian is thrilled to be a part of such an incredible opportunity to study abroad, attend a university, while staying with a host family and getting to know other students from across the country. Stian thinks, "This will be such an exciting adventure, to be a part of a cohort of other American students, immersing in the daily life in Taiwan."

That’s at the heart of who Stian is - always open to making new connections and expanding his perspective on the world and humanity. He reflected on how his grandmother, who immigrated from Indonesia, wished she had taught her daughter (Stian’s mom), Indonesian. Stian said his mom decided that when she had kids, “she wanted to give the gift of learning another language, and to be bilingual. It would unlock a whole new world of opportunities for me,” said Stian, who feels it’s important to learn new languages. “The U.S. has a lot of immigrants, and knowing  another language helps to build a deeper understanding across cultures.”

Stian’s heritage includes Eastern European and Scandinavian ancestry. His name even means “voyager,” in Norwegian. He has used that passion for adventure when it comes to education and shows a lot of gratitude to SAVHS for his love of learning and making new connections. He joined the Youth in Government club his sophomore year, and even got to argue a case in the Minnesota state capitol building, something he had never considered doing. 

“Taking that chance and opportunity was huge for me,” he said. “Bringing these opportunities to kids at St. Anthony is such a great way for people my age to think about what their future career could look like.” 

Another quest to learn led him to the world of art, design, and photography. This world was opened up to him during his freshman year by former SAVHS teacher Sarah Hample. “St. Anthony gives you that opportunity to use Photoshop and Illustrator, letting you borrow a camera, it was just very helpful.”

Stian has recently accepted internships to further his creative endeavors within SAVHS and the broader community. He has career interests in graphic design, web design, business, marketing, and communications - in other words, the world is his oyster. 

“I’m just excited to use the skills I’ve learned in my education and put it toward a positive change in the world!”