ArborBridge has been dedicated to two things for the past two weeks: first, we’ve been providing incredible test preparation and tutoring, as always; second, we’ve been watching the World Cup.
Friendly water-cooler betting between ArborBridge team members.
ArborBridge names no favorites. We were founded to serve students around the world – that means anywhere, and in any country. We can’t favor Brazil, because we have students from Germany; our Dutch students probably wouldn’t want us cheering for the French team. We can’t cheer only for our home team, because we have so many others to cheer for.
What’s most fun is that, for us, the list of countries participating in the World Cup is not an abstraction. Our tutors have beamed into homes and schools everywhere from Japan to Switzerland to Italy on a regular basis. We have had meetings and given presentations in Costa Rica, Germany, and Mexico. We’re conducting a class in South Korea at this very moment (and hoping the students aren’t watching soccer on their iPads in class!). We’ll be convening with college counselors from over 60 countries at next week’s OACAC conference.
All told, ArborBridge has worked with and/or visited 15 of this year’s World Cup participants—just shy of half of the tournament’s total of 32. That includes Brazil, where we’ve been to four of the host cities. In total, we’ve visited and worked with students in 47 countries.
Of course, academics isn’t a matter of winning and losing – it revolves around learning, dreaming, and succeeding. But, in our small way, we like to think that we’re helping our students succeed. So, whether a student is from Brazil, the Netherlands, Ghana, or a country that doesn’t even have a football team, ArborBridge is always ready, willing, and able to help students “win” in school, on their exams, in school, and in life.
Best of luck – to everyone!
