As an educator of secondary-age students for over ten years now, I have witnessed numerous young people grow and navigate their paths towards adulthood. Some achieve this in a relatively calm and straightforward manner while others are dragged kicking and screaming over every hurdle that comes up. Navigating this path towards university and adulthood in China poses a range of unique and ever-evolving challenges and raises a number of questions about how best to support young people in their development. My talk aims to explore these questions based on my own experiences and observations while working with those wonderful beings we call teenagers. Jason Jeffries is from the UK and has been teaching since 2012. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacology with Industrial Experience and a PGDE in Secondary Education from the University of Edinburgh. Since 2015, he has been teaching biology in Ningbo, China, and has also served as a university adviser for several years alongside his main teaching role. His hobbies include reading (both fiction and non-fiction), gardening, scuba diving, and travelling. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx