Steven Bernstein’s life since age 5 sounds like one continuous and exciting travelogue. He has been to 26 countries. Make that 28 following this spring break, and the number will reach 30 by the end of this summer.

Three times Bernstein ’10 has been to China, where he has gotten to practice and become more proficient in Chinese. The more recent trips he’s taken overseas have not been for sightseeing but for immersion in culture, further study or service.

Last summer, he was selected to participate in the U.S. Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth Scholarship, which provided all expenses for six weeks in China to live with a family and study Chinese language and culture at Nanjing University. Bernstein’s study of Chinese started at Bright when he began taking classes after school in third grade. “My Mom pushed me because she thought I’d like it,” he said. And she was correct.

Learning about Chinese culture has been just as fascinating as learning the language for Bernstein. In fact, he was invited to share his experiences with then-Secretary of Education John King Jr. at the U.S. Consulate. The secretary was gathering information about the education systems in China, Japan and Singapore and why those students perform better on standardized tests in math and science.

“We provided him information, for instance, that in the U.S. things like sports are valued by many families. In China, I’d say for 99 percent of families that is not the case. China values school above everything else. That is the only thing that matters. Most students are under pressure to perform well,” he said. “After four years of high school, there is one test in China and everything depends on that test. If you don’t score well, there is no much hope for you if you want to go to a top-tier university.”

King is not the only Cabinet official Bernstein has met. Two years ago, he met John O. Brennan, director of CIA, while on an internship in Washington D.C. through the National Society of High School Scholars.  Bernstein clearly has an interest in pursuing a career in the foreign service or diplomacy and has continued to seek opportunities to travel and learn abroad. He has taken several community service trips through McCallie, including going to Swaziland to build an aquaponic system and Mozambique to help teach English through a program called One Heart Africa. He did a home-stay in Dusseldorf, Germany, and hosted a student here. Bernstein and fellow Bright alumnus Shalin Naik went to Macedonia for a Habitat for Humanity project. 

He also went to Sweden during Nobel Prize week as part of another National Society of High School Scholars honor. For spring break, he went to Indonesia and Singapore and is going to Israel this summer. His first trip overseas was to Rome when he was five years old and in kindergarten at Bright School.

In addition to his academics and travel, Bernstein also enjoys golf as a member of the McCallie team and working on cars as a founder of the school’s automotive club.

Bernstein fondly remembers his days at Bright and laughs about spending eight years at the school because he came in pre-k and repeated kindergarten. “I remember marching around the school on the 100th day of school and singing a song. I got in trouble because we had these necklaces with 100 Fruit Loops on them and I started eating them,” he recalled.

“I have a lot of good memories,” he said. “Fifth grade was my favorite year. It felt like I was on top of the school. I liked how we switched classes. It helped me a lot because we do that (at McCallie), of course.”

P.E. stands out for him because of the activities and decorations for each season, such as the Grinch game on scooters. “That was my favorite,” Bernstein said. 

“At Bright, my favorite class was history and social studies, and it is still my favorite class along with Chinese),” he said. “I really like stories and reading about what people have done whether it’s studying native Americans or the American Revolution.”

Bernstein calls Bright “my basis” because of all the basic skills he learned, including Microsoft Word and PowerPoint and typing from Mrs. Kropff and MLA style for writing citations from Mrs. Hughes in fifth grade. 

“Fourth grade was the hardest year. I had Mrs. Kemp. She gave us more homework than I had had in prior years. It was hard then, but looking back on it, it helped me so much,” he said. “Bright School trained me to manage my time effectively.”