Mark Kemsley
Mark Kemsley has helped change the lives of many adolescents – and their parents! After earning a degree in both Finance and International Business from Brigham Young University, he spent 20 years in Greater China. Based in Hong Kong, managing the Asian operations of an American corporation, he logged over 1300 flights
and dealt with people from all levels of industry and government throughout the region.
Later as a business consultant, Mark was highly sought after as a speaker and trainer in Asia, and accumulated hundreds of hours on stage, presenting in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Mark has appeared on a dozen television programs, and trained thousands of people. In 2008, he was nominated by American Business Awards as “Best Trainer of the Year.”
A consulting assignment that Mark undertook in 2000 gave his career a new direction and new meaning. He spent two years helping to set up what is now the most successful English-language training company in China. He discovered then the joy of seeing people’s lives change for the better as they acquired new skills. Having raised four tri-lingual children with his wife, Jenny, he was highly motivated to help kids in China to succeed through language acquisition as well. He began by renting school campuses and bringing teachers from the US to run summer camps in China. That evolved to purchasing a 15-acre campus in Massachusetts, where Kemsley Academy fills its dormitories with Chinese students each summer. The organization also helps international students to enter boarding schools in New England and manages them throughout their academic careers.
As he worked with the students, Mark became aware that most of them were not nearly as diligent as he had expected them to be. He soon came to realize that the stereotypical “hard working Chinese student” is often one who is being micro-managed in his study by his parents. Once in the US, freed from parental supervision, many of them are incapable of managing their own time and study. This prompted Mark to research the psychology of developing good study habits.
So what are all those kids doing at Kemsley Academy each summer? They’re participating in a program called “21 Days Can Make A Difference,” in which they receive English- language instruction in various school subjects, as well as learning and practicing study skills, forming new habits in the process. The results have been tremendous, and Mark is swarmed by grateful parents every time he travels to China. Perhaps not all habits can be changed in 21 days, but Mark is a strong advocate of setting clear objectives and developing patterns of behavior that will make the achievement of those objectives come naturally.
To learn more about Mark and Kemsley Academy, visit: www.kemsley.org Or contact him via email at: [email protected].