This past weekend, we held the first-ever Graduate Summit 2021, which brought together 14 high school graduates from top international schools to speak in a TEDx-style symposium. They shared their experiences, their successes, and best of all their failures as well as the wisdom gleaned when they rose from the ashes. In case you were unable to attend or catch our live stream of the pioneering event, we decided to put together some of the best takeaways.
The brains behind the event, Toni Ma, said that “I have not only learned valuable insights and tips from the 14 graduates’ speeches, but truly was amazed throughout the process of working together with them for this event. They demonstrated qualities that we as adults aspire to: proactiveness, leadership, and risk-taking, all on their pursuit of perfection.”
Positing the question, “Should international students rise up to meet challenges head-on, or lie down and give in to fun?” David Chen from British School of Beijing (BSB) balances both in his rationale that “time for fun should provide more motivation for your homework, instead of indulging in it and forgetting more important things.”
Daisy, who was accepted to University College London (UCL) Bartlett School of Architecture, shares her tip to fight procrastination: “Everyone procrastinates, even me. What I do is to set a deadline before the real deadline, for example if an essay is due on Friday, I tell myself to get it done by Wednesday. If I don’t feel like doing it on Tuesday, I actually still have two more ‘safety’ days left!”
Want to know what seemingly mundane family activity became a “therapeutic treasure” for Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) graduate Katarina Krajnovic? It was family dinners! “Even if it meant waiting until 9pm to eat together, my family ate dinner together as often as we could. We shared what we did each day and how we felt about the different situations we were in. By externalizing my emotions, I became more aware of them, and of the person I am. Besides this self-realization, family dinners also makes each of us a better listener, and helps us to be more caring, cooperative, and learn how to manage stress.”
Kenny Gong from Chaoyang Kaiwen Academy(CKWA) shared his own takeaway from Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s success story: “[Ma] said we are at the best time of the century. The best asset you have is you are young. Don’t complain. Never complain. Let the others do that.”
Jadelle Campbell attributes her success to resilience, explaining that “I strongly believe resilience will push us through these times of uncertainty. Now, resilience is more important than ever. Currently, as students, we are preparing for jobs that don’t exist yet, to use technology that hasn’t been invented yet, in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.”
“My advice to students at a younger age is to try a wide range of extra-curricular activities so they can discover where their passion lies in, and focus on what they truly love in the final few years of school,” says Harrow School (HBJ) graduate Karina Ng, future student of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong.
Beijing City International School (BCIS) graduate Sarah Huang, who will go on to study Sociology at University of California (Santa Barbara), says that in order to cope with stress, she has to “Have a positive mindset, many creative outlets, and plan ahead.”
On the value of habits, WAB graduate Steven Laute says, “By converting a single large project into multiple mini-sections it is perceived as more manageable. In other words, taking baby steps may be the best way to attend to an assignment. The best way to accomplish all of this is to form good habits. Habits are the core of our daily behaviors, and having good ones allows for our daily duties to be effortlessly accomplished.”
Beijing International Bilingual Academy (BIBA) graduate Seohyeong Christine Lee compares two education systems: “Unlike the Korean education system which emphasizes the importance on memorization, IB really teaches how to think independently, critically, and creatively. Well, It was tough that no one told me the exact answers. I had to find my own ‘model answers’ to figure it out.”
BSB graduate Cathy Gao gave us a great visual representation of the workload IB students face: “Time management skills are one of the most essential necessities for IB students. At the end of the day, IB, by my experience, is essentially a balance between these three aspects: grades, social life, and sleep, with time management as the building block.” [She used a triangle to illustrate these three aspects coming together.]
Keeping it real, Canadian International School (CIS) graduate Carolina Liu emphasizes the importance of “getting enough exercise,” which “is undeniably crucial to keeping up your mental and physical health. Plus, you concentrate better, you are more organized, and you look better.”
To quote Beijing Royal School (BRS) graduate Yutong Li, who in turn quoted a teacher’s assistant who encouraged her whenever she got anxious seeing others get their college acceptance letters, “A person’s success is not determined by what kind of school [they]have attended.”
From Chloe Chang on the American college application process, “Choosing a college is like dating. The colleges are choosing you as much as you are choosing them! It’s not only about the reputation and rank of the school, but whether it fits you.”
Mike Wester, parent of 14-year-old Eloise Wester who attends WAB, had this takeaway: “Take risks, this is your time to try everything, even if it’s getting into a relationship, which might mean less time for the practical things. This is the time when you can and should step out of your comfort zone.”
Last but certainly not least, Wang Ze Rui encourages parents not to give up on their offspring even if “[they]will go through a stage of rebellion, and shed tears and sweat. These tears and sweat will eventually water every dream. On the day the dream blooms, children will understand the painstaking effort of their parents, and understand that behind the stacks of papers is love that is sweeter than candy.”
We are all duly impressed by what these young adults had to offer, and cannot wait to see what impact they make on the world. Here’s hoping the next batch of graduates keep the fire burning bright!
KEEP READING: Graduate Summit 2021: Medicine as a Lifelong Learning Experience
Images: Uni You
