I decided to go on a different, more adventurous path for High School, and I really didn’t know what to expect in this new chapter of my life. Unlike my previous school, UWCSEA is a lot bigger, more organized, and just like the dashboard of WordPress that I just learned about, looks very intimidating. Over time, I learned how this challenge that UWCSEA provides will definitely improve me as a person in years to come.

Today, I read Akanksha’s Portfolio. She was in grade 11 last year, and she gave permission to all of us new students to view it. I didn’t focus on any particular post, but scrolling through all of the pages gave me a slightly different perspective regarding the journey I’m going to face soon. Here are three things from Akanksha’s Portfolio that stood out for me:

1. Wow. That’s a lot of posts. It is spread across the time of 1 year, but that is a lot of posts. This shows me how challenging UWCSEA will be and reminds me that I have to work harder in order to succeed (or fail a bit), preparing me for adulthood.
2. A lot of service is involved. I don’t usually show it, but I’m really concerned with how the world is right now. There is an unlimited list of problems that exist everywhere, and not a lot of people really care enough to take action and improve the world. Akanksha wrote some posts about cleft, which I think is a problem that definitely needs fixing. Her post didn’t encourage me to do something about cleft in Asia, but it made me motivated to fix some other problems that I’m more passionate about in the world: Climate Change.
3. Grade 11 school life will be challenging, but the community will be warm and welcoming; ensuring a comfortable lifestyle for me and all the new students. I know this because Akanksha, who has only been in the DP for one year, seems to be very comfortable writing about these various topics despite having to do a lot of different tasks. I now know that ‘Balance’, which the school emphasizes a lot, will be applied effectively for me. What a relief!