Grade 11 Advisory Session: A Visit With AISL Alumni Paul & Sarah Young

Paul & Sarah Young. Photo T. Maguire

Our Grade 11 students had a special advisory session with alumni Sarah and Paul Young to learn about life in university and job-hunting in the time of COVID. Sarah attended Occidental University in California with a major in Diplomacy and World Affairs and minors in both Spanish and Women & Sexuality Studies. After completing her thesis and graduating with honors from university amidst COVID, Sarah has been working in the state of Michigan on a political campaign. As a result of finding this work so rewarding, Sarah will move to Virginia in January and hopes to work on the gubernatorial race there. 

Paul Young attended William and Mary College in Virginia and majored in Chemistry Science with a minor in Public Health. Following university Paul served in the Peace Corps in Panama until his time as a volunteer was cut short due to COVID. Since returning to the USA, Paul has been taking Coursera classes focused on public health, working at a food bank, researching issues related to food security, and serving as a volunteer for a political campaign. He is currently a finalist for work on public health initiatives in the northeastern part of the USA.

Our Grade 11 students had many thoughtful questions for our guest speakers such as how to find the best fit for a university, the importance of the IB diploma for university admissions, race relations on US campuses, budgets, and maintaining balance as young adults with the new-found freedom that university offers. At the end of the session the Grade 11 students reflected on the session and shared some of their thoughts on a Padlet. A few student comments are shared here:

“Today I learned a lot about IB and college. I also learned that self care is very important.”

“One key takeaway i got from this presentation was that in high school, especially in the IB Program, grades are important but not to the point where they consume your entire time at school.”

“University gives us room for personal development. There's enough time to figure out what I want to do- I don’t have to have it all figured out right away.”

We are deeply grateful to Sarah and Paul for spending the afternoon with our AISL Class of 2022 and wish them every success on their next endeavours! We always love it when our leopards come back to visit and share their adventures with us.

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