As the Class of 2021 embark on the next stages of their academic journeys at prestigious universities around the world, several of the class have shared their thoughts on their IB experience at ISP. Recent graduate Suri (pictured above, second left with college friends) is now studying on one of the top Environmental Design programs in the United States at The University of Colorado at Boulder, a journey that started at ISP, where Suri took the Environmental Systems and Societies IB course.
The IB at ISP – what are your abiding memories?
I’ll definitely remember the friendships that I made with both my peers and my teachers. Since I was at ISP for fourteen years, I’ve made so many amazing memories that stemmed from ISP. My Week Without Walls trips to Iceland and Morocco were definitely some of the highlights of my time in High School. I was able to form meaningful relationships with many people at ISP including my counselor, who knew me so well that the first university she thought of telling me about is the university that I’m currently studying at!
What are you doing next and how has studying the IB @ISP prepared you for it? I’m currently studying in one of the top Environmental Design programs in the United States at The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder). In the IB, I took Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS), which is what led me to my interest in environmental studies. I applied to a total of three universities, and I was accepted into the Environmental Engineering programs for the other two universities besides Boulder, where I applied to the Environmental Design (ENVD) program. Because of my IB credit, for my first year at Boulder, I don’t have to take any mathematics and English classes, which is something that made me appreciate the IB more than ever!
It gives me more time to go skiing and hiking, which is what Boulder is absolutely perfect for. When scheduling my courses with my advisor, he told me that I should add more classes than the average student due to the fact that I’m coming from the IB program, meaning that I can easily take on a heavier workload.
Future plans – what do you intend to do in the medium to long term future and what do you take from ISP to the rest of your life?
At the moment, I’m not 100% sure what I’m going to be doing in the future, and that doesn’t scare me. I’m excited to try new things in college, and this is a good time to see what interests me. I can see so many different outcomes for myself in the future and I’m glad for that. Something that I’ll take from ISP to the rest of my life is the multicultural experience. I even became a Czech citizen in my final months in Prague.
So far, every single time that I mention I went to an international school, I’m met with awe. My friends that I’ve made here rarely travel to other countries, and are so excited when I tell them about other countries and the experiences I’ve had. Many times, I’ll find myself telling stories about the fun times I had with my best friends from ISP and I know that I’ll still be telling those stories for years to come. I’m so excited to move on, but I’m also so excited to meet up with my friends from ISP that have moved to the US as well. I already have plans to head to New York City to meet up with my best friend for Thanksgiving, and she’ll be visiting Boulder to do some skiing. Though as much as I love living in a new country, I can’t wait to come back to Prague for the upcoming breaks.
