Khushrooshaw Vania
Student of Environmental Management (Bachelor) at
Murdoch University, Perth, Australia
GIIS student from 2005-2009

I joined GIIS in Class 8 in September of 2005. My life as student at GIIS, from day one in 2005 to the day I graduated from GIIS with an IB Diploma in 2009 has been a very memorable experience. I made true friends at GIIS and was taught by some of the most experienced, approachable and friendly teachers. I have many outstanding memories from life at school, which include dance and skit competitions where we discovered our potential in a different field, learnt to explore our talents on stage and developed bonds of friendship through it all. Our IB service learning trip to Batam, Indonesia was special for me, it was a emotional lesson in learning to perform service for us all. And last but not the least was the day I graduated from IBDP at GIIS and bid farewell to friends and teachers, before pursuing a path of my own in Australia. Pursuing the IB programme at GIIS was a special experience for me. The teacher-student relationship is given utmost importance at GIIS. Never did I feel neglected at any point and was given appropriate guidance whenever I needed it

Life after GIIS has been great as well. The support, help and advice my teachers cum mentors provided me at school has helped me grow and excel phenomenally. I approach tasks with greater confidence and complete them with great satisfaction. My friends from GIIS and I are connected mainly through the Facebook. We meet up in Singapore during our summer/winter holidays and still visit the school to meet our teachers.

I am currently pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Environmental Management at Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia. I am currently in my third year with one year to go before I graduate. After attaining my desired degree(s), I plan to work with various industries, government and the people so as to help reduce our global carbon footprint by incorporating innovative techniques, methods and technologies.

My message for GIIS students: Follow your heart. Pursue your dreams. Do what you want to do, and then get someone to pay you to do what you love!!

Niharika Iyengar
Student of Economics (Bachelors), UCLA, USA
GIIS student from 2005 to 2011

I just finished my first year studying Economics at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). I was in GIIS at the Queenstown Campus from Class 7 up till I finished the IBDP in 2011. The most memorable of those six good years was my two years doing the IB Diploma. At GIIS, CAS gave me the opportunity to help the community in whatever small way possible and for me, the most notable of this was being able to support the ‘Hair for Hope’, organised by Children’s Cancer Foundation (CCF), Singapore. This took the form of shaving our heads for the support of children with cancer. Never before at GIIS had there been a large group of bald students, and this made those few weeks unforgettable!

The IBDP really prepared me for college; it follows similar course structure – which involves all the internally marked assignments – and it helped me meet some of the most interesting people. As a renowned public college, UCLA’s class sizes vary from 20 to 400. In such a large class, interacting with professors is often difficult. Now, looking back, the accessibility and value of teachers at the IBDP seems remarkable. In a course where application is crucial, teachers become one of the most integral parts of the IBDP, and the teachers at GIIS were spectacular. They never hesitated to go the extra mile to help students in any way possible, be it remedial classes or guidance with assignments.

At UCLA, I see the world from a broader perspective. Life is no longer just about grades; it is about balancing extra-curricular activities with academics, meeting the right people, making the right choices, seizing the many opportunities given to you and enjoying the last of your educational years. As such, I now am trying to be further integrated into my college –organising Garba and Dandiya nights, serving the LA community and seeking guidance from renowned professors.

While college life is radically different at first, friends from back home always make the transition easier. Since IB is a new beginning in itself, the friends I made in those two years are priceless and nothing has changed even as we have settled to study in different parts of the world now. Entering university, we were all going through the same things – living alone, meeting new people, going new places – and just listening to each other’s stories was fruitful. In addition to seeing and getting to know LA, I have learnt so much more about the UK, Canada, India, Australia and even college in Singapore. No matter how many debates spurn the efficacy of social networking media, Facebook, Twitter, Skype and Google Plus will always be the ones I turn to after a long day.

To the faculty members at GIIS, I would like to say: thank you for all that you have done for me and the alumni. Without you, we would not be where we are today.

My message for the students: As students, you should all take full advantage of the approachability to teachers and other resources available to you at GIIS, rather than moan about the enormous amount of schoolwork (as we so often did). I think I speak for all of us alumni when I say that even though we have all spread far and wide, and are in more exciting places in our lives, the school years at GIIS were one of the best of our lives and we do miss it dearly.