GJ: How do you think OYIS prepared you for life after high school?

N: You know, not everyone will cooperate all the time, so I guess getting used to working with different people with different perspectives is something that happens a lot. Especially at an international school, everyone’s from different cultures. Some people speak different languages, and some better than others. There’s a lot of learning to communicate with everyone and you want to have a good connection with pretty much everyone in your class. Even if you wouldn’t be friends with them, it’s better to have good relationships with them and learn how to get along with people that you wouldn’t usually be getting along with.

J: I found the experiences and friends I had in high school definitely shaped the person I have become today. Might just be the standard experience in high school as you do a lot of your growing up during those years, but the decisions I made and small habits that I started during those years have stuck with me quite well throughout my university years. 

Academically, I believe the IB program prepared me very well for engineering because in many ways the IB program is more difficult than university studies for most students. Looking back, a 75% weighted final for 2 full years of content for 6 courses was pretty insane. Honestly, I’m not sure how the overall IB program is structured but it makes sense that universities prioritize students who have excelled in the program because those schools would be getting a student who has accomplished something incredibly difficult at a younger age than most first-year university students. Anyways, getting to skip the courses I did was a great investment for me, I have friends who managed to graduate in 3 years as they managed to transfer their credits ahead of time correctly. Probably like over $2,500 in course fees saved for me so I’m not complaining! 

GJ: How would you look back on your experiences at OYIS?

N: One big change is that the small scale of OYIS was pretty nice. The University of Manitoba is very large. I don’t remember the total student count but most of, if not all of, the classes you’re usually going to are at least 100 to 150 people, maybe 200 people. Then sometimes there are multiple classes of a course so you don’t form as many connections unless you’re really trying to make them by going to events or joining clubs, that kind of stuff.

J: Looking back at my years at OYIS, I believe I had a fairly rich high school experience. Honestly, the thing I miss the most was my biking commute back and forth from my house to campus. If I have the chance to visit again, you might see me cycling it once or twice.

Academically, the courses would’ve been so much worse if I had worse teachers, I am very thankful that I was taught by passionate people who helped me also grow my own interests in my studies and future. Having friends I could hang out with as well as compete with was also a major highlight of my experience at OYIS. I should visit again… 

Anyways if I have a regret, it’s probably going to the gym too much and focusing a lot on schoolwork, rather than spending as much time with my friends.