Amina Rotari

Republic of Moldova
IAG 2019

“I feel like I am not the only person to say this, but YYGS opens your eyes to the world that is out there and teaches you to see it through not just the lenses you choose, but through those different people prefer. “

A few weeks prior to getting on the plane for America to come to YYGS, I got an acceptance e-mail to “New School International School of Georgia.”

There were an enormous amount of aspects I had to consider before being able to make up my mind. First of all, it is a challenge to leave everyone and everything you know and move to an entirely different country. I could not picture myself ever thinking about living in Georgia, and suddenly I had to imagine spending two years there. Secondly, I had to understand that all of my plans had to be postponed and who knew how the programme might have changed me. The fear of uncertainty creeped up on me, and in that moment I knew that taking such a risk meant acknowledging the fact that in a few years I might not want the same things I desired with all my heart then.  Thirdly, I was about to begin the journey of a student who is pursuing an International Baccalaureate diploma. Not only did I knew very few things about what IB actually means, I was not sure whether I wanted to exchange one year of the school that became my home for two years in a place I have never even seen. 

So, what did YYGS have to do with my decision? After I spent two weeks in an academically enriching environment, I understood how different it is to actually study and feel how it helps you grow day by day, rather than going to the same classes every day, knowing that the possibility of you learning something new is very slim, not just because the curriculum of the educational system in your country is bad, but also because you are interested in other things at that point. Plus, at YYGS I met a lot of people who were also doing IB and who shared their experience with me. Even if most of them were admitting “IB is going to mentally kill you”, they were also recalling how it changed their perception of life and challenged them to raise their plank when it comes to academic standards.

Finally, after many sleepless nights, talking with my friends, my mom and myself, I realized that nothing would be worse than regretting a missed opportunity. Yes, I embarked on this journey with my eyes closed, but, so far, it has given me more than I could have wished for.  With a mixture of anxiously preparing for Biology quizzes every Thursday, laughing nervously at IB memes, being surprised if I do not do any school-related work during a day and attending important events, I can proudly state that I am an IB student who has abandoned her life plans for the sake of two years of academic enrichment instead of a year of boredom and being a “do-nothing.”

Ambassador Year: 
2019