What Happens After Students Graduate From ZIS?
Have you wondered what happens after you graduate? The focus of this article is on Zurich International School (ZIS) alumni who have recently graduated, their experiences, features, and similarities. All alumni have either chosen different fields of study or have already started working or have chosen another path. Luckily, I had the chance to speak with two alumni who shared their experiences and difficulties in university.
One of the alumni that shared her academic experience was Katie Ditchfield, who graduated from ZIS in 2019. She is now at university in Germany for two and a half years. From Katie's perspective, ZIS has helped her in many ways, in particular in developing her technology skill, which helped her to go through Covid-19 where she was having online classes. Katie’s experience in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program made her feel comfortable when entering into a new field of study in a new country. Katie chose to study International management because she felt it would open her up to new opportunities and to potential different jobs in varied areas as the world changes continuously.
Katie’s Advice:
“Meet and have fun. Don't be afraid to be a beginner.”
-Katie Ditchfield, ZIS Class of 2019
One of the most significant issues that Katie has been through in ZIS was in 10-11th grade when she faced difficulties in her time management. Teenagers attending Upper School tend to have stress because of time management. According to a survey that ASCD did with Stanford University students, 59% of Teenagers struggle with time. Katie struggled in the IB Rubric (a rubric that provides grading criteria), where she had to write essays, work on projects, and learn how to manage it all together. "The difference between ZIS and University is that you have to learn to live independently," said Katie. She also said that University teachers don't tend to give much support during tests nor to remind students of assignments’ due dates. She had to learn all alone, by herself, and most crucial she had to learn how to motivate herself.
ZIS Upper School
The downsides of university happened last year during Covid-19 as it created problems to socialize and meet new people. Katie struggled with interacting with other people during her first year, but afterwards she found a group of friends. She recalls thinking at a certain point that it was enough, "If I were to give my younger self advice or to anyone starting university, I'd say join as many things as you can. Meet and have fun, don't be afraid to be a beginner" said Katie.
Rayan Singh
The next alumni who agreed to share his experience was Rayan Singh, who graduated from ZIS in 2019. He has now attended university for two and half years. His field of study is Economics, where he has the chance to do many optional courses in accounting and finance.
According to Rayan, ZIS was a prodigious help "The alumni network is robust and very eager to help out freshly graduated students.” He shared that he had the support from three older alumni, who study in Ryan’s field of interest. They had helped him tremendously by sharing insights of the industry, giving him interview tips, and by connecting him to his past sport relationships. For instance, Rayan met someone with whom he had played against at ZIS.
His favorite subject was always Economics, so it was only natural for him when he decided to pursue this field of study in University, "I had a great IB Economics Teacher who always provided real-life and current examples in class, related to Economics theory. It got me interested in Economics,’’ explains Rayan. One of the classes that made him reconsider this was a data science class back in Upper School, but not enough for him not to pursue Economics. In High School, he felt it was always difficult to choose the subjects as he was interested in different ones; choosing only one or two subjects always made him feel like he "was closing doors."
Now in university, Rayan shares that one of the high points is that he keeps on learning new things every day, which only confirms his choice in the field of study. After graduating from University in Spring 2022, he would like to join Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London in the Investment Banking Division as an Analyst.
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Rayan’s Advice:
”Try out for and join 1-2 team sports, as those are some of the most memorable experiences I had at ZIS and a great way to make lasting relationships; it’s really fun! Join some lunchtime clubs and extracurriculars like Student Council, Robotics Club, History Club, etc. [Finally] Read a lot of books; I did not read enough in middle school.” ”
There are multiple perspectives to the different fields of study after graduation from ZIS, as shown by Katie and Rayan. Moreover, there are always positives and negatives in the different choices. However, all the alumni can agree that ZIS helped them by opening new opportunities, developing new skills, and boosting their self-confidence.
ZIS is a choice to open new doors.
Special thanks to Katie Ditchfield, Rayan Singh, Ms. Lyle, and Mrs. Wyss for helping me to get in touch with alumni to be able to write this article.
