The YCIS Gubei Campus community was thrilled to welcome back members of the Class of 2007 for their ten-year reunion recently. With any international school alumni group, organising reunions can be challenging due to the wide dispersal of students after graduation, but graduates from the Class of 2007 coordinated with one another to make the trip back to Shanghai to catch up with their classmates and teachers.

Among the students who visited the school were Ms Capucine Gros, Ms Amanda Wong, Mr John Overment, Ms Cassandra Tan, and Ms Irene Jacobsen.

The alumni were greeted by numerous faculty members who are still teaching at the campus today, including Ms Maria Sieve, Upper Secondary IB Coordinator, Ms Iris Hua, Math Teacher, and Mr Edward Creighton, Secondary Head of Commerce, as well Dr. Richard Swann, Co-Principal of the Gubei Campus, and Mr John Liu, the Head of University Guidance.

The group all enjoyed learning about the major changes to Gubei Campus since their graduation and shared memories of their classes and teachers at the school. They also talked about the impact YCIS had in shaping their life post-graduation and shared about their current professional careers.

Ms Gros cited the unique YCIS Artist-in-Residence programme as having had a profound influence on her decision to become a professional artist herself. She exhibits her work in shows around the world and most recently exhibited a collection of her work in New York City.

Ms Wong is now a pilot with Cathay Pacific. She spoke about how the diverse background of the students at YCIS opened up the way she thinks today and how her time at the school broadened her horizons – leading her to apply for her pilot license - something she would never have thought about had she not been a YCIS student.

Ms Tan now works in marketing in Italy. She talked about how YCIS is special because of the strong bonds between the students, and she said she made lifelong friends during her time at the school.

Ms Jacobsen is working in neuroscience research and stated that the challenge of the IB programme meant that university life was much easier for her than her peers who undertook less rigorous high school curricula.

The reunion was a fantastic time for the alumni and faculty to reminisce and talk about the future, and the day was a fantastic illustration of the positive impact a YCIS education has on our alumni and their career and life paths and future.