Philip, Year 8, Century Park Campus

I’ve been at YCIS for a short three years. However, these years have been a pivotal point in my life. Before I embarked on the move to Shanghai I lived in a small town in the US. There I went to public school as long for as I can remember, and I recall struggling to find a feeling of belonging.

My parents eventually decided to take on an available opportunity as expatriates in China. When they first told me of their decision I was shocked, but more than anything, I was nervous to make such a big change.

On my first day at YCIS I was welcomed into class 6B with 16 students. I was assigned a “buddy” who spent the first week explaining to me things like what the “washroom” and the “rubbish bin” referred to. Looking back, what surprised me the most was the amount of attention that is given to every individual student at the school.

I would say that the first big change in my personality occurred in Year 7. For the first time ever, I felt like I belonged. And as cliché as that sounds, that was a huge realisation for me. I no longer felt any restraint in expressing myself. And that's the beauty of YCIS’s holistic education – I can be exactly who I want to be and always feel accepted and appreciated.