Who is my favourite teacher at YCIS?  That’s a hard question! After 13 years of learning at the school, I think I should come up with an answer. Throughout these 13 years, many teachers have helped me go through difficulties and challenges. No matter if they are still here or they left, they have always inspired me to improve myself. I feel that one of my teachers that inspired me the most, however, was the IB coordinator, Dr Maria Sieve, and I thought that I should thank her.

During the first few days way back in Year 12, I didn’t know much about the IB.  I thought that IB would be even harder than IGCSE because of the increased content that we would have to learn. But she gave me lots of encouragement during these two years, and I improved a lot since then. Dr Sieve, to me, is a friendly, kind, knowledgeable, and caring teacher. I remember the time that I would have panic attacks all the time because though I did something wrong. But surprisingly, she wasn’t angry or worried; instead, she calmed me down a lot and explained the difference between those who put effort on hard work and those who don’t. 

She was also my teacher in Math class. I felt that she was the most entertaining math teacher in my whole life. My math skills improved because of her encouragement towards me and because her teaching made me confident.

And last of all, I want to say thank you, Dr Sieve, for these two years. I couldn’t have done it without you.

By Patrizio, Year 13, YCIS Puxi Secondary