Charles Champanhet, Class of 2015, Century Park Campus

My name is Charles Champanhet. I am from France, and I studied at YCIS for four years. I was able to experience the unity that YCIS offers, as well as the family-like feel that was wonderful in so many different aspects, especially in terms of relationships with my teachers and friends.

My greatest accomplishment at YCIS was my personal project during IGCSE. For the personal project, you are asked to create anything you want and then write about it. I was able to build an instrument of my choice, and then wrote about my experience. As a result of the project, I am able to really see what I want to do with my future, which is craft and design. The personal project helped me investigate more about craft and design, and I learnt how to look at an object differently and to add my own, unique twist. That really excited me and helped me shape my future goals. After I leave Shanghai, I am going to the UK for a craft and design course. I hope that this field will allow me to start my own business one day, whether it starts when I am still in university, or after I graduate.

During my time at YCIS, I was involved in a lot of sports, including the basketball, soccer, and volleyball teams, and I was able to be the captain for all of those teams. Just taking the lead and helping to form a team, as well as creating bonds with my teammates from all different year levels, was amazing. My coach expected me to be a leader and to set an example for my teammates in order to show them what a sportsman looks and acts like both on and off the field.

What is truly unique about YCIS is the intimate atmosphere. The teachers are able to really focus on you and shape the syllabus according to what you need as an individual student. There was so much time invested in me by my teachers at YCIS, and this helped me succeed in subjects like Chinese. I would say that students should come to YCIS because you will have this type of one-on-one experience with teachers, which is beneficial for both grades and understanding of your subjects. If you are interested in a high school with a family-like atmosphere that values caring student and teacher relationships, this is definitely the school to choose.