Jenna, Year 13, Gubei Campus

As a typical high school student, like everyone else, I am motivated to get good grades, go to a good university in the future, and have a successful life. However, as I have become involved in a charity called International Women’s Academy (IWA) at YCIS, I have discovered that my life is so much more than that, and that I can actually gain more by giving more.

The biggest fundraising event I carried out to support IWA was a charity talent show to furnish a computer classroom at a school in Ghana. Managing groups of students to do different tasks, such as putting together the show and promoting the event, was a long process, however, with the support of the other members of IWA, I took one step at a time to completely put the event together. As a result, IWA-YCIS was able to fund 10 desks and chairs for the school in Ghana to use with the 10 computers we had donated to the school the previous year. Hearing back from the students in Ghana by email and seeing them using computers in a classroom was a remarkable, heart-warming experience for everyone involved.

Carrying out such a big charity event for IWA at YCIS Shanghai not only helped me develop my interest in what I want to study at university and for rest of my life, it also helped me grow stronger feelings toward sharing and empowering women around the world.