I joined ISA in Kindergarten in 2017 when I was five, and I’ve always lived in Aberdeen, though my family is from Ireland and Norway. Looking back, I think my highlights from Elementary School were the productions and the teachers. The plays were really fun to take part in, and they helped me grow a bigger network within my class as I talked to people I wouldn’t normally talk to. The teachers were a big factor, as they were very good at teaching us seemingly difficult topics at the time.
Now in Middle School, I think I’m a bit more confident. The workload is different, in the way that there is a little more homework, but it’s really ok. In Middle School, you have more opportunities and you know a lot of people. Some of my highlights so far are ISA vision, a house competition where we perform a dance, and the chocolate project, which was a house challenge I did in Grade 6. It was really fun to create something in the group using skills from different subjects.
The learning at ISA is very diverse, in a way that the projects can be hands-on or academic, or a mixture of both. This means that we, as the students, can showcase our skills. I think that it is also quite centered on the students’ voice, and we have many opportunities to express our opinions and beliefs. My favorite subjects are maths, science, art, and english. I enjoy maths because it makes a lot of sense to me, and there is a right and wrong, making it quite straightforward. I love science because once we are trusted in the lab, we can write our own experiments and conduct them using the skills we learned earlier in the year. English is one of my favourites because I love to read and write, and I find it quite therapeutic. Art is also on the list because I get to learn different ways to express myself and the world around me.
I enjoy many after-school activities, but my favorites are volleyball, swimming, and climbing. I love getting the opportunity to improve my volleyball skills and do lap swimming where we learn the proper techniques for each stroke. I have always been very scared of heights, and going to the climbing club is my way of overcoming that fear a little.
I think what makes ISA special is the people and the values. The people are incredibly nice, and the fact that they are so diverse gives me the chance to experience different cultures and beliefs from all around the world. The values at ISA are all about respect and kindness, and I think that this reflects in the people and general environment around the school.
