[STUDENT BLOG] Life After YCIS Beijing

In this edition of Yew Chung International School of Beijing Student Blogs, we sit down with class of 2014 – 2015 graduate Nathan Drisner and reflect on how Yew Chung International School of Beijing has impacted his life and find out about life after high school.

How has Yew Chung International School of Beijing shaped your personality, experiences, and choices?

My name is Nathan Drisner. I lived in China for 9 years and studied at YCIS Beijing from 2009 to when I graduated in 2015. I think YCIS Beijing really helped me to decide who I am as a person, which is a person who is both from the west and from China in the east. I decide that I can be both of those things at once and be proud of that. I have that heritage at home in Canada and roots in China. Both those things are important to me.

What have you missed most about YCIS Beijing?

The thing I miss most about YCIS Beijing are the class sizes. In University there are classrooms of 200 – 300 people. It’s just so big. It can be overwhelming at times and certainly was at first. I miss that intimacy with my classmates and teachers. At YCIS Beijing, I was able to have a lot of one on one time with my teachers which helped me learn a lot more efficiently and to develop stronger friendships in Beijing.

What 3 words would you use to describe YCIS Beijing?

Diversity, Community, and Fun. It’s Diverse in that there are people from all over the world there. There were people here from Singapore, France, Korea, China, Japan, and the UK and from all over the West. To call these people my friends makes me feel really fortunate to have that in my life. Community because we were a tightknit group in our year level and still keep in touch even today. This is something that is really important to me. I had so much fun at YCIS Beijing, especially in high school. Just to be able to spend that time with my friends growing up together there gave me a lot of precious memories of that time.

To read more of Nathan's blog, please click "read more"