Echoes of the Past: Six Alumni Reflect on Their High School Journey at Keystone
Walking the halls of your old school can feel strangely bittersweet. If you pin back your ears, you can almost hear the nervous laughter, awkward farewells, and conversations about a future yet unknown that you had on the last day of school – the echoes of a past time that seems both distant and close. High school is such an important time of learning, growth, challenge, and accomplishment. Looking back, it can seem like some days drug on so long, while others passed in the blink of an eye. Within the nostalgia of reminiscence, there is much to be gleaned about our personal and collective learning journeys through high school.
The importance of reflection has inspired Keystone to host an annual event inviting several alumni to return to campus and share their own ideas about how their time at Keystone has shaped their current experience. This year, on January 5, Keystone welcomed back Frankie Fan (Class of 2020, Brown University), Cady Feng (Class of 2020, Princeton University), Shirley Zhao (Class of 2021, Reed College), Jack He (Class of 2022, Yale University), Alexander Zhao (Class of 2023, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), and Dlency Zheng (Class of 2023, University of California, Los Angeles) for a graduate sharing session moderated by Keystone Director of College Counselling, Mr. Percy Jiang. Through their individual experiences, current Keystone students and parents can gain valuable insights into how to prepare for the world beyond high school.
How to Select Your DP Courses
Mr. Percy Jiang: I understand that many parents have concerns about course selection for the Diploma Programme (DP). How did you select your courses?
Alexander Zhao: When first began the DP, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study in the future. I just knew I wanted to move towards science. At that time, I wanted to set up a perfect course selection plan, hoping to identify the subjects that would bolster my college applications. However, looking back now, I don’t believe this is necessary. Keystone offers many choices, and we can be brave enough to try the subjects we are interested in or are good at. If a choice doesn’t pan out, there is always a chance to change your choice. So, be brave to try what you want, and don’t let anxiety hold you back.
Cady Feng: I believe that the DP is designed to hone students’ learning abilities. Each subject imparts different skills, and, regardless of the subject, we ultimately acquire certain universal skills. Therefore, choosing a subject doesn’t mean you’re committed to that direction indefinitely. For instance, I initially chose Chemistry higher level (HL), but I never pursued chemistry in college. Nonetheless, I don’t consider the time spent learning chemistry during the two-year DP stage as wasted, because I gleaned a wealth of useful knowledge from the subject
How to Take Advantage of Keystone’s Resources
Mr. Percy Jiang: Some of you have brought up the resources provided by Keystone. How did you utilize them? Which resources were most beneficial to you?
Frankie Fan: The Keystone Activities Program (KAP) is a great resource. There are a diverse array of KAPs, so students can explore their interests through participation in various activities. I invested a lot of time time in the Keystone volleyball team and Girls Lead, both of which had a profound impact on me.
Also, residential life at Keystone also had a big impact on me. Looking back, what I miss most about high school is the interaction with different dorm parents at Keystone. Since I’m not from Beijing, I spent most weekends in the dorm. My dorm parent, Ms. Amanda Shen, and her child would visit me almost every weekend.
Dlency Zheng: Keystone’s College Counseling Team has been a great resource for me. In Grade 11 and during application season, I was proactive in meeting and discussing with my college counselor, Mr. Percy Jiang. I frequently scheduled appointments with him to discuss my college choices, interests, and how my scores aligned with different colleges. Students should take the initiative to use this great resource at Keystone.
How to Choose the Right University
Mr. Percy Jiang: When it comes to college applications, I’m curious to know, how did you initially choose the colleges that seemed best for you? Now that you’ve experienced college life, how do you feel about your choice?
Shirley Zhao: I don’t believe we should think about what we will do if we regret our choice in 5 or 10 years. The best choice is the one that that feels right in the moment, after careful consideration.
Jack He: The first step in choosing the right school for you is to thoroughly understand yourself. How can you do that? I believe the process of writing application essays for different universities is essentially a journey of self-discovery and self-reflection. In the essays, we examine our accomplishments, our personalities, and the environment in which we thrive.
I initially intended to apply for The University of Chicago, but my mom suggested that I could try Yale. When I dug deeper, I realized that my personality did fit Yale very well, so I gave it a try. If you’re having trouble finding the school that is the best choice for you, be sure to ask people around you and think more about what kind of educational environment can bring out the best in you.
Mr. Percy Jiang: To summarize your insights: firstly, when choosing a university, it’s crucial to focus on your current feelings and thoughts, without being overly concerned about other factors and future changes. Secondly, view the process of learning about universities as a journey of self-reflection and self-understanding. Lastly, maintain an open mind. Indeed, the college application and selection process is not about matching with rankings, but about finding a place that aligns with your temperament, personality, and learning style.
If I Were Back in High School…
Mr. Percy Jiang: Let’s turn back the clock for a moment. If you could return to your high school days, what are some things you would delve deeper into, and what are some things you would avoid or choose to do differently?
Frankie Fan: I’m studying Applied Mathematics-Economics, and I’ll probably be doing academic research related to economics for the next ten years. However, one of my least favorite subjects during my DP years was economics. If I could go back to the DP stage, I would try to find something I liked about economics, instead of going through it numbly assuming I would never study it again.
We can only explore part of a subject at the DP stage, and just because we don’t like a subject at the moment doesn’t mean we won’t enjoy it in the future. Therefore, it is important to find the right entry point and try to find the fun in a subject before you go on to study it.
Cady Feng: Looking back, I think I pushed myself a bit too hard in the DP. I took HL courses in math, physics, and chemistry, and writing lab reports made me doubt the meaning of life. In college, I chose to major in engineering just because I was more interested in doing something practical than writing lab reports. It was in college, too, however, I slowly regained my interest in physics. There are many opportunities in college for us to explore ourselves, so it is not necessary to delve too deeply into a subject in high school.
If I could go back to the DP stage, I would like to explore a little more broadly, for example, take some art-related subjects. If we are going to spend a long time studying a certain field in the future, why not allow ourselves to explore the wider world in high school?
How to Deal With Stress
Mr. Percy Jiang: We all face different kinds of stress at various stages of life. How did you manage stress in high school? Do you have any advice for current Keystone students?
Shirley Zhao: In high school, I had a very deep communication and exchange with the counselors at the Center for Student Development at Keystone, which, for me, was a safe and inclusive space where I had someone to talk to. Having this space was a great way to relieve stress and release my negative emotions.
Jack He: I was lucky to be able to play basketball, which became a stress reliever for me. I am glad that I joined the Keystone basketball team, where I made many good friends. I still remember during the IB exams in Grade 12, after we finished reviewing, my teammates and I went to the gym, put on our basketball shoes, and played a game to 100. Then, we went back to the cafeteria for dinner together before going back to the dorms. Looking back on that period of life, I feel very happy.
Mr. Percy Jiang: From your stories, it’s clear that students lead vibrant lives at Keystone. While college applications are important, they are not the entirety of life. Often, parents place too much emphasis on them, but exploring fields beyond academics can lead to healthier and more mature students. Also, as you’ve shared, it’s vital that every child has a space where they can express their emotions. This space could be at home, at school, or online. Wherever it is, parents need to respect its existence. Only then can students recharge and move forward.
The Connections between High School and College
Mr. Percy Jiang: Earlier, you mentioned the support Keystone has provided you in various aspects. The next question from parents is, in terms of academics, networking, and life skills, what kind of groundwork and connections has Keystone’s education provided for your college?
Alexander Zhao: In college, we are required to undertake long-term projects. At the beginning of the semester, professors will assign us projects and we need to spend a few months working on them. Therefore, we need to manage our time well, planning what to do in the first month, the second month, and so on. At Keystone, we had very similar experiences. Whether it was CAS (Creativity, Activity, and Service) or the EE (Extended Essay), teachers would give us substantial time to prepare from conception to implementation. The ability to manage and complete long-term projects that I developed at Keystone has greatly benefited me in college.
I believe that Keystone provides us with a free space, where everyone can find their own place and direction. Keystone gives everyone the freedom and opportunity to explore themselves as much as possible, which has benefitted me the most.
How to Choose Your College Major
Mr. Percy Jiang: Reflecting on your journey, is the major you’re studying now the same as you envisioned when you graduated from high school? If not, how did you navigate the change?
Frankie Fan: I didn’t know what I really liked in high school. When I first entered Smith College, I chose to study data science because I was doing pretty well in these two subjects. However, in the following two years, I tried astronomy, political science, math, computer science, and many other subjects. Through my attempts, I realized that I felt okay about these subjects, but I didn’t enjoy any of them very much.
It wasn’t until my junior year when I transferred to Brown University, when I attended an Economics class one day, that I found it really intriguing. I fell in love with economics as I was learning it. I liked the way economic theory teaches you to view the world and solve problems, and I thought it was a great subject for me and one that I wanted to work on.
So, it wasn’t until the second semester of my junior year that I really found my favorite major. As Shirley Zhao said just now, it’s most important to choose the subject you currently like the most, because people always change and there is no way we can predict what we will do in the future. Also, don’t be afraid if you haven’t found your favorite field yet, because there’s still plenty of time to explore. Cady Feng told me that there is nothing that must be done at the age of 20. Try more things and you will always find what you like and be able to discover the field that you are passionate about.
Challenges in College
Mr. Percy Jiang: We’ve spent a good deal of time discussing high school. Now, let’s shift our focus to college life. What are the biggest challenges you’ve encountered in college?
Dlency Zheng: The biggest challenge for me is that, if you think you are good at something, when you get to college, you will find that there are a lot of people who are better at it. UCLA is a large public university, and, after I got there, I interviewed for many clubs and was rejected one after another. These clubs I interviewed for were areas that I thought I was strong in, including sports and music.
It was frustrating, but this process also helped me to discover myself. The only club that accepted me was a club with a business and career focus, which opened my eyes to my potential in business and inspired me to study a business-related major.
Frankie Fan: When I was applying for colleges, I read a post on Zhihu, an online content community that people come to for solutions or decisions. In that post, people summarized the reasons why they were admitted to different colleges. I looked at their responses to see if I possessed any of those qualities and decided whether or not I could be admitted to a particular college. But when I got to college, I realized that everyone is different, and everyone has different views and ways of looking at things. Students who get accepted aren’t all exactly the same, which is something I didn’t realize in high school. Back then, I always thought that as long as I met certain requirements, I could fit into the criteria of colleges.
In fact, colleges do not just admit a specific type of student, and there is no particular mold you can fit into.
Mr. Percy Jiang: Frankie Fan made an excellent point. Colleges are looking for reasons to admit students, not reject them. Students are admitted to a college not because they perfectly fit its expectations, but because they are true to themselves. We often see news scattered on the internet, suggesting a student was admitted to a certain university because of specific activities or scores. However, these activities and scores are only a small part of that student. So let’s encourage our children to be true to themselves, rather than trying to become someone else.
As our alumni panel demonstrated, each student’s journey through high school and beyond is as unique as their personality. However, there are universal truths that we can gain from their individual reflection and insight. The precious memories and close friendships these alumni made during their time at Keystone have stayed with them, helping form who they are. Life is a journey of self-exploration, and finding your own passions and purpose are the key that unlocks the door to your future.
