As late May rolls around, the mood begins to shift as the end of school approaches. Seniors don their graduation caps and gowns, preparing for their last official day and reflecting on how quickly the years seem to have passed. And for the schools themselves, a different type of preparation takes place: the list of universities. In what has become a hallmark of success, they meticulously track the many acceptances, carefully identifying those that may offer a point of pride. NIST is no different; like many other types of data, the acceptances provide us with a measure, one that enables us to determine whether we are providing a quality education. But the list doesn’t capture what is unique about each of our students in the Class of 2017.

Having joined NIST in Year 12 on a scholarship for the Diploma Programme, one of our graduates quickly adjusted to her new environment, making friends and signing up for a seemingly endless number of activities. In addition to being a leader in two student-run service groups and performing in theatrical productions, she even created and ran her own after-school anime club for elementary students. In the summer following her first year at the school, she traveled through remote regions of northern Thailand with the Princess Mother’s Medical Volunteer Foundation. Assisting the team under the self-proclaimed title of “Youngest And Least Medically-Qualified”, her role played a small part in saving lives. In August she will be bringing her passion for helping others to the pre-medical programme at Johns Hopkins University.

In contrast, another senior has been with the school from the time he was in the early years programme. An avid athlete, he has been active in numerous sports throughout his time at the school, including softball and his greatest passion: fencing. When the Falcons Fencing Club launched several years ago, he was among the first to join and dedicated himself to mastering the sport while balancing this with his studies. Guided by the two-time Olympic medalist head coach, he earned trophies at several national events and began competing internationally. As he wrapped up his final year, his gold medal at the annual school tournament and performance at the global fencing championship earned him a place among the top 100 fencers worldwide. Having accepted a scholarship offer from Duke University, he will soon be joining their Blue Devils fencing team.

A third graduate, originally from India, moved from Romania to Thailand in Year 4. Reflecting his international background, he is trilingual and once delivered a TEDx talk on a personal journey through the steppes of the Tibetan border, where he stayed with local families and found himself questioning what we should value in a society increasingly driven by materialistic desires. As president of the NIST Development Bank, he applied those lessons directly through the group’s work, funding student service initiatives within the school. This humanitarian streak parallels his passion for engineering, which drove him to create and lead NIST’s first robotics club. When he goes on to the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science this fall, he will explore the applications of artificial intelligence in improving lives.

Every graduate and every university has a story. As a community we are certainly proud that the Class of 2017 will be attending some of the very best institutions in the world: Columbia University, Cornell University, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, Imperial College London, King’s College London, McGill University, University College London, University of British Columbia, University of California Los Angeles, University of Edinburgh, University of Michigan, University of Oxford, University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, Yale-NUS College and many more. But we’re even prouder that every graduate’s path mirrors their own unique passions and offers them the opportunity to write the next chapter in their story.

Congratulations, Class of 2017. Write a story that empowers you to grow and flourish. Write one that positively impacts others. Write one that changes the world.

The members of the Class of 2017 have received over 450 acceptances to date. Those who have made a decision will be attending the following universities.