At the graduation ceremony, I witnessed bittersweet tears dropping on the faces of students and teachers, containing mixed feelings that are indescribable in words. Over the past years, I noticed great hardships my classmates went through, and I give them my utmost respect for overcoming the severe difficulties they faced together.

As we are leaving our beloved teachers, friends, and families, I wish that we are not afraid of the uncertainty of our future, and rather welcome the beginning of a new chapter in our lives with an open heart. Before leaving OYIS, I interviewed DP teachers, asking them about their experience going through DP, college life, and their future plans. Thanks again, to the teachers who shared their valuable time to share about themselves and send messages to students.

Ms. Amy - College/Social-Emotional Counsellor

Experience Counselling DP Students

Ms. Amy feels that the class needed a lot of hand-holding and pushing as it was their first time preparing for college applications, and trying to balance their academic and social life. Overall, she found it interesting that despite how small the class is, there is such a diversity in terms of various countries students want to go to. Also, the class did an amazing job in the DP, and she is extremely glad to see the first-ever graduating class getting accepted in universities students dreamt of.

Passion/Career Paths

Ms. Amy went to college at the age of 16, and majored in communications, then changed to economics, fitness management, and psychology. Then, she found her passion in counseling. She chose to become a college counsellor and a social/emotional counsellor to be balanced because if she was only an emotional counsellor, she would be overwhelmed. After finishing Masters program at Johns Hopkins University, which is placed on the 24th place on the world university ranking, Ms. Amy became a US-licensed counsellor. In college, she was a hard working student who never missed As. Not a single B was seen in her report card.

Future Goals

Ms. Amy is moving back to Thailand because she noticed that her kids are losing their Thai, and she wants them to pick up their Thai in a couple years. Then, she is considering coming back to Japan because she doesn’t feel like she’s finished with Japan, yet.

Final Message

“Just because you are not good at something, it does not mean that you should give up. But if you push through, that could become something that you’re good at. If you are passionate about this, but you aren’t good at it, it doesn’t mean that you should give up.”

Ms. Jess - English A/TOK Teacher

Experience Teaching DP

Ms. Jess says that she intends to stay at OYIS until the end of her teaching career because she felt that OYIS is oriented towards student learning and not too much on grades. She has serious doubts about DP as the program is limiting, inflexible, and requires lots of sacrifices and it is not for everybody. She believes that struggling with DP doesn’t necessarily indicate incompetence and failure in future career as DP is a very specific type of stress.

Also, being in a Vice Principle position, she found it challenging to focus on the grade 12s as she had various tasks on the leadership end as well.

Passion/Career Paths

When Ms. Jess was young, she was externally motivated by grades due to her strict father. In university, Ms. Jess says she wasn’t a responsible student and went crazy for a while as she gained some independence. Eventually, she became a teacher, and this is her 22nd year of teaching career. As for her passion, creative works such as writing poetry, fiction, and learning instruments makes her very happy and energized.

Future Goals

Although her husband Mr. Baier has a solid retirement plan in Spain, Ms. Jess still plans to teach at OYIS and be part of the leadership team for a while, at least until her son graduates at OYIS.

Final Message

“We are really happy with the way things gelled in the final year for G12, it was very impressive and heart-warming. It really struck us that somehow things worked out in the end, and it seemed like there was a really healthy bond among the people in your class. Your class was a beautiful thing to behold. Congratulations!”

Ms. Fukumoto - Japanese A Teacher

Experience Teaching DP

Ms. Fukumoto was not surprised by the DP curriculum, but she found it challenging as the DP had very strict and tight schedules not just for the students, but for teachers as well.

Passion/Career Paths

In college, Ms. Fukumoto did lots of career tests to discover her interests and career paths. It turned out that a teacher would suit her very well, although she heavily doubted it at the time. She was passionate about teaching Japanese language to both foreigners and Japanese people, so she successfully developed her career as a Japanese teacher at OYIS.

Future Goals

She aims to continue spreading the Japanese language and culture to a lot of people especially because Japanese language is not very prominent in the world.

Final Message

”よく二年間がんばったね！” As the DP was extremely challenging, she believes that the students will be able to overcome most challenges. Because students can study what they like in university, students will be able to discover their passion and interests eventually. Also, she believes that everyone is capable of positively impacting our societies as global citizens, and you should be confident!

Mr. Arinobu - Japanese B Teacher

Experience Teaching DP

The main challenge in DP was that Mr. Arinobu had to teach the SL and HL students in the same classroom. To solve this issue, he had to create time just for SL students in their study periods to teach them.

He thinks that DP is very focused and specific with regards to the knowledge and skills that it aims to develop in students. Also, he had to always think about the final test which is greatly important for students in their university applications.

Passion/Career Paths

When Mr. Arinobu went to college, he wasn’t quite able to figure out what his passions are for two years. Then, he found his passion in cross-cultural communication and decided to study it in graduate school. From there, he continued his study as a researcher and began to also teach Japanese language at a Korean college. While he was in Korea, he really enjoyed the time teaching students Japanese, so he decided to focus more on teaching professionally. Finally, he transitioned into a Japanese teacher at international schools.

Future Goals

Because his children are still young, he would like to stay in Japan for a while, and teach in Korea or Australia in the future. In OYIS, he was inspired by the “students first” attitude, and he would like to care for the students, and also be an inquirer as he lives his life as well.

Final Message

He thinks that the environment in university will be very different from that of high school. Although you received a lot of help and support from teachers, you will need to be very pro-active in college to seek out support, whether it is a teacher or a friend. He says that there will be always someone who will help you, so don’t feel like you are alone.

Mr. Miller - BM/GP/TOK Teacher, EE Coordinator

Experience Teaching DP

Mr. Miller’s challenge in DP was to manage all of the courses that he was in charge of, and for Global Politics, he had to study the subject himself to teach it to students. He said that although it was a great challenge, he was able to learn a lot about students, and learn to be more supportive and caring.

Passion/Career Paths

Mr. Miller always wanted to travel around the world, and become a teacher since he was young because he was into reading, writing, and learning as a whole. Besides that, because his father could not spend much time with him when he was young, he thought that becoming a teacher would allow him to be with his daughter, watch her grow at school, and eventually teach her himself. Mr. Miller is very passionate about learning new things, and he believes that the purpose of education is to teach young people how to think.

Finally, he quoted his father who said “if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Future Goals

His definite 5-year goal includes becoming a IB Coordinator, an examiner, and a program evalutor. In a long term, he aims to become a doctorate of education and study what are the progressive methods of learning and teaching.

As for short term plan, he is taking off to Machida, Tokyo on Monday!

Final Message

“You need to clean up the cat poo and cat piss everyday.” He meant to say that you need to have a routine and not procrastinate so that “you’ll kick a** on your exams.”

Mr. Russell - Biology Teacher

Experience Teaching DP

For Mr. Russell, teaching DP Biology for the first time was a great pressure and responsibility because his teaching would have a great impact on the exam results students get. He took the challenge because it would be a good experience professionally, but also because he can teach the students he’s known for a while. He said, “It was a fun two-year project that I enjoyed doing.”

Passion/Career Paths

Biology was Mr. Russell’s passion since a young age, but he dropped A-levels biology in high school due to a lack of interest in molecular biology and studied computer science in university instead. He has been always passionate about animal behavior, and how the human mind and body works. He thought teaching kids is sort of like an animal behavior that you can analyze, and there was no other career option which suits his personality, so he decided to become a teacher. Teaching was his third attempt in finding out doing what he likes.

Future Goals

After teaching DP biology, Mr. Russell is now heading to Northern Ireland in the UK to take a Master’s course to pursue his academic path in science. It is an unknown path, but Mr. Russell is an explorer who decides to pursue many different things, and not just settle in one path.

Final Message

“I’m really amazed at how much you guys have met the challenges of DP. You were much better students than I ever was. In university, you’re gonna be very different people, 12 months from now in a good way. Don’t forget where we came from, keep in touch. But also, forget a little bit about us because you need to find your new selves and new friends.”

Mr. Biswas - Chemistry Teacher

Experience Teaching DP

Mr. Biswas said that he likes the DP Chemistry curriculum overall, but shared resource has always been a challenge. However, students in his class were extremely collaborative, and they built it up despite limited resources.

Passion/Career Paths

Math was his best subject, but he took up chemistry in university “because it was a great bridging subject between physics and biology”. Then, he pursued his Masters and went to the US for PhD, and started teaching. From there, he became an IB teacher and went international, teaching in 6 different countries.

Future Goals

It has been 17 years since he started teaching, and he is heading off to Tanzania this year. The school in Tanzania has great diving program, which his children would enjoy very much. He never plans his adventures, so he isn’t sure what his journey is going to like after years from now. He says that every country has pros and cons, and it is important to accept the possibilities there is in every country with an open mind.

Final Message

“Keep an open mind, take up the challenge. It’s very important to not have very fixed opinions about places and approach things with those opinions. Life is not McDonalds, and you won’t get your order in 30 seconds just the way you like it. In a lot of times, it is a compromise, treat yourself and others with empathy. If it’s challenging, it’s a good thing. With great power, comes great enemy. If you get great opposition, it probably means that you’re doing something great.”

Mr. Baier - Math AI/Physics Teacher

Experience Teaching DP

For Mr. Baier, OYIS was unique in the sense that it didn’t have an established DP system when he first came in. So it has been interesting for him to go through the process of building a DP curriculum, and to see how the first DP students did not complain much due to the fact that there are no seniors above them spreading the horror of DP.

Passion/Career Paths

Mr. Baier wanted to be Spider-Man for 5~6 years (which unfortunately didn’t work out very well). In high school, he was passionate for various disciplines of science, and he decided to go to a liberal arts college where he majored in sciences. He started his first career as a researcher and worked in many different universities in the US, then came into teaching as a second career. He started as a part-time teacher, but turned full-time when his colleague had maternity leave. Mr. Baier says that he gains energy from students and talking about science and math in classrooms.

Future Goals

Mr. Baier has a retirement plan to quit full-time teaching in three years, and become a part-time or a sub teacher. He and Ms. Barga bought an apartment in Spain, so he would like to spend time remodeling the place. Also, he would like to read more, grab the trumpet again, and do gardening projects.

Final Message

“Time goes quickly, so enjoy it”. Besides that, one thing he really wishes he had done is to work at the radio station. He recommends that students be a “DJ on the radio station even if it’s on a Wednesday night at 2 A.M.” Even if there’s two people listening, they’ll have to listen to the music you choose.

Mr. Jocic - Music Teacher/CAS Coordinator

Experience Teaching DP

With regards to his experience teaching DP, he said that “teaching is always a two-way street. As you teach, you also learn.” The DP music course was new for everyone, and it was certainly a challenge for Mr. J to figure out the expectations of DP and teach students. Thanks to the new DP music curriculum which is more authentic than the previous one, Mr. J was able to prioritize putting students in real life situations by providing opportunities to perform on stage, compose, arrange, and listen to other musicians in a band. This helped students to develop practical skills as musicians, and not just stay stuck in music theories.

Passion/Career Paths

Mr. J was interested in music and started playing in bands since very early age. He said that “I was in many ways lucky, that my passion became my hobby, and my hobby became my job.” He believes that when musicians perform, they need to make the audience stay present with what you’re communicating. Because of his massive passion, he’s never seen it as a job, and the transition into becoming a music teacher was relatively easy.

Vision

According to Mr. J, his goal is to keep improving, and never stop learning. Regarding the music industry, he says that the modern challenge is to find balance between technological developments in the industry against the traditional ways of playing music. In the future, he aims to develop his own music curriculum where he manages to balance those two things.

Final Message

“Balance things between your heart and your mind. Always do the best you can, and give yourself and others a chance. Good luck with whatever you’re doing in the future, and we miss you already. Hopefully, we’ll see you in the future.”

Once again, I express my sincere gratitude to the teachers who have supported us and became our mentors.

Lastly, best of luck to everyone wherever you go, whatever you do.

Farewell, OYIS!