This is my first year at UNIS. Having been in Vietnamese local schools since kindergarten, I have faced one of the biggest changes in my life. However, UNIS community has been helping my transition a lot easier that I could have hoped for. So to chronicle my experience for the past one year, I will be sharing my perspectives on UNIS through this weekly story. The first chapter will be dedicated to honoring our formidable teachers, the ones who play an important role in defining UNIS and nurturing us student body.

Friendly

My first impression, when I came to UNIS, was that the teachers were really welcoming and supportive. The gap between teachers and students hardly exist during classes. Both students and teachers enjoy conversing to one and another within and r outside of class, hardly acknowledging any walls of differences in age and knowledge. In my previous local school, the principal was always occupied with work, and students only greeted him out of courtesy, not necessarily out of cordiality. However, in UNIS, I can say hi to Mr. Kennedy or any other teacher and tell him what I am doing or how I feel whenever I see him on campus. In my last Service Learning meeting, he just stopped by and shared some opinions and jokes about the projects that we were working on.

Another example that I wanted to share: Back in the Talent Show this year, Mr. Moyale heated the stage with his spectacular performance together with the senior girls. Students enjoyed his performance because they were able to see their beloved teacher on stage. The friendliness and enthusiasm that UNIS teachers perceive seem so precious and valuable, something I wish every Vietnamese schools would have.

Understanding

Students always complain that the homework is overloading, the tests are impossible to be done, or the learning outcomes are unnecessarily wordy, and then they blame the teachers for these. However, in my opinion, UNIS teachers have tried their best to make the students feel less stressed and miserable about school. The teachers would often make jokes during class time and set up deadlines that are flexible and reasonable to ensure that students maintain a balanced life, as a student and as a teenager. Many of us are familiar with this quiz app that the teachers use occasionally: “Kahoot.it”. The program was first used in our school by Ms. Gibbons, DP Psychology and MYP Humanities teacher. It helps us a lot in learning because it creates a fun but competitive atmosphere among students where everyone tries to be the best. Thank you Ms. Gibbons for sharing this game with the UNIS community!

Helpful

As we all know, investigations and tests are sometimes impossible to be done. Luckily for us, we have a wonderful team of caring and thoughtful teachers. They are always happy to answer all questions for us whenever possible. The goal is to help students to actually learn something, not simply to earn high grades. Some students may think that it is the teacher’s responsibility to answer all the questions, but they only respond just enough for you to understand the materials while not giving away the final answer. Every time my friends and I come to the teachers for help, what we get is always beyond our expectation. This is why I love our teachers so much. This may seem ridiculous and unnecessary but for those that still hesitate, please come to ask the teachers, because they are there to help you!

Conclusion

Nobody is perfect. The teachers have tried a lot to help improve our community, but they still make mistakes. We may not be fond of some of them, but we cannot underestimate their caring and silent contributions to the school. These are some of the qualities of our school teachers that I recognized during my first few weeks at UNIS. I believe that students who have been at UNIS longer than I will notice even more.

This is the end of the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and keep up to date for the next chapter.