CIC Past Students’ Union hosts third Rethink session

The St Mary’s College Past Students’ Union will host the third instalment of its Rethink University on Tuesday, with panellists from various institutions in the US.

In a release, the union said Rethink University is a series of virtual sessions targeting forms four through six and their parents.

“The series invites them to explore more, reach further and to not just settle for what they may have in front of them. There are students in business, science or social science subject paths who may be interested in careers that require a very different university path.”

The series features alumni who give advice to students about their career paths and the process of applying to various universities. The third session focuses on alumni giving their own testimonies and experiences on their journey through tertiary education, from dreaming to achieving. This session is geared at all forms/students as it will feature CIC alumni currently studying at or having graduated from Harvard, Yale, Princeton and UPenn, speaking from a "motivational" perspective.

The panellists will be Matthew Sylvester, University of Pennsylvania 2010 graduate, Harvard 2022 and Berklee College 2023 student Luke Walker, Yale 2006 and 2011 graduate Dr Diane Mejias, and Princeton 2022 student Jafar Howe. The panel expert will be university and career counsellor at United World College Armenia and Yale 2007 graduate Harvey Miller, and the panel will be moderated by Princeton 2005 graduate Eric Hopkins.

The union said the first session was successfully held with over 100 students and parents participating to show students there are ways of achieving their goals despite what track they’re currently on.

“That session included rich discussion with a diverse panel of alumni locally and abroad as well as a robust Q&A that engaged the students in attendance. The second instalment dubbed Novel Places saw a similar turn out and engagement. This session featured a guest and alumni who would have studied in places like France, Singapore, Germany and Holland sharing their experiences from application to graduation. Included in this session were representatives from the German Embassy and EU Erasmus. Also taking the time to share opportunities and possibilities with the students and parents was the Indian High Commissioner, Arun Kumar Sahu.”

The videos are available on their YouTube channel. There will be follow-up sessions in October targeting forms five and six.

These will be a "Hack the SAT" session with Boston-based standardised testing expert Samuel Frank and mastering the application process with Ivy Edge Global founder Paige Gillette.

People interested in viewing the sessions can go to the past students' union website, Facebook or Instagram pages, and can also access it via the school's Facebook page.

The registration link can be found at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtcOCgqDorGt38UHTbRj4SJcEgbj2gycbm