Anahita Picture.jpeg

Having spent her fundamental years at the Academy, Anahita credits the Academy for shaping her into who she is today, not just as a person, but in her interests and career choices as well. Anahita lived in the residences, and she majorly misses that feeling of knowing everyone and the close-knit community here, “which is hard to find in college when you are an international student in a different country” she expressed.

Anahita is currently preparing to pursue International Development as her career and the opportunities provided in school in terms of CAS (creativity, activity, service), and the internship programme at the time which felt like requirements, actually strengthened her application. She believes that the IB is more helpful than we assume it to be, as it instigates a voice inside you that you don’t get in the other curriculums which are a lot to do with mugging up. Anahita proclaims, “Even though you are working in criteria and a certain structure, you still have the space to express your viewpoint.”

The transition from school to university was one she found difficult “School does prepare you for all the writing and reading, but college just gets way more intense, the expectations are way higher, and in school, you have all these teachers who are constantly helping you and you can go sit with them but that kind of comfort is harder to find at university because it is a much larger community with thousands of students so comparatively school is a more close-knit community but university is daunting in that sense.”

The one experience that firmly stuck with Anahita was the Model United Nations (MUN). She served as the Secretary-General for AKAHMUN 2019-20. The MUN taught her a lot in terms of management, planning, communication, leadership and even finance as you work towards an event dealing with multiple stakeholders in the Academy. Known for her calm nature, Anahita was a completely different person in the MUN. She said “That was a fun thing, I never knew that side of me existed until I was put into the position. I didn’t know if I could do it but when you are in the atmosphere and put in that position I think some part of you just takes charge. That’s a new side of me that I saw, that boosted my confidence because I realised I could lead people if I needed to and it was a great thing.”

Anahita calls the Academy a second home, practically growing up there. She believes the IB, teachers, the residences, and her friends have helped and impacted her in more ways than one and have had a significant impact on who she is today.