College Orientation: Ayana Fabris' Interview

1.     What are your methods of encouragement toward the students?

We work with DP students to help them make plans for life after high school. We do that in many different ways. We organise events with either experts or university representatives to come and share with students information about opportunities in different countries and how the system of education for university or postgraduate meaning like post high school after you have your diploma options work.

We hope that by making connections and hearing from these different people and by putting our expertise at the disposal of the students, they can feel a bit more confident in making the choice to pursue whatever it is that they're interested in and in places that they're excited to go.

It doesn't have to be abroad, but it can be, that means that we are equally excited to support students who might wanna stay in Italy and explore different options in different cities here, or students who want to go to other countries in Europe or the us.

For example we had a student that went to South Korea last year. So we really try to give the tools so that students feel free and can expand a little bit their horizons or where they might wanna go. Yes.

2.     How do you deal with students that don't even have a starting point?

There are many things that students can do. We really encourage them to reflect on what subjects, activities, experiences that they've had, that they have enjoyed or that they found that they're willing to go a bit deeper to research that they are motivated to know more about.

To explore, there are many opportunities on campus and beyond to explore different fields. So start by even your own family. Be curious about what your parents do. Maybe go with them to their work for a day. Maybe go do this with a friend of your parents and slowly expand and try things out. There are activities that students do through CAS in the DP program

Another great way is volunteering in general, whether it's through CAS or it's through your own initiative. Volunteering is a great way to just try things out and get engaged and then to think: Did I like this experience or not?

Plus we have a platform which is called UniFrog, and it's a great tool. It has libraries of careers and subjects, students can spend time on it and explore different job profiles. So what does it mean to be an accountant? What does it mean to be a graphic designer? And these are the questions that we hope students feel more encouraged to explore.

There are also some tests, personality tests that students can take. Uni Frog has a few, and I always say personality tests are never gonna give you the answer to your life, but it gives you a starting point. It tells you,according to this test, you are an extrovert that gets energy from working with people…so what are some jobs that relate to that? And it's a starting point, right? So start from that and then keep curious about yourself and about what is out there. It takes a little bit of research and this research can be done online, but also by talking to people and even more importantly by trying things out.

3.      How are you able to help students who have never done IB before?

For students that are already at H Farm, we recently organised a subject fair together with Ms Ca Grande,DP teachers and DP students. So M5 students had the opportunity to learn about the subjects that are offered to interact with both teachers and students.

From our side, we have created a guide that gives some essential information to guide you through your choice. Now, different countries, different universities have different requirements, so what we always say, and you will find it in your guide, is that the most important thing is that you commit to subjects that you find interesting and that you're willing to study for two years. Because the DP program can be challenging. It's a rigorous program. And having said that, if you know that you want to study specific fields, it is important to have relevant subjects. So you can use the guide to check that. Also we will help students make that selection,so students are not alone.

For students that are coming from the talent system,the admission team is excellent in helping them understand why they want to do the ib. Usually students are very motivated, they wanna have this international perspective. It's a change, which means that it takes time and I always tell students, be patient, especially if you're transferring from the Italian program, the first five to six months is gonna be a great adjustment, but as long as you know you work and you have a good relationship with the teachers, it will become easier and it can be very exciting. That's the thing, you can choose your subjects, it's the first time in your life that you get to actually choose what you study and there are a lot of interesting opportunities that you can find.

In the scientific department they have the labs and they have collaborations with the universities, that's really exciting. In the languages department you can access these different languages and work on your fluency, take trips. So it's really about engaging with the program and making sure that you keep up with the work because it's gonna build up and that's why it's very important to work on it from the beginning.

4.     If someone is undecided about what to do, what do you advise them to do in order to choose what best suits them?

Engage, try things out, explore resources on UniFrog.

Something very personal that I like as a guidance counsellor is a Japanese concept and it's called "Ikigai" which means "purpose of life".

What this concept does is look at four dimensions…

-Be curious about things that you're good at.

-What makes you happy?

-What is something that you would like to change in the world? What is something that you don't like or makes you angry or you just want to make it better?

-What can you be paid for?

The combination of these four career purposes is something that I think is very valuable. The good thing is also while you're still a student, you can concentrate on doing things that you love and enjoy. So I motivate students to be ambitious and live in the moment.

5.     Do you think students should follow their passion or instead make a safe choice?

Only you can decide who you will be in the future and what you will be in the world!

The word passion can be tricky because not everyone is able to find a definition for themselves.

To be in touch with what drives you is the best thing ever, once you know what your aim is you are ready to face challenges and to get up when you fail.

Follow your dreams, you have a lot of places where you can go, a lot of programs that you can access with the ib. One of the great gifts of an IB education is that the program is recognized by so many countries and it gives you good access to a lot of programs.

6.     What sensations do you have after you have helped a lot of people?

The moment toward the end of DP two, students are done with their exams, many of them have already received offers from universities. It's just a very joyful moment that we get to experience as a community. We still help whoever is in need when results are released. It's a great feeling.

There's a lot of energy. I love that moment because it's when you reflect on the past, you tell yourself "I did it, I passed that hard obstacle".