November 2011 - Oaktree International School

Starting School - Samriddha Basu, Grade 9Returning to India after living almost my whole life abroad filled me with mixed emotions; sadness from leaving friendsI have known for five years and excitement from meeting new people. I found Oaktree International School from searchingon Google about different international schools. The website itself had given me a new sense of excitement and I hadalready starting imagining how everything would be like; the people, the teachers and the food.Upon finally arriving on the site on 3rd of September for the school visit I was finally been able to put concrete images tomy assumptions to the locations. I couldn’t wait to get to school on the first day on the 15th of September, I thought of allthe different friends I was going to be making. I never thought I’d make friends who were from Serbia, Bangladesh,Zambia or Nepal but Oaktree International School makes me realize how small the world is. I am meeting people fromplaces I had never even given a second thought about until now.As school days went on, I felt the tiredness that I got from being on the road to and from school for almost 3 hours a day.For the first few weeks I pushed my parents into getting me into the weekly boarding but they wouldn’t change theirminds. However, after a month and a half of the travelling I realised that I don’t mind it anymore because I can catch upon my sleep, from waking early, in the car.Being part of the first year of Oaktree International School really makes me understand how much of an impact we willbe making to the future students of OIS. When new students join OIS in future years, they will be studying in the fullybuilt campus and only can this batch of 2011-2012 can say that it all started with us 30 people studying in hotel rooms astheir classrooms. I look forward to the move onto the new campus.Life in the ResidencesTenzin Phenthok, IBDP1, says:Arriving and trying to adjust to a new surrounding was oneof the hardest things of my life. As was trying to keep upto the expectations of others, from family back home, frompeers, from teachers at school.Living with diverse communities in the start was somethingdifferent but now it isn’t. We now live like a family.Our joys double when we share and sorrows are halved toowhen shared. I guess that’s what living and sharing life is.Life’s all about struggles, hardships, victories etc. If theseweren’t there, then life wouldn’t be there, then life wouldjust be like a journey through the desert (how boring).Having faith in one’s own self and persistence is whathelps you to complete the journey successfully.Sadikshya Bhattarai, IBDP1, says:“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’regoing to get.”Away from home, away from everything I knew, away to aplace that I had never seen before- thinking about theresidence life in a faraway school in Kolkata was somethingI really dreaded at first. I wondered how I would share aroom with girls who aren’t from where I am from. Would I beable to mix? I was really scared!But now, after a month of experience, sharing the same roomwith girls belonging to different nationalities has given methe opportunity to understand the diversity in cultures and thedifference in human behaviour. Above all, being in a placewhere at first we really miss our family, we have a wonderfulhouse mother.We also have a common room in the residential block whereduring our free time all students sit to talk, play games orwatch television. Basically it’s our relaxing time after the‘tiresome’ studies.So I never thought feelings would change so soon but now Ilove this place and I am sure all other residence students doso too. We have adjusted to this place and I have realized thatlife is not always as difficult as we think it to be.The Oaktree Newsletter - Page 5