Rachel Sampson has been a WIS student for 2 years from 2006 to 2008. Currently she graduated the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis (USA) as a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

She calls her best memories at WIS:

My two years spent at WIS were some of my best school years. I really enjoyed the tight-knit international community that existed there. I remember being on the first WIS Wolves Girl’s Basketball team where basically every girl in the school had to be on the team to make it a big enough team. I remember going on White school trips where we would ski in packs all day and play mafia all night long; on Green school trips where we went on hikes, built fires in the rain, and made fried rice in bulk for the entire Zielinskiego Campus.

The school assemblies where I was a witch from Macbeth, danced an Irish jog, and sang Beatles songs. In recess, we would rub snow on the teacher duty and other kids because we weren’t allowed to “throw” snow. I have so wonderful memories from the time I spent at WIS and those are just a few. I truly miss and wholly cherish the fun and community I had there.

And this is how the time at WIS impacted her life:

My time spent at WIS encouraged me to become a better person in many ways. I was taught to be more open-minded, caring, to be a better learner and be constantly inquiring, a risk-taker, and how to better communicate. Being in a classroom of a wide-variety of classmates from across the globe encourage me to learn about other cultures and appreciate not only theirs, but my own as well. With our differences, I also became more caring in my time at WIS and able to better demonstrate respect and empathy and WIS has pushed me to continue to make a positive difference in the lives of others and in the world around me. I am a better student because of WIS and my wonderful teachers I had while I was there. They encouraged us to work hard and to be constantly asking difficult questions and seeking answers. I learned how to work as a team and realize my own strengths and weaknesses as a leader. I was pushed to become more knowledgeable in a variety of information and issues that had global significance. I am more willing to take risks in order to seek answers and in the face of new challenges. I became a more confident communicator and leader in my time as a role model to the younger students and as the Student Council President. Lastly, I have lifelong friendships from WIS and the bond that we all developed in our time there has not diminished over time or distance. I know that if I ever meet again with anyone from my time at WIS, we will be able to pick right back up and remininse fondly as friends.

But most importantly, the time I had at WIS was fun! My memories from WIS are some of my fondest of my school years.

Thank you, Rachel and congratulations with your BA degree!