– The IB Scholar & Alumni
For this special International Baccalaureate (IB) edition of Panthers of ISKL, we meet with IB scholar and Malaysian alumni Nathaniel Zacharias (’12), who joined ISKL in 2010.
After completing his education in the Malaysian school system, Nathaniel discovered a new learning world at ISKL with the IB, describing the IB components of Theory of Knowledge, Economics, and Spanish Ab Initio as allowing him “to see previously unseen things.”
An Engineering graduate of Durham University, Nathaniel lives and works in Singapore as a Process Integration Engineer. Here, he shares his memories of ISKL and his experience with the IB.
Here is his story
“Moving from the local Malaysian national system to studying the IB in an international school, I found that academically, the IB required a lot of personal input and independent thinking, which was perfected through practice. I had to get used to listening more attentively to people because of the different spoken accents. I did not have to contend with these issues in the local Malaysian national system.
‘I remember one transition to have been a particular struggle: getting in sync with the eight-day cycle rhythm with the odd and even day scheduling, and it messed with my sense of when a class was supposed to be during the day. I came from a system where the timetable was fixed by day and time through the week – no rotations; however, the way I studied primarily remained the same, i.e., at home in a well-rested state.
‘My favorite subjects in the IB were Economics, Spanish (Ab Initio), and Theory of Knowledge – learning these was a novel experience. Before doing IB, I had zero exposure to Economics, whose reasoning I learned to love. Additionally, I did not think it was possible to learn a language from scratch at 18 years old, and I never questioned presumed knowledge. I loved these three subjects because they allowed me to see previously unseen things. The teachers made the subjects. Their charisma, ability, and clarity were inspirational.
‘The IB certainly did inform me of what to choose as a degree. My interest at the start was in Physics, but this interest ran dry when the ‘Theory of Knowledge’ started poking holes in empirical ways of knowing. I decided I would stick to the more applicable realm of Physics and take up the sensible, jack-of-all-trades degree of Engineering, which I also saw as having broader job prospects compared to purely a Science degree. My later specialization in Electronics was chosen based on experiences with university lecturers.
‘When I was at ISKL, the extracurriculars I did were mainly debate and impromptu. I took debate with me to university but abandoned it after the first year because I couldn’t keep up with the law students in the debate society – it wasn’t meant to be.
‘I received the Robert B Gaw Citizenship Award at ISKL in 2012 for my role as the Student Environment Officer. I remember organizing a carpooling day (or week) where we handed out cafeteria coupons for people who carpooled, and I remember chairing meetings to reduce waste in school.
‘IASAS Forensics 2011 was held at ISKL, during which I hosted two debaters from the Taipei American School. IASAS Forensics 2012 was at the Singapore American School (SAS), during which we had a slam poetry contest which I won. We traveled by bus to SAS, and I brought my guitar along – I’m sure we sang songs. We made friends from the other schools with whom we kept in touch for a while and slowly drifted apart – it was good memories in general.”
Authorized to run the IBDP since 1989, ISKL is the longest-running IB World School in Malaysia, with students who have earned an IB Diploma over the past 29 years, representing a 97 percent pass rate.
Unlike many IBDP programs worldwide, ISKL offers the IBDP on a non-selective basis, meaning any student is provided the opportunity to undertake the Diploma. ISKL’s international faculty, experts in their field, ensure that each student is mentored and supported throughout the challenging two-year course of study.
Are you interested to learn more about the IB scholarship program at ISKL? Find out how SPM leavers can apply and more at https://www.iskl.edu.my/admissions/ib-scholarship-for-spm-leavers/.
Do you know a student, faculty, staff, or alumni with a story to tell? Nominate them to be featured in our Panthers of ISKL stories by sending in your submissions here.
