During Ian Moore’s six years at UNIS Hanoi, he’s etched a number of firsts in his life. The first time he lived away from his home city near Atlanta, Georgia (USA). The first time he participated in Model United Nations and volleyball. And the first time helping to build a home for disadvantaged people. 

These firsts would be daunting for many, but for Ian the new experiences only served to develop him as a person. “Coming to live in Vietnam was a big change and it did take some time for me to adapt,” he confessed. “But being in Vietnam and specifically being a member of the UNIS Hanoi community makes you embrace change. Both Vietnam and the school are dynamic places.”

With change came lessons of resilience for the 18 year-old, especially during stretches of Distance Learning. Ian shared, “Tenth grade was hard for me because I didn’t get into the right rhythm online at first, but by eleventh grade I found my groove and learned how to manage my time. It was a struggle but it did teach me the importance of staying on top of tasks if you want to be successful at anything.”

As someone who chose to study four IB courses at Higher Level, Ian has proven he can manage his workload successfully. Opting to take the IB Course pathway available at UNIS Hanoi, Ian studied psychology, chemistry, computer science and English at Higher Level, while taking Standard Level Math and an audited French class.  

Now his hard work has paid off and he’s accepted an offer to study Computer Science at McGill University in Canada - his top choice! He said, “I was at school in my homebase classroom when I got the offer via email. It was crazy! I knew I had a good chance of getting in, but once I got it, it was really nice to say; ‘that thing I’ve been imagining, now I’ve actually achieved that.’”

Aside from helping Ian discover what potential career paths he can explore, UNIS Hanoi has also taught him to appreciate difference. He explained, “I have developed an understanding of what diversity looks like in different situations. I also have a different outlook on being ‘just’ an English speaker. So many people in UNIS Hanoi speak more than one language that I’m actually part of a very small minority who only speak English. So for me, people who speak more than one language have some kind of superpower which I admire and it inspires me to develop my own interest in language,specifically French.”

As McGill is located in French-speaking Quebec, Ian will have ample opportunities to hone the superpower he first came across at UNIS Hanoi.