Q1: Ms. Lai, when did the school first send participants to the Stanford Pre-Collegiate International Institute (SPII) summer camp programme?
A1: KYS first started sending students to the programme in 2017.
Q2: What are the objectives of this study programme?
A2: The main objective is to have an extraordinary American College life experience on Stanford University’s campus. Students are able to discover new interests from the multiple topics covered in workshops and academic classes. In addition, students from different nations would be able to share and learn about each other’s culture through a multicultural exhibition and a performance, as well as by staying together in the same residence.
Q3: Have our students achieved those objectives?
A3: Yes, they have. In fact, both Aiman and Nadira have made new friends from Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Canada and Zambia. Aiman could already speak and understand some Spanish. In addition, they had an insight on clinical neuroanatomy, creative writing, writing with images, artificial intelligence and computer vision in agriculture, think like a lawyer, culture psychology, international business, effective non-verbal communication, design thinking and making quality decisions. Both students had the opportunity to speak in public during the Global Solutions Project presentation and at the Malaysian booth during the Multicultural Exhibition apart than participating in classroom activities.
Q4: Overall, were our students able to cope with the activities and the student environment there?
A4: Oh, yes they had fun in the activities, but the weather was a bit difficult to get used to on extremely warm nights because there was neither centralized air-conditioners nor fans in the rooms!
Q5: Finally, what advice do you have for future KYS participants who wish to join this programme?
A5: Students who are keen to participate in the SPII summer camp programme need to do extra reading on the functions of the human body and on current issues in Malaysia and the world. Knowledge on coding would be advantageous, too. Finally, be open-minded to a very different culture.