TISB Alumni - Sangita Kurian

As a person who has lived in different cultures, TISB Alumni, Sangita Kurian’s, experiences have both offered challenges and inspiration. Sangita is part German and part Indian, and before moving to Bangalore and joining TISB in Grade 9, she had only attended German-speaking schools. After graduating from the TISB IBDP in 2015, Sangita moved back to Germany, before moving to Massachusetts in the United States. After living and studying in the United States, she returned to Germany to study her bachelor’s degree at the University of Trier, where she still is today. We reached out to Sangita to learn more about her experiences and life as a TISB Alumni.

I still miss the teachers and friendly staff from TISB! – Sangita, TISB Alumni

At TISB, Sangita got to experience both worlds of the school. She spent two and a half years as a Day Student, and a year and a half year as a Boarder. During her time at TISB, she enjoyed studying most subjects. “I particularly loved Physics and History. History classes were always my favourite time of the week”, says Sangita, who remembers enjoying debating the Cold War with her friends. As part of her experience at TISB, she was encouraged to take up a summer course at Oxford Royale Academy, in the UK, where she studied Physics and Political Science. and discovered that Political Science was her particular area of interest.

After completing her IB exams in November 2015, Sangita moved back to Germany, her previous home country. “I had forgotten a lot about the culture, so I had many experiences relating to reverse culture-shock”, says Sangita, who carried out her resettling in Germany by doing an internship in a residence for senior citizens. She then became a voluntary Federal Servant for half a year and worked in the office of a language school for German courses in Frankfurt, where she leant office management and how to interact with customers.

In the summer of 2016, Sangita started at Clark University in the heart of Massachusetts, in the United States. “I chose Clark because it is a small liberal arts college with the capacity of a research university, and because it has 30% international students”, says Sangita, explaining that she initially wanted to major in ‘International Development and Social Change’ but switched to Political Science. At Clark Sangita became a Resident Advisor during her second year, which gave her both professional experience and allowed her to interact with the diverse community of students and staff. “My experience at Clark was absolutely great. I made so many friends, both from the US and from a variety of other countries”, says Sangita, recommending the University because of the diversity.

Despite all of this, Sangita missed Germany, and had a two-semester international exchange to Trier University, Germany. After one semester, she decided to stay in Trier, and enrolled as a regular student with a major in Political Science and a minor in History. “Some of my favourite classes here have included Political Theory, a class on the United Nations and classes on the political influences of the religious reformation in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries”, says Sangita, who is currently completing her bachelor’s degree at the Trier University. “It has been a long journey, since not all of my achievements from Clark were recognised in Trier, and my history also includes a semester of sick leave”, explains Sangita, who is now finishing her studies digitally, due to the pandemic. Recently, Sangita has joined the Hall Council of her residence hall in Trier as Treasurer. She sees it as a responsible position, and culturally very different from her previous experiences.

During her free time, Sangita has always played the French horn and trumpet in classical or jazz bands, which she started at the age of 10. “I recommend finding a hobby that is a team sport or can be practised together with others because it enables one to make friends, no matter the environment”, says Sangita, who in the summer of 2017 went on a solo journey and walked 800 km on foot in Spain, building her physical fitness and meeting new people from all walks of life. “It was a really fun experience and has led to me hiking almost every summer”.

Today, at the age of 23, Sangita is thinking about how to proceed after her studies. “My hope for the future is that I will find out which field of work I want to go into. I love academics, but I am also looking forward to branching out from here with internships”, concludes Sangita.