Samantha Freedman

What does it feel like knowing that you’re coming to the end of your high school career?

It feels really exciting and really surreal. I’ve thought about this day for so long throughout the four years I was in high school. But it’s also really scary because I don’t know what’s going to come next. I’m excited to go to Georgetown and I’m excited to start again with meeting new people and I’m feeling really happy right now.

What is the most valuable thing you learned at EF Academy?

Since EF Academy is an international school, one of the best things I’ve learned is how to be in an environment where people come from very different backgrounds. I’ve learned how to interact with people who are different from me, but also learned that even though we’ve come so many different places, we have so much in common.

Being at EF Academy has taught me how to challenge myself and how to get out of my comfort zone by taking classes that I wouldn’t have thought of taking in the first place. After my experience with classes at EF Academy, I realized that I really liked them. It’s taught me to do things that I might not have expected myself to do because there can be really good consequences.

Do you feel prepared for university?

I think so! I don’t really know what university is going to be like, but I think that doing the IB Diploma program was a lot of work and it was really hard academically, so I think I am more prepared than if I hadn’t decided to do the IB. 

What activities did you engage in?

At EF Academy, I did the ambassador program. My job was to talk to new incoming students or prospective students who were also from the United States. Sometimes I would help give them tours of the campus or just talk with them over Skype or email and answer any questions that they may have. And that was really cool because I got to share with them the things I liked about EF Academy and give them some advice. It’s also funny, when you talk to someone and you see them the next year you remember them. I also did Film Club my junior year, which was cool because it was something I had never tried before. One of my best friends was really into filmmaking and we actually made a short film together which was fun because it was the first time I’d ever done something like that.

What was your favorite class and why?

My favorite class was history. History has always been my favorite subject because I find it really interesting, but I liked this history class in particular because we learned a lot about different subjects. Since I took “Higher Level,” we learned about history of the Americas, we learned about the history of Latin America during the Cold War, we also learned about World War II, World War I, the Spanish Civil War, the Vietnam War, the Korean War. I learned about a lot of different countries and how they all related in world issues, instead of just learning about one single topic in one single region of the world. 

How have you changed since coming here?

I think I definitely became more confident in myself both socially and academically. Since I’ve been in a place where I had to meet all new people and I had to meet people who are so different than me, I definitely became more outgoing and more comfortable in situations where I am with people who are not like me. I think it really helped me improve my time management skills and my study skills because the IB Diploma program did demand a lot and you have to do a lot of work outside of class. So I definitely learned how to manage my time and how to do my work and complete it well but also not be stressed all the time and make time to go out with friends and still be social.

What would you tell someone considering studying at EF Academy?

I would tell them that you’re definitely going to face some difficulties when you get here, whether that’s with the IB because it is really hard or whether you get here and feel weird being far away from home or being in a place where there’s not a lot of people from your country, but you have to look for the good side of things and push yourself and put yourself out there. Once you do that, you’re going to have a really great time.