On Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th September, the recently appointed team of student leaders for 2022 – 2023, gathered in the Grand Hall, for the annual student leadership conference. This year there are 105 student leaders across 7 strand areas as well as house leaders and house captains spanning the year groups.
“The focus of the conference was team building as well as strategic planning. Activities included a tallest tower challenge, a jungle trek, and an inspiring contribution from GIS alumni. It’s so important for our students to see how successful our GIS alumni are and to take inspiration from their journeys post school. It gives our students a wider perspective and long range vision as they plan and prepare for their own futures. Both our Alumni, Elanie and Brian were fantastic with the students sharing their stories and wisdom in an open and accessible way.”
Catherine Germany
History teacher
Student Leadership Coordinator
“Thank you again for having us join the Student Leadership Conference! Was really great to be able to chat with current students and could really empathise and understand what they were feeling and thinking. It was really great to be back and have the chance to speak to the student leaders. Meeting and talking to bright and independent young adults who are going through the same worries we had growing up, it is clear that Garden is serious about equipping students in becoming their best true selves.”
Shaz Elanie Khamil, Class of ‘07
Former COO of Cancer Research Institute Malaysia
MSC, International Politics – SOAS University of London
BA (Hons), International relations and Politics – University of Essex
“It was great to be able to come back and share about our journey after GIS. The student leaders were very eager to learn and I wish them all the best in their own journey”
Brian Tan, Class of 2007
CEO & Founder at Futurelab.my | HolonIQ Top 50 Ed-tech 2021 & 2022
MSc, Management – Imperial College Business School
BSc, Biochemistry – University of Bath
“As a new student at GIS, I had no expectations coming to the Student Leader Conference, but I left feeling truly accomplished, knowing that I had learned more in those two days than I probably would have learned, had I chosen to stay in my classroom. From the strenuous jungle walk, to putting our heads together to plan for the year ahead, it is difficult to find a dull moment from the conference. What I found especially insightful, however, was the session with GIS’ Alumni, Brian and Elanie. Rather than them giving a 45-minute speech to a group of GIS students whom they have never met once, it felt like they were having a conversation with us as though we were their friends, which made this session all the more intimate. The best aspect about having Alumni come back for school events like this is that we get the privilege to listen to the highs and lows they have faced beyond the school gates, which could, in one way or another, prepare us for the future in ways that the school may not be able to teach us. I may have come home absolutely knocked out after a long two days at the conference, but if that meant getting to know and work with my strand members for the first time, I would do it all over again if I could.”
Lauren Ho
GIS Student
“Being in the student leader conference was such a great experience. The student leaders were able to bond together and build a lot of skills. One thing I could not miss out from the conference was the talk from the alumni. Gratefully, Brian and Elanie came to give a speech with Q&A which was very insightful as we were able to collect information relating to leadership. Alumni spending their time to give a speech to students is very essential as students can learn about life outside of school after graduation and get key advice from the alumni. Throughout the alumni, I ensure that the students would like to come back like the others and give an insightful speech in the future.”
Jennifer Namgung
GIS Student
“The student leader conference was very good. It was a fruitful session. The GIS alumni talk was very helpful and inspiring as we would know what life after school is like. The hiking event was a breath of fresh air, and we all had a great time socialising and being close to nature. The teamwork tasks that were organised were also entertaining and allowed the team to work together for the first time and get to know each other better. I think the key takeaway from the alumni session is that with the change of time, many of our passions and interests change, so there is little need to stress about what exactly we would do in the future. Personally, this is really important for me as I am often stressed about the path that I have planned for myself, and knowing that things don’t always go according to plan(in a good way), it really relieves some of my stress. of couse, there is no need to further stress the importance of hard-working, since we all know that by heart already. The sessions with GIS Alumni really helped me a lot.”
Yi Wang
GIS student
A huge ‘Thank You’ to GIS teacher Catherin Germany, and our inspiring Alumni, Brian Tan and Elanie Khamil, who generously shared their time and experiences to put together this wonderful Student Leadership Conference event this year.
If you are interested in sharing your journey post-GIS, then please get in touch with us at alumni@gardenschool.edu.my. We are always updating our Alumni Website with news from the Alumni community across the continents, and would love to hear from you and share your stories. Please like and follow our Alumni social media pages too at Facebook, LinkedIn