Sophie Wu: TIS Taught Me Important Life Skills

My name is Sophie Wu and I am an alumna of TIS Macao, class of 2016. I am currently in my penultimate year at the University of Sydney studying Econometrics and Financial Economics. I studied at TIS from Grade 2 until graduation. When I graduated, I was very honoured to receive the Spirit of Canada award. TIS has taught me many things and I would like to express my gratitude to the school for making me who I am today.

I recently completed an industry program with KPMG Law to create a framework for the ethical development of AI. We had to work in an interdisciplinary team for a month to produce a group plan, presentation, and report for the chancellor of KPMG law.

During the program, I realized that I was able to utilize many skills that I learned at TIS which I took for granted before, such as public speaking. Taking drama in high school really helped me with my public speaking. The National English Speech Contest also played a major role in shaping my confidence in public speaking. Another example would be CTS and marketing classes. I was the only person in the group who was able to produce a well designed and organized presentation, therefore, I was in charge of formatting everything. My supervisor, teammates and even the chancellor complimented me on my designing skills. I am grateful that TIS offered so many beneficial elective subjects and held the quality of those classes to such high standards. I hope TIS will continue to develop teamwork and communication skills within classes as these soft skills are highly valued in many industries.

I have been involved in many things lately including helping out with a startup which aims to improve financial literacy for young women. Being the student representative for the School of Economics, volunteering at the Data Science and AI association of Australia and many others, we are currently pitching to KPMG and some of the biggest banks in Australia. TIS helped me to become a proactive, involved and confident person in the community. I would not be what or where I am today without TIS.

Again, I just want to say a massive thank you to all the teachers, coaches and mentors at TIS who gave me such great memories and skills. The amazing environment at TIS fostered my overall growth and development.