Alumni stories – Vicky from Brazil, Class of 2020
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Vicky graduated from EF Academy Oxford in 2020 and continued her studies at university in Brisbane, Australia. Alongside her studies, she has explored several professional positions and is currently working as a Partnership Management Intern, as well as being the founder of her own startup. Read on to learn more about her journey from high school to today!
Tell us a little bit about yourself
Hi, my name is Vicky Pascon. I am an international student from Brazil and I attended the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme at EF Academy Oxford. I graduated from EF Academy in June 2020 and currently live in Brisbane, Australia. Fun fact: the class of 2020 is the only IB Diploma cohort that never had final exams. You can read more about this here: May 2020 Exams
What have you been up to after graduating from EF Academy in 2020?
After the IB, I went on to study the Bachelor of Arts, with a Psychology Extended Major and an English Literature Minor, at The University of Queensland in Brisbane. As the school year begins in February in Australia, I had half an year between finishing the IB in 2020 and beginning university in 2021. As you might imagine, I spent most of that time in lockdowns and quarantine.
Alongside my studies, I am building a career in corporate management. Currently, I am working as a Partnership Management Intern at VacayIt. Over the course of my degree, I’ve held positions such as Publisher, Manager, Consultant and even founder of my own startup, Kordial.
What do you feel most passionate about in your current job?
The one thing about my job I am most passionate about is solving problems. Every company, no matter the industry, has the same fundamental instruction and by consequence corporate jobs remain mainly the same.
In every job I do, I need to figure out the best course of action based on the information available at the moment, but the part I really love is the fact that the information I have changes every second, and by consequence the best strategy to take changes too. I love how relative the answer is, and how fast and how often it changes.
What drew me to my degree in psychology is also what drew me to my career in management. What I love about psychology is all the different ways you learn to analyze person, the choices they make and why. When you deal with strategy at the level I do, you need to be able to predict everyone’s choices, a lot like in chess. A degree in psychology helps me get the knowledge to be able to understand people enough to predict them.
What was one of your most meaningful experiences at EF Academy?
One of my most meaningful experiences at EF Academy is just the sheer amount of events EF Academy offer you. I attended the New Scientist Live science fair in London in 2018 and 2019, and I got to meet Astronaut Tim Peake and explorers Nics Wetherill, sit in a fighter jet, and listen to a range of incredible talks. Experiences like this are at the forefront of studying at EF Academy. From TED Talks to theatre plays in London and Saturday trips to Warwick Castle, Bath, and Stratford Upon Avon, you get the best extracurricular and local experiences.
In what ways has your international high school experience been valuable to you academically and/or for your career journey so far?
The combination of academics and extracurriculars made the difference for me, as much in terms of university acceptance as in professional development. Universities and employers look for well-rounded people, with more than just grades, and the wealth of opportunities at EF Academy made all the difference to me. To this day when I tell someone that I studied the IB Diploma at EF Academy Oxford, I am regarded with awe. But the part that truly made the difference to me is the combination of international and local experiences at EF Academy. You will live like a local and learn the ways of so many people from so many places. Fun fact: my class of 2020 at EF Academy Oxford had 43 different nationalities.
If you could give a piece of advice to current and future students, what would it be?
My piece of advice is: if you don’t know which path to take yet, that’s ok. If you change your mind later, that’s ok too. All that matters is that you keep moving. Don’t just stand there trying to figure out what path to take. Choose a direction and start walking. Perhaps you will find that you don’t really like what you chose, or you like something else better. That’s ok, because you don’t know if you like something if you don’t try it. All you have to do is adjust your course and keep walking.