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Charline joined the BIS Abu Dhabi family in Year 3 and after 10 amazing years at the school, she heads to the University of Amsterdam to study Physiotherapy.
Charline is originally from Belgium, and when she joined the school, her knowledge of English was extremely limited. Charline has now graduated with the maximum 7 points in her IB Diploma English exam; a fantastic achievement when you consider that her mother tongue is French. Charline commented: “I am immensely happy and proud of this result as it was so unexpected. I have to say that it would not have been possible without the help of my English teachers over the years. Obviously, I also could not have achieved this without the motivation from my parents for pushing me to learn English, because if it had been my choice in 2010, I would have joined a French school and I would not have had the opportunity to be as fluent in English as I am now.”
Completing the IB Diploma Programme taught Charline how to work with deadlines, write essays, research, and how to achieve a good work and life balance, all skills that make IB Diploma students stand out from the crowd with university admissions teams.
Charline is looking forward to her move to Amsterdam and discovering her independence. “It’s both the most excited and anxious I have ever felt about anything in my life.” When asked why she has chosen to study Physiotherapy, Charline replied: “All I’ve ever wanted to do was find a way to help those that are passionate about sports but might not have the genes for the perfect muscular structures or the strongest ligaments. In my family, it’s also very common to have back pain, so I want to learn about the causes and the treatment strategies in order to help them.”
During her time at BIS Abu Dhabi, Charline has been a sporting legend, trying every sport that there has been on offer, including volleyball, football, netball, swimming, touch rugby, athletics (javelin) and dance. She was selected five times to be part of BSME competitions and was captain of the team in her final games. This led her to win the award for Senior Sportswoman in 2019. Charline commented: “The competitions themselves brought me so much joy as I could represent my school and at the same time travel around the Middle East. Those memories are priceless, the excitement of winning a match and then the celebrations afterwards.”
When asked what she will miss most about BIS Abu Dhabi, Charline replied: “I will miss the diversity within the classes and the different cultures. I met hundreds of people from so many countries, some I had no previous knowledge about. The school enabled me to learn about cultures and traditions, some that surprised me and some that were very similar to my own. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the teachers who have helped me get to where I am today, they kept insisting I work through sandstorms, summers and a whole pandemic; they are all so dedicated to their job and making sure we all achieve our full potential.”
After completing her university studies, Charline is looking to specialise in Sports Therapy and become a personal physiotherapist to an athlete or for a team. There is no doubt she will be a winner at whatever she puts her mind to. Congratulations, Charline!