BIS Abu Dhabi Graduate Interview

Meet Hyeonmin, Class of 2026 IB Diploma Programme Graduate

Hyeonmin joined The British International School Abu Dhabi in August 2021 as a Year 9 student. Over the past five years, he embraced every opportunity available to him, balancing academic excellence with leadership, engineering, music and a wide range of co-curricular activities.

This year, he achieved an outstanding 44 points in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), becoming one of the school's top IB Diploma Programme scorer and securing his place at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), one of South Korea's leading universities for science, technology, engineering and innovation.

"I was delighted with my results," Hyeonmin said. "More than anything, I was grateful to have successfully met the conditions of my university's conditional offer."

Reflecting on his time at BIS Abu Dhabi, Hyeonmin believes the IB Diploma Programme played an important role in preparing him for university.

"Most universities worldwide recognise the academic rigour, international reputation and high standards of the IB Diploma. I believe that achieving a high grade in such a challenging programme allowed the university to recognise my academic capabilities among a pool of other highly qualified applicants."

Outside the classroom, Hyeonmin made the most of school life. He served as a Form Representative, performed in the School Orchestra and Production Band, competed in F1 in Schools as a research engineer, led a team in the Conrad Challenge, completed his Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh's International Award, travelled on the Tanzania expedition, and took part in both the Medical Society and Engineering Society.

Looking back, one of his favourite memories was performing the flute in the live band for the school's production of Bugsy Malone.

"It was a special and unusual experience performing live music for the actors on stage. Looking back, I think this is the kind of experience I could only have had at school, which provides many different opportunities to step outside our usual interests and try something new."

Although his final year brought unexpected disruption, Hyeonmin remained focused throughout. The experience reinforced an important lesson about resilience.

"This experience reminded me, more powerfully than ever, that life does not go as planned. We just have to accept the uncertainty and move forward."

When asked what he will miss most about BIS Abu Dhabi, Hyeonmin's answer was simple: the people.

"I will miss the friends I wrote Extended Essays alongside, debated Theory of Knowledge with, and worked through difficult Physics questions with. I believe the feeling that we had gone through all of these challenges together brought us even closer."

Looking ahead, Hyeonmin hopes to build a career in artificial intelligence, combining engineering and entrepreneurship to develop practical solutions that improve people's lives.

Congratulations, Hyeonmin, on your exceptional IB Diploma results and your place at KAIST. We are incredibly proud of your achievements and wish you every success as you begin this exciting new chapter.