When School Ends and Life Begins: University and Career Counselling at GESS

A GESS education stretches far beyond the classroom: students receive college and career counselling, learn real-life survival skills, and prepare for all the potential challenges of uni life

For many of us, the day you graduate high school can be at once elating and also terrifying. It represents the culmination of years of education, hard work, growth and development amongst family and friends. On the other hand, the great unknowns of university and/or a career lie ahead, both full of possibility and infinite question marks.

GESS is well known as an international school that caters to students from 18 months all the way up to 18 years of age. Along the way, students aren’t just learning facts and figures and how to read and write – they’re also prepared for life beyond school, particularly through GESS’s comprehensive university and career counselling programme.

Preparation for University Life (including how to cook dinner!)

For starters, the school incorporates structured university and career counselling into International Baccalaureate (IB) students’ schedules to help them formulate their post-graduation plans, whatever they may be, be it university, work or apprenticeship, or a gap year. Along the way, students receive important training with a focus on essential life skills, soft skills and emotional support.

Think back to your early days after graduation; stuff like doing laundry, balancing a budget and having to cook your own dinner could be even more terrifying than giant lecture halls or lengthy term papers. GESS has a unique programme called “Student Survival – The Budget Menu” where students have to purchase ingredients and prepare their own signature dish within the school’s cooking lab – yes, there’s a cooking lab, how cool is that?! – all within an allocated budget.

Real-world Job Preparation

To get a real sense of what the job application process looks like, students get hands-on practice writing their CVs and even submit mock job applications, which are then reviewed, with the top applicants selected for interviews and everyone receiving plenty of detailed feedback. Work experience starts for GESS students in Grade 9, while in Grades 11 and 12 students have weekly 45-minute-long guidance sessions tackling passion exploration, understanding university courses, application processes and more.

When it comes to university applications, GESS students get plenty of practice working on their personal statements and college essays, and even participate in mock interviews (including body language training!). The school will also host a university fair where reputable universities from around the world will come to campus to host booths and provide valuable first-hand information on their programmes directly to GESS students.

Support for Third Culture Kids

As a multicultural school with students from over 65 nationalities, GESS recognises that international school graduates are often uniquely positioned as Third Culture Kids. As such, counsellors strive to help students understand the transition cycle they’ll likely go through when leaving GESS for university, where they’re apt to meet peers who might not necessarily relate to their TCK experiences! As they prepare to embark on the next step in their educational journey, GESS students are taught what to expect and how to cope with the emotional challenges attached to the leaving, transition and re-entering stages.

All of this is just one aspect of the myriad ways in which GESS supports its students and fosters a tight-knit community from the very start. To find out more about all the exciting paths your child can take with a GESS education and how its programmes help students be ready for tomorrow, be sure to join their upcoming Open House on 8 October. All the deets are below, mama!

All the details!
What: GESS Open Day
When: Tuesday 8 October 2019
Timing: 9:30am
Where: GESS, 2 Dairy Farm Lane, Singapore 677621
RSVP: Click here to register! Call (+65) 6461 0881 with any questions.

GESS, www.gess.sg