Four Years Ago, I Spoke Less Than Five Words of English. Now I’m One of the top IB Scorers.

When I say “almost no English,” I really mean it. The only phrase I knew was basically, “I have a pen. I have an apple.” That was my starting point.

Then COVID happened.

For someone who had just joined a new school in a new country, and could not really speak the language, that was not a great situation. Everything was online. I had no friends at first, no real conversations, and no way to express myself properly. Honestly, my first year felt like a nightmare.

If WISS had been a different kind of school, I think I would have gone back to Japan.

What made me stay was the fact that this school felt different from the beginning. In my previous school in Japan, there were around forty students in one class and hundreds in one year group. It was easy to feel invisible. At WISS, I never felt like just a number. Teachers actually cared about who I was, even when I could barely speak.

Mr. DeLuna helped me a lot in those early years. He opened an after-school English support class for me and my sister, and that became the foundation for everything that came later. But it was not only him. A lot of teachers supported me. If I asked for help, they would always try to find a way. Sometimes during breaks, sometimes after school, sometimes during their free time. That kind of support made a huge difference.

Later, I became the kind of student who was always going to teachers with questions. In my last two years, I was probably outside Mr. José’s and Ms. Selva’s classrooms all the time. I asked a lot of questions, and they were always patient with me. I am really grateful for that.

Another big part of my experience was soccer.

I was very shy when I first arrived, and speaking in class felt difficult for a long time. But on the soccer pitch, I realised I could still connect with people without needing perfect grammar. I could communicate through how I played. That helped me feel more comfortable, and slowly that confidence started to carry over into the rest of school life too.

My friends also helped me more than I can explain properly. Some people kept talking to me, joking with me, and including me even when I could barely respond. I still remember that, because small things like that mattered a lot at the time.

Looking back, I think WISS changed more than just my English. It changed the way I see things. Before coming here, my world felt smaller. I think I only saw one path in front of me. But being here, meeting different people, hearing different opinions, and learning in a different environment changed my perspective a lot. My world became bigger.

That is probably the biggest thing I gained here.

Now, I can do things that once felt impossible to me. A few years ago, I could not imagine speaking confidently in English, let alone standing on a stage and speaking. But somehow, that happened.

Like the line from One Piece: “No matter how deep the night, it always turns to day.” I think that line describes my experience quite well.

My first years at WISS were hard. Really hard. But they also changed me.

I am grateful to the teachers who gave their time to help me, to the friends who stayed by my side, and to the school for making me feel like I belonged here even before I could fully express myself.

Four years ago, I came here with less than five words of English.

Now, I am leaving with confidence, determination, and proof that even the hardest beginning does not decide the ending.