MINERVA VOICES

A Conversation with Minerva Student Nathan

Meet Nathan, a student in the Class of 2021.

October 18, 2019

Why did you choose to attend Minerva?

I chose Minerva because I could not resist the allure of traveling around the world with a multicultural community of interesting people, who also wanted to learn how to solve modern problems. In high school, I was not set on any specific school, and even when I applied to Minerva, I was not even sure that Minerva was exactly what I wanted or needed. But the more I learned about it and the longer I’ve been a part of and challenged by this community, the more I’ve known that this was the right challenge for me. I was fortunate enough that Minerva fit my needs even before I fully understood what I wanted to accomplish.

What do you like about Minerva?

While this is also one of the toughest aspects of my Minerva experience, I absolutely love the global rotation structure of traveling to seven different countries in four years. The opportunity to experience different cultures, lifestyles, and work environments constantly forces me to step outside my comfort zone and set up a healthy lifestyle somewhere I may not speak the language or know the culture. I’m the kind of person who likes constant challenges, and that’s exactly what I’m getting here.

What do you enjoy most about being a part of the Minerva community? How would you describe the community?

Minerva students are very much like you and, also, very unique. Minerva tends to attract driven people — people who are passionate about a cause, who look to further themselves whether by securing a career, exploring the world, or being avid-learner. Like in any school, you can never fully predict what personalities your classmates will have, but at Minerva students also come from all around the world and different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. In our class, we have very quiet classmates, social butterflies, coding geniuses, and much more. What’s guaranteed though is that we are all open to being friends and helping one another out.

What would you tell another student who is considering Minerva?

You may be concerned about the “online” and “flipped-classroom” model of Minerva, where lessons are active and you have to know most of the content before class begins. This is definitely challenging, and if you are not proactive in studying or getting help from friends or your professors, you could easily get left behind. This is how I felt in my first year. I thought my peers were able to study independently and efficiently, and I was ashamed to reach out for help. However, I quickly realized that none of my classmates were studying or doing assignments completely on their own. They went to the professors’ office hours, asked teaching assistants questions, and even asked previous teachers and friends. Eventually, I realized that it was ok to seek support and came up with different tactics. I arranged one-on-one study sessions with classmates, read assignments weeks in advance, and also tried to support my classmates when they had questions.

Why do you think it is important to be a global citizen?

Thanks to the internet, mass globalization is inevitable in our future, and subsequently, the problems we are experiencing now will become even more interconnected. The actions of one, both good and bad, will exponentially affect others, such as climate change, war and displacement, and unrestrained capitalism. For me, being a global citizen not only implies being aware of how these different problems manifest around the world but also requires having the mindset and drive to look for and spread solutions around the world. It’s a large part of the reason why I chose United World College and Minerva. I believe that their mission and focus is exactly that — how to become a global citizen.

What else would you like to share about Minerva?

The Minerva experience is challenging. Like in every other challenging school and environment, it may not be the right fit for everyone. However, if you decide that this is the right challenge for you, you will have a whole network of classmates, upperclassmen, staff, and faculty to support you throughout your journey. These people will continue to believe in you. Believe in that and you will make some of your closest friends and enjoy some of the most spectacular and intimate moments around the world.

Does Minerva feel like a natural/obvious extension of your International Baccalaureate (IB) studies? If so, how?

Minerva is not a direct extension of the IB curriculum but there are some similarities. First, Minerva’s flipped model expects most of the initial learning and effort to be done ahead of class. It’s not always easy to find the answers, but, similar to the IB program, Minerva’s curriculum outlines clear expectations of what you need to know in each subject and the specific resources to help you learn. The main difference lies in the subjects. The IB program offers a wide range of subjects but all of them are traditional, such as Biology or Math. On the other hand, in addition to five broader college majors, Minerva also a wide variety of concentrations, each relevant to modern society. For example, one Computational Science class is CS112, a comprehensive data analysis and decision science course incorporating R, a widely-used statistical programming language.

Why did you decide to attend a UWC school?

My parents first encouraged me to apply to UWC Pearson because they knew it would be the ideal environment for me to grow into a responsible, mature adult. It also followed the rigorous IB curriculum and they knew it would be beneficial for my education and career prospects, along with providing a holistic experience. I also thought it would be cool to live abroad with teenagers from around the world.

Looking back, I would definitely have applied for UWC Pearson again because of my personal growth. It was the ideal environment to explore my independence and learn about my passions. It set the ground for me to learn how to be comfortable being alone and with others. By living internationally and with a highly international student body, I developed a strong sense of cultural awareness and respect for different lifestyles.

If you were inspired by Nathan’s story and are seeking a college experience that will teach you valuable pragmatic skills that will enable you to change the world, apply to join Minerva today.

Quick Facts

Name
Nathan Torento
Country
Baguio City, Philippines
Class
2021
Major

Social Sciences & Business

Business & Computational Sciences

Business and Social Sciences

Social Sciences and Business

Computational Sciences & Social Sciences

Computer Science & Arts and Humanities

Business and Computational Sciences

Business and Social Sciences

Natural Sciences

Arts and Humanities

Business, Social Sciences

Business & Arts and Humanities

Computational Sciences

Natural Sciences, Computer Science

Computational Sciences

Arts & Humanities

Computational Sciences, Social Sciences

Computational Sciences

Computational Sciences

Natural Sciences, Social Sciences

Social Sciences, Natural Sciences

Data Science, Statistics

Computational Sciences

Business

Computational Sciences, Data Science

Social Sciences

Natural Sciences

Business, Natural Sciences

Business, Social Sciences

Computational Sciences

Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Computational Sciences, Natural Sciences

Natural Sciences

Computational Sciences, Social Sciences

Business, Social Sciences

Computational Sciences

Natural Sciences, Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences

Arts & Humanities, Social Science

Social Sciences, Business

Arts & Humanities

Computational Sciences, Social Science

Natural Sciences, Computer Science

Computational Science, Statistic Natural Sciences

Business & Social Sciences

Computational Science, Social Sciences

Social Sciences and Business

Business

Arts and Humanities

Computational Sciences

Social Sciences

Social Sciences and Computational Sciences

Social Sciences & Computational Sciences

Social Sciences & Arts and Humanities

Computational Science

Minor

Computational Science & Business

Economics

Social Sciences

Concentration

Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence & Cognition, Brain, and Behavior

Designing Societies & New Ventures

Strategic Finance & Data Science and Statistics

Brand Management and Designing Societies

Data Science & Economics

Machine Learning

Cells, Organisms, Data Science, Statistics

Arts & Literature and Historical Forces

Artificial Intelligence & Computer Science

Cells and Organisms, Mind and Emotion

Economics, Physics

Managing Operational Complexity and Strategic Finance

Global Development Studies and Brain, Cognition, and Behavior

Scalable Growth, Designing Societies

Business

Drug Discovery Research, Designing and Implementing Policies

Historical Forces, Cognition, Brain, and Behavior

Artificial Intelligence, Psychology

Designing Solutions, Data Science and Statistics

Data Science and Statistic, Theoretical Foundations of Natural Science

Strategic Finance, Politics, Government, and Society

Data Analysis, Cognition

Brand Management

Data Science and Statistics & Economics

Cognitive Science & Economics

Data Science and Statistics and Contemporary Knowledge Discovery

Internship
Higia Technologies
Project Development and Marketing Analyst Intern at VIVITA, a Mistletoe company
Business Development Intern, DoSomething.org
Business Analyst, Clean Energy Associates (CEA)

Conversation

Why did you choose to attend Minerva?

I chose Minerva because I could not resist the allure of traveling around the world with a multicultural community of interesting people, who also wanted to learn how to solve modern problems. In high school, I was not set on any specific school, and even when I applied to Minerva, I was not even sure that Minerva was exactly what I wanted or needed. But the more I learned about it and the longer I’ve been a part of and challenged by this community, the more I’ve known that this was the right challenge for me. I was fortunate enough that Minerva fit my needs even before I fully understood what I wanted to accomplish.

What do you like about Minerva?

While this is also one of the toughest aspects of my Minerva experience, I absolutely love the global rotation structure of traveling to seven different countries in four years. The opportunity to experience different cultures, lifestyles, and work environments constantly forces me to step outside my comfort zone and set up a healthy lifestyle somewhere I may not speak the language or know the culture. I’m the kind of person who likes constant challenges, and that’s exactly what I’m getting here.

What do you enjoy most about being a part of the Minerva community? How would you describe the community?

Minerva students are very much like you and, also, very unique. Minerva tends to attract driven people — people who are passionate about a cause, who look to further themselves whether by securing a career, exploring the world, or being avid-learner. Like in any school, you can never fully predict what personalities your classmates will have, but at Minerva students also come from all around the world and different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. In our class, we have very quiet classmates, social butterflies, coding geniuses, and much more. What’s guaranteed though is that we are all open to being friends and helping one another out.

What would you tell another student who is considering Minerva?

You may be concerned about the “online” and “flipped-classroom” model of Minerva, where lessons are active and you have to know most of the content before class begins. This is definitely challenging, and if you are not proactive in studying or getting help from friends or your professors, you could easily get left behind. This is how I felt in my first year. I thought my peers were able to study independently and efficiently, and I was ashamed to reach out for help. However, I quickly realized that none of my classmates were studying or doing assignments completely on their own. They went to the professors’ office hours, asked teaching assistants questions, and even asked previous teachers and friends. Eventually, I realized that it was ok to seek support and came up with different tactics. I arranged one-on-one study sessions with classmates, read assignments weeks in advance, and also tried to support my classmates when they had questions.

Why do you think it is important to be a global citizen?

Thanks to the internet, mass globalization is inevitable in our future, and subsequently, the problems we are experiencing now will become even more interconnected. The actions of one, both good and bad, will exponentially affect others, such as climate change, war and displacement, and unrestrained capitalism. For me, being a global citizen not only implies being aware of how these different problems manifest around the world but also requires having the mindset and drive to look for and spread solutions around the world. It’s a large part of the reason why I chose United World College and Minerva. I believe that their mission and focus is exactly that — how to become a global citizen.

What else would you like to share about Minerva?

The Minerva experience is challenging. Like in every other challenging school and environment, it may not be the right fit for everyone. However, if you decide that this is the right challenge for you, you will have a whole network of classmates, upperclassmen, staff, and faculty to support you throughout your journey. These people will continue to believe in you. Believe in that and you will make some of your closest friends and enjoy some of the most spectacular and intimate moments around the world.

Does Minerva feel like a natural/obvious extension of your International Baccalaureate (IB) studies? If so, how?

Minerva is not a direct extension of the IB curriculum but there are some similarities. First, Minerva’s flipped model expects most of the initial learning and effort to be done ahead of class. It’s not always easy to find the answers, but, similar to the IB program, Minerva’s curriculum outlines clear expectations of what you need to know in each subject and the specific resources to help you learn. The main difference lies in the subjects. The IB program offers a wide range of subjects but all of them are traditional, such as Biology or Math. On the other hand, in addition to five broader college majors, Minerva also a wide variety of concentrations, each relevant to modern society. For example, one Computational Science class is CS112, a comprehensive data analysis and decision science course incorporating R, a widely-used statistical programming language.

Why did you decide to attend a UWC school?

My parents first encouraged me to apply to UWC Pearson because they knew it would be the ideal environment for me to grow into a responsible, mature adult. It also followed the rigorous IB curriculum and they knew it would be beneficial for my education and career prospects, along with providing a holistic experience. I also thought it would be cool to live abroad with teenagers from around the world.

Looking back, I would definitely have applied for UWC Pearson again because of my personal growth. It was the ideal environment to explore my independence and learn about my passions. It set the ground for me to learn how to be comfortable being alone and with others. By living internationally and with a highly international student body, I developed a strong sense of cultural awareness and respect for different lifestyles.

If you were inspired by Nathan’s story and are seeking a college experience that will teach you valuable pragmatic skills that will enable you to change the world, apply to join Minerva today.