Continuing our Sharing Stories series with the Amsterdam International Community School Alumni group, this week we hear from Mateo Cajiao Vargas, a Business Administration Honours student and freelance photographer.

I joined AICS in 2009, but before starting Group 1 I technically did a full year at the SKON Blauwe Rotspinguïn nursery in the old building from 2007 to 2008 - so I was around for quite a while.  I graduated in 2023.  I was on the graduation committee and all - a shout-out to Debbie Popplewell for helping us plan it all!

After leaving the AICS, I started uni.  Apart from a trip with some friends, I spent the summer after graduation relaxing, working, and picking up a new interest - photography.  I'm now in my second year at the University of Amsterdam as a Business Administration honours student. On the side, I've also become a freelance photographer; something I'm really passionate about and improving every day.

A favourite memory of mine from the AICS was from the first time we went on a long school trip in Group 6 to "Space Camp" at the Euro Space Center in Belgium. Our teacher, Mr. Simon Elgood (shout-out as well!), was even more enthusiastic about science and space exploration than we were, which only made the trip even better. The coolest part by far was building our own rockets and firing them - in fact, I took ours home without telling my teammate, Phoenix. We all still bring up funny anecdotes from that trip and it'll definitely go down as one of my fondest AICS memories.

My advice to current AICS students would be: Pursue what you enjoy the most, not just what you think will be useful. If you want to study a double bachelor's degree, do that. If you want to become a deep-sea diver, do that. If you want to start a nonprofit to reinvent education, do that.  These are all examples of people I know who have found their calling.

What I'm trying to say is that if you're passionate enough about what you want to do, you'll find a way to make it work. Be reasonable though, guys!