Alumni Check-in: Arielle Shih (Class of 2024)

Q. Where do you live now? Why? What are you doing?

A: I live in Ann Arbor right now! I live in an apartment with four of my friends. I am a second year at the University of Michigan, studying biology on the pre-dental track. I spend most of my time studying, rehearsing for my acappella group, hosting events for the Taiwanese student club at Michigan, and playing mahjong with my friends.

I spend quite a lot of time on extracurriculars. Our acappella recently competed in the ICCAs which is a pretty big event for us. And we have three 2-hour rehearsals every week.

I’m currently also one of the co-president of our university’s Taiwanese club so I spend quite some time on that too. I’ve also been cooking a lot (US food really makes international students become really good cooks).

Q. What are the biggest differences between there and Kaohsiung? What’s the biggest similarities? 

A: Temperature is definitely the biggest difference. The weather, humidity, and temperature are all very different. Here it gets to nearly -20ºC and snows a lot.

School life wise has also been quite different. Since U of M is a public university we have pretty big classes.

Compared to high school, a lot of my classes are less assignment-heavy and more exam-heavy. I am very lucky to have a group of friends here at Michigan so my social life is pretty similar to back in Kaohsiung.

Q. What does a typical day look like for you?

A: This semester I intentionally scheduled all afternoon classes except for two days of the week. Because of my schedule, in the morning I have time to cook breakfast and do a little bit of studying before I go to class.

Then between classes I always have a 2 hour break where I can come home and cook lunch. Half of the weekdays I have a cappella rehearsal in the evening. When I don’t have exams, I usually hangout with my friends after rehearsal. Sometimes we study together, and sometimes we play mahjong together. 

Q. What's one thing you miss most about being a high school student?

A: One thing I miss about being a high school student is being able to go to class with my closest friends. Most of my friends are different majors as me, so it is very rare that I can register for the same course as my friends.

Q. What's the biggest lesson you’ve learned in the "real world" that you wish you knew while you were in high school?

A: One of the biggest lessons that I’ve learned in college is that connections are one of the most important things in life. I’ve met many people that have helped me in so many unexpected ways. And it’s always easier to ask for help when you have connections with other people.

I used to be very afraid to ask others for help, but I’ve learned that once you have the courage to ask others it can help you in unexpected ways. It never hurts to ask!

Q. What advice would you give to your high school self?

A: I think I would tell my high school self to have more confidence. It was harder for me to feel motivated when I had little confidence. Just having more confidence in myself made it more motivating to reach the goals that I set for myself.

Q. Did your KAS experience prepare you for life after graduation?

A: My experiences at KAS definitely prepared me for life after graduation. Language wise I’ve been at KAS for a long time so naturally it built my confidence and comfort in speaking English. The most noticeable thing for me is how much the IB program prepared me for college.

Although the biggest difference is that college semester contents go by a lot quicker than IB’s 2 year program, the process of studying for exams and the actual IB exam taking week gave a good representation for college. I do believe that every college is most likely very different, just from my own experience in IB did help me a lot with college preparation.

Q. What are you looking forward to most in the next five years?

A: Graduating! And HOPEFULLY getting into dental school. My biggest goal and what I’m working towards right now is getting into a good dental school and pursuing the dental route. So definitely looking forward to getting into a dental school that I love (hopefully it’s at Michigan!).

Q. Anything else? 

A: I really appreciate the experience I’ve gained from KAS, and I was at KAS for so long that I almost forgot how to make new friends. Before college, all of my friends were from KAS and so I’ve only recently really found myself confident to say that I’ve found my circle of friends in college! Hopefully everyone reading this right now can also find their circle and where they belong in a new environment!