Ariana Misha says consortium school let her pursue civics and global activism

Hello members of the council and everyone present in this room.

My name is Ariana Misha.

I'm a junior at the New York Institute for Collaborative Education in Manhattan, a member school in the consortium.

I began ninth grade in a traditional high school, which emphasized AP classes, leaving little time for extracurricular activities.

That had always been important to me.

I even quit debating, which I had done for five years.

Everyone was just trying to pass tests.

I started going to NICE at 10th grade.

I'm surely learning a lot more than before, because NICE creates pathways for a student to chase their passion, both in and out of school.

My human rights teachers organized a mock United Nations conference in the class rather than just teaching in a traditional way.

And this inspired me to follow my passion for civics and take up Model UN as my extracurricular activity and also serving as a youth delegate at the General Assembly at the United Nations headquarter.

I'm currently on the debate team and the president of our newspaper club, and I consider myself a true global citizen.

NICE has allowed me to take my interests in an academy direction.

For my neuroscience panel this year, I'll be looking at how the involvement in political activities at an early age has a long-term effect on the brain and personality development.

We as students aren't bound to learn only one thing, determined by someone else, but rather, we get the chance to choose our own passion by making every word reflected.

All consortium schools, including NICE, has banned the use of AI during the pre-bat process.

Our works are project-based, and which doesn't always make us needy to use AI.

Last year,

I've done multiple advocacy efforts, which includes fighting against AI with Nightclue and being part of a national and international sustainable development goal campaign.

My school for me is a place where I grow and learn by interacting with my teachers, calling them by their first name, and gaining confidence and collaborating with my peers for every project, while also being highly active in different social and international activism.

The goal of education should be to create students who knows how to pass a test.

It should not be to create students who knows how to pass a test, but graduates who can actually change the world.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.