TFS - Canada's International School

FEATURE FEATURE Peter Hill by Ahsan E., Level IV Many of us take our high school lives for granted. Peter Hill '08, however, jumped headlong into TFS' social and academic opportunities, which have benefitted him ever since. TFS was a "very focused and intense community, both academically and socially, which led to close friendships and the sense that anything was within my reach academically." Peter's TFS journey was defined by both his heavy course load and his strong social circles. He took the notably challenging Higher Level "I try to be a bright light for people. That's why I act and teach and do my health coaching." activities that continued well into her evenings. Following graduation, she took a gap year before attending Roosevelt University in Chicago. Alongside her acting career, Ms. Giles is also teaching piano and theatre, and running a health coaching business. As a teaching artist to young kids at the Emerald City Theatre, Ms. Giles focuses her classes on building ensembles and helping her students reach their full potential. Her passion to give back to her community was cultivated at TFS. "I have a family because of my school. I am best friends with so many people from my graduating class, which, I think, is a testament to the quality of the experience there," she says. "TFS has impacted my whole life; I feel like it has made me who I am." While Ms. Giles' life may be hectic and challenging, she loves every second of it. "In all aspects of my life, I try to be a bright light for people. That's why I act and teach and do my health coaching. It all makes me feel like I have a purpose," she says. "People are improving, seeing themselves in a different light because I've been a part of their journey. My goal is to encourage people to be themselves and believe in more than just the status quo." (HL) physics and math combo, a favourite for future engineers. However, upon his entrance to the University of Cambridge, he decided to take the biology path and continued on to pursue a PhD in stem cell research at Imperial College London. Currently doing post-doctoral research on antibiotic resistance in London, England, his reasoning behind switching away from stem cell research is fascinating. "I began to understand how stem cell therapy might actually benefit human health, and I realised that in the vast majority of cases it requires surgery," he explains. "To actually survive surgery, you need to be able to control an infection. Antimicrobial resistance gives bacteria an increased ability to flourish, and I saw academics and health care professionals everywhere saying that this is a terrifying problem we, as a community, have to address immediately. So I made the switch to researching antibiotic resistance because I knew it was an important issue which my academic background could support." This was obv- iously not an overnight decision, but one that took time and the understanding of the value antibiotic resistance research had, and how he could help the field. "I recognize now that the teachers and the community at TFS definitely encouraged the idea that I could achieve anything academically if I wanted to." 25 TFS ENTRE NOUS 2016

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