Where the sound of reading meets the autumn light, and where distant horizons meet young minds. Over this academic year, doors opening onto a wider world have been unlatched one after another on the Starriver campus. The arrival of renowned universities from home and abroad has brought stories of distant places before our students. The institutions visiting on this occasion came from a range of countries and regions, including both comprehensive universities with a full array of disciplines and well-known colleges distinguished for liberal arts education. The event ran in two venues, with presentation sessions and a college fair held side by side, so that students and parents could listen to a presentation or sit down for a face-to-face conversation with the guest speakers.

The presentations were held in three sessions, in which UC Berkeley, a joint session of four liberal arts colleges, and Carnegie Mellon University each introduced their application and educational features.

The joint session of Vassar College, Skidmore College, Pitzer College and Claremont McKenna College focused on holistic review, noting that grades are not the sole measure and that intellectual curiosity, classroom engagement and a spirit of research are valued more highly; extracurricular activities are assessed for depth and real impact rather than quantity or titles.

The Carnegie Mellon University session was led by Mr. McMillen Andrew Peter, Senior Associate Director of Admission, who focused on the university’s distinctive interdisciplinary programs. In the Q&A session, the guest answered questions on arts-related applications, the qualities of an ideal applicant and financial support for international students.

In every question asked and every answer given, distant places drew a little nearer. Four sessions, four windows: what our students saw was not only different campuses and classrooms, but also a glimpse of who they might yet become. May these echoes from afar become the steady direction of their steps ahead.