The dreaded \u201cMidland bubble\u201d is something that nearly all DHS students love to hate. The general belief is that once a person is born here, they\u2019re stuck here dreaming of the \u201coutside world\u201d until they can make their escape.<\/p>\n
But for senior Shane Huisman, Midland is one of several places to call home. Because of his parents\u2019 work at Dow, Huisman has lived in the Netherlands, Texas, Switzerland, and, of course, Midland.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the moment, moving sucks,\u201d Huisman said. \u201cBut looking back on all the times I\u2019ve moved, I\u2019m really happy that I did it. I\u2019ve experienced so many different things that other people don\u2019t have the chance to. I\u2019ve been a part of so many different cultures and met so many people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nowhere was this benefit of being immersed in many different ways of life more apparent than in Huisman\u2019s school in Switzerland.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to international school, so everyone was from a different culture,\u201d Huisman said. \u201cIt just [made] one giant culture of mixed people, so it was a cool thing to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Huisman has seen this pattern of a global perspective on learning continue in his high school years as one of DHS\u2019 International Baccalaureate diploma candidates. The program aims to mold students into \u201cworld scholars\u201d by emphasizing perspectives on learning from cultures around the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people just get snippits of [the IB experience] because they just take some of the classes,\u201d Huisman said. \u201cBut if you do the full diploma, you get to see it all fit together. I really like that, and that sort of compliments what I\u2019ve done my whole life since I\u2019ve done the IB program in elementary and middle school, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
One other major perk of living in Europe came during the summer before Huisman\u2019s freshman year when he traveled to Africa along with 20 classmates and two of his teachers to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a mission trip or anything, but it really turned into an eye-opening experience for me because we would drive into these African towns that were completely different from anything I\u2019d seen before,\u201d Huisman said. \u201cI think it\u2019s important to take advantage of the opportunities you have, so I went there and it was probably the best experience of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
To learn more about the IB program, visit their website at http:\/\/www.ibo.org<\/p>\n
By Rachel Reardon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The dreaded \u201cMidland bubble\u201d is something that nearly all DHS students love to hate. The general belief is that once a person is born here, they\u2019re stuck here dreaming of the \u201coutside world\u201d until they can make their escape. But for senior Shane Huisman, Midland is one of several places to call home. Because of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":358,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3feature"],"yoast_head":"\n