by Marcela Talero-Hester Grade 1 Teacher, AISB 
 

This February, one of our students was accepted to pursue his PhD in Robotics at MIT. This might seem like normal news, but if you nd out the story behind this student, you will be amazed. What this alumnus has been able to achieve is the product of what all teachers at AISB do on a daily basis.

When Alex Wallar started at AISB in 10th grade, he was not the best behaved boy at all; actually his behavior and dedication to work left a lot to be desired. He was familiar with detention at school and he was also in academic supervision. It is fair to say that his rst semester at AISB was rather rocky.

Then, he met “the right girl,” supportive teachers, a high school counselor who cared, and an environment where he t in. He developed a love for math and robotics and found his passion. During the two years that he spent at AISB, he ourished.

He then went to Saint Andrews University where in just three years he got his BSc in computer science. During his time at Saint Andrews, he presented a research paper he wrote, at a conference at Oxford University; Alex was one of the youngest presenters and he was also invited
back for the following year’s conference. During his rst summer at University, Alex was invited for a summer internship at Notre Dame and the next summer he interned at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. He married his high school sweetheart in March 2014: read the piece on Jessica and Alex in the last issue of the WORLD magazine.

For his stag party, Alex came to Bucharest and helped Mr. Dean Hester, MYP IT Teacher and Robotics Coach, during that year’s Robotics competition. While in High School, Alex was one of the students who participated in the rst two Robotics competitions that AISB ran. Because he missed it and wanted to give something back to AISB, Alex also brought some of his classmates to help the AISB team out. Don’t worry, a more traditional celebration in Lipscani followed the full day of programming! Now, at just 20 years of age, Alex has been accepted to MIT for a PhD in Robotics.

Don’t worry if what I wrote above sounds a little bit personal, I asked him for his permission to share these details with you, and he was extremely happy to do so. When I told him how proud we were of him, Alex shared that this news wouldn’t have been possible without the support he got at AISB.

Although this is only Alex’s story, I am amazed at what our kids can do with their lives, and at the endless possibilities that, in some way, we all help to create. 


Read the entire WORLD Magazine Summer 2015 edition here.