Ariana - India

I have had the amazing opportunity to study IBDP Theatre Arts HL with Shirin Laghai at UWC Dilijan, Armenia. Through these two years I have come to see my skills develop not only as an actor but as a theatre practitioner as a whole. Shirin has always been extremely professional and dedicated to her line of work, and instilled a sense of discipline and respect for theatre in our class which I will carry ahead with me in my line of work too, since it has proven to be very beneficial to me. She has always been an excellent judge of character. Knowing exactly where her students' strengths and weaknesses lie, she would work in tandem with all of us to bring out the best in us. Shirin expected nothing less than the best we were capable of, which I am extremely grateful to her for. She has pushed me out of my comfort zone on multiple occasions helping me explore not only my talents but also the trust I have in myself to reach new levels of skill and discipline which I would never have been able to do on my own or with another teacher.

 

Inside and outside the classroom Shirin was an extremely generous and caring person to us in terms of support and her own time, always being there for us in times of our stress during examination or otherwise regarding non-academics too. One quality which I have very rarely seen in an educator is the extra effort that she makes to go out of her way and take a personal interest in her students, and hence working in different ways with each one of us to bring out our best.

 

I am studying towards attaining my bachelor's degree in Acting which I don’t think would have been possible without Shirin. She was the only person I have worked with so far who has created a work environment where I have had to constantly work at proving myself worthy of pursuing a career in this field, and hence being confident and brave enough to pursue what I want.