GIBS Alumni Destinations – Class of 2018/19

September 28, 2021

Alumni

Last school year, the vice student representative of GIBS, Alen Saracevic, implemented an annual GIBS Alumni Destinations project with the help of Mrs. Saringer. Each year alumni which graduated two years ago will be surveyed on where they are currently living, what they are studying or working, and which advice they would give to students when deciding what to do after school. They also can share any interesting stories about their life after GIBS.

This project aims to give insight to current students on all the various career/educational paths they can pursue after graduating, inform teachers on where past students are currently and what they are doing, and strengthen the alumni community.

The alumni from the first edition of GIBS Alumni Destinations graduated in 2018 as well as 2019 and are currently located in eight different countries and are studying at more than 30 different universities. This brings the “I” (for International) in GIBS to the foreground.

The 1^st edition of the GIBS Alumni Destinations project has been published in the yearbook on a double page. Additionally, alumni were encouraged to join the GIBS Alumni Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/gibsalumni/).

Comments from alumni:

Studying at GIBS opened up so many opportunities for me and I am so grateful for the time I had there.

Vincent Pucher (’18 8B)

A lot of the things we learned at GIBS were really useful for my life after school, also in my gap year, which I spent in the US.

Elisa Weiß (’18 8C)

After graduating from GIBS I stood before the hardest decision I’ve ever had to take in my life until that point. What to do next? I felt a bit lost and was really overwhelmed by all the possibilities I had. But then I remembered what all those school years had taught me: Explore the possible options, listen to your gut and enjoy every second of uncertainty.

So, no sooner said than done I found myself writing a dozen of applications for different voluntary services, checking out universities and courses of studies in all of Austria, and trying to understand what I really wanted to do; what I’d wish to have an impact on in this world….

A fantastic summer and a few letters of denial went by as I decided to just give my hometown Graz a chance. Impulsively I registered at Karl Franzens University not so certain yet what I would do about the uncertainty. The first semester I tried out various courses such as Italian, Spanish, Physics, Environmental Science, Teaching Degree for Secondary Schools, and even attended some history and medicine lectures. Until one day I tried out a law lecture. And I was thrilled. So much new knowledge and such a different way of thinking and perceiving. I really loved listening to the new professors.

At first, I wasn’t sure to study law though. It seemed a bit wrong to me, because of my prejudices and impulsiveness. But then the new semester had begun, and I decided to give it a chance. Since then, I haven’t stopped to enthuse myself about my studies and feeling proud about myself to have dared to take this step. So, my advice to anyone graduating this year from GIBS is: Relax, lean back and explore your options, and most importantly: ENJOY IT!

Sarah Schreiber (’18 8C)

After having spent a year as an Au Pair in Paris I decided to move back to Graz to study languages. I will be changing my course next year because I realized that I would much rather become a teacher and work with children.