Monika’s Pathway: A Reinvention

Monika is joining Amsterdam University College for the selective Liberal Arts programme under the University of Amsterdam, where she will read Social Sciences. “It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for,” she says, “A space where I can explore how the world work and my place in it.”

Monika’s relationship with learning has never been linear. Raised between cultures – half Japanese, half Dutch – her early schooling was entirely within a Japanese curriculum. “Everything was taught in Japanese,” she recalls, “so when I moved, I had to relearn everything in English. Sciences, Maths—everything.” The transition, she admits, was “way harder” than she had anticipated. But, perhaps unknowingly, she was already building the resilience that would define her pathway. “If I had known how hard it would be, I might have been too scared to do it,” she says, “So it’s probably a good thing I didn’t.”

That ability to adapt consistently threads through her academic choices. Even Physics, a subject she insists she won’t pursue further, played a formative role. “It wasn’t a natural fit,” she says, “but it taught me discipline. I genuinely had to work for it.” It is this willingness to engage with discomfort that ultimately shapes her confidence moving forward. “I think I became a lot more hardworking because of it,” she reflects, “and I’ll carry that with me.”

Yet, if Social Science is where she is headed, and Physics is what tested her, Art is where Monika found clarity.

Her IB Visual Arts portfolio was, in many ways, autobiographical. Centred on the theme of identity, her work traced a narrative arc from uncertainty to renewal. “It started with this idea of losing your identity,” she explains, “especially in your teenage years—when you don’t really know who you are.” But the story did not end there. Instead, it transformed. “I shifted towards the idea of rebirth—how those difficult experiences actually shape you into someone stronger.”

The centrepiece? A luminous exploration of lilies; delicate, fleeting and quietly powerful. “They only bloom for a few days,” she says, “but they come back every season. I think that’s what identity is like—it changes, it fades, but it always returns in a new way.”

There is a poetic symmetry to how her artistic process mirrored her lived experience. “At one point, I was completely overwhelmed,” she admits, “IB was so intense, and I just felt lost. But then I realised – that’s exactly what I was creating in my artwork.” By the final year, everything clicked. Her concluding piece, a dress titled Sweet Disposition, encapsulated that journey. “It was about how kindness and character come from constantly rebuilding yourself. And by then, I had actually lived that.”

If Art gave her a language for introspection, school life gave her a sense of belonging.

Monika’s memories are less about milestones and more about moments: small, intimate, deeply human. “We used to sit by the ping pong tables,” she says, laughing, “there were six of us, all squeezed onto those sofas. None of us were even in the same tutor group.” What began as coincidence became routine, and then something more enduring. “Now they’re my closest friends.”

There is a warmth in the way she describes her time at school, a warmth she fears she might miss in Europe. “There’s something about Bangkok,” she reflects, “people are just… softer. More open. It feels cosy.” She pauses, then adds, “I don’t know if I’ll find that in Amsterdam. But I’ll try.”

Beyond friendships, it was sport that shaped her sense of confidence and leadership. From football to softball, from early experimentation to co-captaining a team to a near-championship finish, Monika embraced every season. “You can just try anything,” she says, “That’s what I loved.”

As a Captain, she learned balance, not just strategy. “You have to be supportive, but also push people,” she explains, “you can’t be too harsh, but you also can’t be too soft.” Her team even developed rituals, blending humour and focus into moments of collective calm. “We’d sit in a circle and meditate to loud music,” she says, “it started as a joke, but it really worked.”

It is, perhaps, the perfect metaphor for Monika herself: thoughtful yet grounded, serious yet light, always in the process of becoming.

“I don’t think I’ve figured everything out yet,” she admits, “But that’s okay.” Here’s to the next version of Adventure Monika!