​Name: Fil Lekkas
Year Graduated: 2010
Age: 20
University: Yale
Course: Liberal Arts, double majoring in Political Science and Economics

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(1) Please describe your course in a few words
a. Like almost all students in the US, I’m doing a liberal arts program. That means that we choose new courses every semester, and are more or less free to study what we want provided that we fulfil several distributional requirements (these vary between colleges) and complete the requirements of one major e.g. Political Science, Music, or anything in between. So far I’ve taken classes in the Chinese, English, German Studies, Political Science, Economics, Mathematics, Philosophy, Anthropology, Sociology, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Architecture departments, but I’ll probably double major in Political Science and Economics, and plan to write a senior thesis on Europe’s Political Economy. I spend a lot of time doing extracurriculars, including competing with the Debate Team and the Model United Nations Team, serving on the boards of the Hellenic Society and the European Undergraduates, occasionally running committees for the International Relations Association, assisting in the management of the Dwight Hall Socially Responsible Investment Fund, and working for the Office of Sustainability.
 

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(2) What IB subjects did you take?

a. Higher: Math, Economics, History, English
b. Standard: Physics, German B

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(3) What is the most important thing to do to be successful in IB and IGCSE?
a. Take control of your education. Constantly try and see how you can make things more interesting for you, and try and twist assignments into being relevant to your life and interests. Read a lot, and plan. Work as efficiently as possible—find out what study times and conditions work for you. High school should be fun and stress-free, but it should also be more deeply satisfying in that you begin to discover the kinds of passions that you can build on in college.
 

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(4) What did you find most important when deciding which university to apply to?

a. Nothing in particular—I considered many different factors and weighed each according to how much I thought it mattered. The main factor was of course the quality of education, but at the point at which it was more or less the same I looked at things like course structure, location, factors influencing the social life, which place I had more friends, and which school had a better debate program.

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(5) Could you give us some advice about University life?
a. It will vary immensely depending on where you go, so I’ll reserve my comments to things that the vast majority of students could find useful or interesting. Try out a lot of things initially, and drop them as soon as you find that they aren’t what you’re looking for. Don’t feel pressured to commit—you have the right to say maybe to things initially. Be honest about your experiences—if you’re not enjoying a class or an organization, articulate your concerns and reach out to people, especially those who have been at university for a while. Don’t fall victim to wilful ignorance—always know what you have due when, as it’s the best insurance against procrastination. Travel as much as possible—doing so will be later in the future. Finally, don’t be scared of change—you will change, your friends will change, and your interests will change. Also, if it is within your capabilities, financial and otherwise, come to the US.

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(6) If you could re-do upper-school, is there anything you’d do differently?
a. Though I took my education in my own hands in a lot of cases—with St. Catherine’s’ considerable support—I’d have done that even further, maybe even being a little more entrepreneurial about creating the kinds of institutions I thought our school lacked e.g. school newspaper. I would also have looked for more ways to be active in my wider community and city: I think that Athens has a lot to offer if you approach it open-mindedly.

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(7) What is the most important piece of advice you can give to other students about coping with exams?
a. The first question you should ask yourself is what you can and can’t control, and then strike entirely from your concern the things you can’t control. Then look at what you can do, and focus on doing everything you can in that domain. And then based on that, make sure you have realistic expectations. If you didn’t study, don’t be surprised when you get a bad grade. If you were deathly sick in the weeks before the exam, then you shouldn’t feel bad about getting a bad grade. Don’t get sucked down by the past—focus on what you can learn from it, and how you can apply the lessons learnt into making the future better.