IB graduate profile - Maria Charles

Graduated from Mahindra United World College, India, in 2002.

"My name is Maria Charles and I'm an Indian citizen. I graduated from the Mahindra United World College of India in May 2002, a small IB school of 200 international students about four hours from Bombay. I am now a long way from home at Wellesley College near Boston on a full academic scholarship.

In the summer before college I traveled around South India on a shoestring budget with friends from high school, which was a well-deserved break after the IB exams. Now at Wellesley, I fill my time with photography and drama classes in addition to continuing with my Economics, History and Political Science courses since I plan to major in International Relations. I tackled my first semester History dissertation with much gusto and confidence thanks to prior experience with my Extended Essay! The IB has certainly provided good grounding for the rigors of college level academics.

Aside from classes, I work for the Wellesley Magazine in addition to serving as a student assistant in the Office of Communications and Publications. In the few months that I have been at college I have had the opportunity to do many interesting things like attend a conversation with Gorbachev at Harvard University, participate in an anti-war march in New York, and listen to Senator Hillary Clinton (a Wellesley alumnus) speak. I look forward to studying abroad in Spain during my junior year and backpacking across Europe with friends next summer. The possibilities here seem limitless."