I have never really had a conventional journey.
I was born in South Africa, come from an Angolan and Congolese background, and over the years I have lived in South Africa, Angola, Portugal, the Netherlands, Colombia, and now Spain.
Growing up internationally has given me experiences I would never trade, but it has also meant that my education has not always followed the straightforward path that institutions expect.
Before joining Sapienti, I attended another international school in Portugal. I first heard about Sapienti through a friend, but what convinced me to make the move was the environment.
From the beginning, it felt different.
I wanted a more flexible and personalised route towards university—somewhere that could adapt to me as a student rather than expecting every student to fit into exactly the same system.
That is what I found at Sapienti.
I was ambitious and focused when I arrived, although I was still very much figuring out who I was and what I wanted my future to look like.
What stood out to me was how personally invested the teachers were in that process. Conversations were not limited to grades, assignments or what happened inside the classroom.
Teachers were genuinely willing to sit down, talk about life, university, ambitions and the decisions ahead of me.
I never felt like I was simply another student passing through the school.
I felt that the people around me genuinely cared about where I would end up and, just as importantly, whether I would be happy when I got there.
The flexibility at Sapienti was also incredibly important to me.
Sport has always been a major part of my life, particularly football. The discipline I developed through sport naturally carried over into my education, but balancing the two was not always easy.
Training schedules and school schedules do not always cooperate.
At Sapienti, there was an understanding that students can have ambitions beyond the classroom. That flexibility allowed me to take both seriously rather than feeling that I had to sacrifice one for the other.
Perhaps the clearest example of what Sapienti meant to me came when I was applying to university in the Netherlands.
Because I had studied in different countries—including South Africa, Angola and Portugal—my academic background did not fit neatly into the traditional Dutch admissions system.
Despite having the necessary AICE diploma, my international educational journey was initially misunderstood, and I was told that I could not enter university.
It was incredibly frustrating.
I knew what I had achieved, but on paper my journey looked unusual enough that it was being underestimated.
That was when Sapienti stepped in.
Paulo and the teachers did everything they could to support me. They helped provide documentation, explanations and evidence to demonstrate not only that I met the requirements, but that academically I was more than prepared to enter university.
Instead of simply saying, “You have graduated, so this is no longer our responsibility,” they helped me find a solution.
That experience has always stayed with me because it represents what Sapienti was about for me: people who were willing to look beyond the standard route and understand the person behind it.
Paulo in particular has remained an important person throughout my journey.
Whether academically or personally, he has always been willing to help me think through a problem and find a solution, even years after I graduated.
He has probably become my most reliable emergency contact whenever something complicated appears in my academic life.
After Sapienti, I moved to the Netherlands and took a gap year to assimilate and prepare for the next chapter.
I then began studying International Business at the Amsterdam School of International Business.
That decision opened another series of doors.
During my degree, I had the opportunity to go on exchange to Colombia—another country, another culture and another experience that challenged the way I see the world.
Now, my next chapter takes me to Madrid, where I will be working in sports marketing, bringing together two things that have shaped a large part of my life: international business and sport.
When I look back, there is a clear line connecting these experiences.
Growing up internationally taught me how much there is to learn from people who have completely different backgrounds from your own.
Sapienti reflected that perfectly.
In an international environment, you meet people whose stories resemble yours and others whose lives could not be more different—and that is one of the most valuable parts of the experience.
If the younger version of me who first walked into Sapienti could see where I am today, I think he would be proud.
Proud of the countries I have lived in, the people I have met, the experiences I have had and everything I have learned along the way.
But I think he would also be excited, because the journey is nowhere near finished.
For any student considering Sapienti today, I would say that its value goes far beyond getting from secondary school to university.
For me, it was having people around me who understood that every student has a different story, different ambitions and sometimes needs a different path to reach them.
My path certainly was not the most conventional one.
Sapienti understood that.
Looking back, Sapienti was the right choice for me then — and knowing everything I know today, I would make the same choice again.
