Welcome to Students Incorporated, a podcast where we dive into relevant topics and issues
related to the world of business, technology, education, and design.
I'm your host, Mr. Jason.
Episodes include student conversations, interviews with thought leaders, and inspirational stories
with an international flavor.
This podcast is created and produced with the help of students from the International
Community School of Bangkok.
In today's episode, we explore the topic of high school life and what it's like to be
a senior at a large international school.
Our co-hosts are Lyon and Linda.
We also welcome our special guests, Darren and Kate.
Before we jump into our interview with Darren and Kate, let's hear the quotes of the day.
Thank you, Mr. Jason.
Since we have two guests today, we have two quotes.
Today's quote is from one of our favorite seniors, Darren.
The difference between hard work and success is that hard work continues when the success
does not happen, by A.J.
Griffin.
And now, a quote from another one of our favorite seniors, Kate.
I didn't peak in high school, I'm still out here getting cuter, by Jack Harlow.
Great quotes, both of them.
But before we start, here are some news headlines.
Spirit Week was so much fun and the costumes were amazing.
We had Spirit Day, Formal Day, Character Day, Pajama Day, Squad Day, such a large variety.
In original news, Thailand won gold, silver, and bronze at an Asian Gymnastics Championship.
It is definitely moving up in the ranks.
Harlem, in the Netherlands, may be the first city to ban most meat advertisements because
of meat's excessive greenhouse gas emissions.
The ban hasn't happened yet, but may be enforced in 2024.
Alright, thank you for those headlines, Linda.
Now let's jump into our first segment with two high school seniors, Darren and Kate.
Lyon and Linda will be asking you both some questions about the subject of senior life.
And I'm quite eager to hear your answers and some funny stories.
Remember guys, your moms and dads, maybe even your grandma is listening.
So you may want to stay away from any self-incriminating stories, okay?
Alright, I believe Linda has our first question.
Welcome to our podcast.
Thank you so much for joining us.
No problem.
So our first question for you two is how and when did you become friends?
Okay, well I guess I can kick us off.
So I came to ICS eighth grade and I knew a lot of people from ICS prior to this from
church because my family had been attending EZB kind of my entire life.
So I knew, I saw a lot of ICS people come and go who came to that church.
So when I came to ICS I was like, wow I know a lot of these people.
I remember I met Kate once.
Yeah I don't think we particularly liked each other when we first met.
No, not at all.
I remember you were just talking about Black Panther and I was like, man this kid, L opinions.
Yeah, you were singing that, how does that song go, that Eiffel for-
I'm Blue Double DJ.
And I said to myself, wow he's so annoying.
I looked at this kid and I was like, wow when does this kid stop talking?
But so that was kind of our first encounter.
We didn't really become friends when I first came to school.
We met once prior to that.
So I was kind of like, oh this is someone who I don't think we'll be friends with.
But it wasn't really until ICS band concert.
I think you didn't have anyone to go with, right?
We were kind of asking around.
And I remember you asked me and you were like, do you want to go to the band concert with
me?
And I was like, what?
This guy?
I was like, I didn't even know ICS did band concerts.
But I guess my friend Austin was playing, I was like, it wouldn't hurt.
And we just ate dinner together and just ended up talking and we realized that our personalities
just clicked.
And we both ended up just leaving the band concert and just kept hanging out.
In fairness, I mean if Austin's listening right now, we did stay through your part,
bro.
We promised we heard your trombone.
But yeah, we did leave early and just ended up hanging out that night.
And then I remember that weekend you invited me to hang over at your house and we just
started consistently hanging out every day ever since.
Yeah, good stuff.
Well, it sounds like Kay just asked you out on a date, honestly.
I did.
But here's another question for you guys that I can relate to very much.
My friends would know this, what is the dumbest thing you've ever done to impress a girl?
Okay, well, I'm sad to say that mine actually happened very, very recently.
I've done a lot of pretty dumb things to impress a girl.
But one that comes to mind is I was just hanging out with her.
And then all of a sudden her mom brings out a thing of grapes.
So I told her I was like, I bet you I could fit 35 of these in my mouth.
And she thought it was the stupidest thing ever.
She didn't even look at it at all.
She was like, that is dumb.
Like, why would you do that?
And I was like, no, like, watch.
I start putting them in my mouth and I get to 28 and it feels like my mouth is stuffed.
It feels like they're stacking down my throat.
And it was just like, for some reason, I was like, instead of spinning it out, I decided
to chew and swallow all of them.
So I was kind of dumb.
But as time goes on, like, I start feeling really sick.
Like my throat starts hurting.
I'm getting a fever and I'm like, oh my gosh, this can't be COVID again.
But this felt way different than COVID.
And one day I just started coughing uncontrollably and out came a full size grape.
This is like four days later.
Four days later.
So for four days, there was just a grape sitting in my throat causing like inflammation.
And then I had to go to the hospital and I had like a nose infection from this.
And it was like I was out from school and it's like I missed things at school and it
all could have been avoided if I just didn't put 28 grapes in my mouth.
True.
How about you, Kade?
I mean, I don't think I've done a lot of dumb things to impress a girl.
I've done a lot of really smart things to impress a girl.
But, uh, okay.
I mean, I think the dumbest thing I've done is like probably just like doing stuff that
I didn't want to in the first place, like watching shows, eating places that I didn't
want to eat, like just doing things in general that I just didn't want to do it.
And like pretending like those things are like the best thing ever.
Oh yeah.
No, being like, they're like, so you like that show I recommended?
And you're like, that was the best show I have ever seen in my whole life.
So you kind of lied.
I like to call it a white lie.
I mean, you liked it because they liked it, not because you actually like it.
You know, you're like, there's a sense of pleasing someone else.
It gives you something to talk about and it's like, you feel like you're making them happy
by showing interest in something that they care about.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
For sure.
It's like, wow.
These Mexican Korean fusion tacos are so good.
They don't taste like garbage.
Moving on, what are your favorite memories with each other?
Well, I mean, this December, me and Darren went to Chiang Mai together and that was like
super fun.
It was amazing.
Like a load of fun, other than the fact that I had a near death experience.
Yes, we did.
Oh, you did.
I did.
I mean, kind of you did too.
Yeah.
I mean, so when me and Darren were in Chiang Mai, we had a hotel together.
We had a hotel room.
So we're sitting in there and Darren took a shower.
And when he finished, he didn't hang his towel up on the towel rack, as most people do.
He decided to hang it over the sliding glass door.
So when he pulled the door shut, he rolled the little wheel on the top of the shower
glass door over the towel.
So the door got lodged.
And my dumb self trying to get in was not looking at the towel.
And as I'm standing there, like about to get in the shower and I'm trying to move the door
and it's not moving.
And the whole glass door unlodges off of the shower and falls directly on top of me, shattering
into thousands of pieces.
I remember because I was on the other side.
I was just chilling in my room.
I mean, the same room, but I was just like on my phone and I just hear like a shatter.
And he's like, I'm okay though.
And I'm like, what happened?
And he's like, don't come in here.
And I'm so confused.
I'm like, don't come in.
And then like we just walked downstairs to the, it was like a.
Well, first off, we opened the door and I have blood all down my back because a door
just shattered on top of me.
And I can't, all my clothes have like glass all over them.
So the only thing in the room that didn't have glass on it, cause the hand towel, the
towel was like already like soaked in glass too, was a hand towel.
So I use a hand towel to walk across the hall to my parents' room.
And I'm like, we broke a door.
We go downstairs to the little reception room.
It's a tiny hotel and the guy is just like playing league of legends.
He's like, after my game, we'll change rooms.
He's like, yeah, let me finish my game first.
Did you need any stitches or anything?
No, fortunately not.
Cause the glass was tempered.
So when it broke, it didn't like shatter into like sharp pieces, but I mean, you know, glass
is still glass.
But I mean, besides that, that trip was really fun.
We went to like a water park.
We went to a waterfall.
Yeah.
I, well, I lived in Chiang Mai for nine years before I moved to Bangkok.
So I, I still have a bunch of friends in Chiang Mai that I got to introduce Darren to.
So you get, you get to meet my past friendships.
And that was interesting.
I'd say, okay.
So for me, it's hard to narrow down a favorite memory because a lot of them actually happened,
you know, on that trip.
And one thing that, you know, we do is we're very involved in our group of friends, you
know, the boys.
So a lot of our great memories together involve so many other people.
But if I had to narrow down one, narrow down one memory that like, I guess, really like
touched me and our friendship was when I was going through like a really hard time.
And I remember he called me and he was like, we're going now.
And I was like, I don't feel like it, man.
Like, it's not today next week, maybe.
And he's like, no, I'm in front of your house.
So we go and we, he takes me out to eat.
We kind of talk.
It's like, you know, I'm still kind of sad because we're like, you know, we're talking
about, we're talking about serious stuff.
So it's like after I'm like, thanks for lunch, but I think I'm going to go home.
But he's like, no, we still have all day.
So he goes to the BTS lady and he just gives her, he just puts down money and he says,
wherever you say we're going, we're going.
So she's like, okay, two tickets to Sion.
So we walk around Sion Paragon and we end up in MBK.
So we're kind of just walking around MBK, messing around and there's a dance competition
going on.
Yeah.
So there's, there was a LGBTQ plus dance competition, K-pop dance competition.
So it was a bunch of like, it was a bunch of men doing K-pop dances.
So for like, I mean, there was at least an audience of what, like a hundred people, 200
people.
So it was a big stage and we were on the top and we could like kind of see from the bottom.
There was people watching around all over the mall, all floors.
We were at the bottom first and you were on my shoulders chanting the names of the band
members.
I don't even know how I learned their names, but then, you know, we kind of went up to
the top and there was one group dancing and they, you know, crowd was kind of quiet.
And as we were going down to escalator, we start dancing with them.
We're kind of just like bopping slash copying what they're doing.
And all of a sudden everyone starts cheering.
Everyone's going wild.
And like these guys started getting pumped up because they're like, oh wow, like they
don't see us.
We're behind them.
So the dancers are like, yo, they love us.
We're a hit.
And we just thought that was funny.
But it's what happened later that made it even funny because like, I'm sure it happened
to you too, but like three days later, my phone was blowing up.
I was getting so many DMs and I was like, what is this?
And someone sent me a video and she was like, is this you?
And it was the video of you and me on the escalator and it was posted on TikTok.
I don't know who filmed it, but it had like 2 million views.
So funny, bro.
Going viral, man.
Yeah, we went TikTok viral and it wasn't even our own account.
Unfortunately.
But the coolest part is that after the show, we got to go meet the guys that did the dance
competition, they took us backstage.
Yeah.
And we got to go meet the guys in the dance competition and they were like super friendly.
Yeah, we actually have photos.
So if you listen to this podcast, DM us and we'll send those photos.
That's funny.
It's a very, very funny story.
I never went viral myself, but you guys never got credit for it, did you?
Like, no, none.
No, none.
Unfortunate.
But anyway, what has been your favorite grade so far?
First, second, third, fourth, or fifth?
I'm joking.
It's actually ninth, tenth, eleventh, or twelfth.
I mean, I think Darren's least favorite is definitely the tenth because I wasn't here
for that one.
Yeah.
I mean, every grade kind of carries a different sort of like vibe.
Ninth grade, you're kind of starting out.
I always say this in like a sort of joking manner, but tenth grade is kind of like the
most irrelevant grade because like you're not an underclassman, you're not an upperclassman,
you don't necessarily think about capstone or college yet, you're kind of just like there.
But like, you know, it's chill because like you know people and you've kind of adapted,
but you still haven't fully adapted yet.
I always say that like eleventh grade is the hardest academic year, but I think that eleventh
grade is when you truly kind of find like a lot more about yourself.
You kind of find about like what you want to do, what you like, who you like, what you're
interested in, what sort of like field you're going to go in.
So I'd say like the upperclassmen years are really special.
Like eleventh and twelfth, like this year so far has been fun, last year was great.
But don't sleep on the ninth and tenth grades because you make a lot of memories and you
can get to know some upperclassmen too, which is really special.
How about you, Kade?
I mean, ninth grade was cut short because of COVID, so I did not like that year.
And then I moved back to the States and I had a lot of fun in the tenth grade.
I met a lot of new people.
That was super fun.
But the eleventh grade was like, I would say would probably be my favorite year so far.
I mean, we had a full year of it.
I mean, to be fair, like it started online, but it did, it did.
But I mean, twelfth grade just started, so I can't speak for all of twelfth grade right
now.
I'm like knee deep in capstone.
So I'm not having like an amazing time at the moment.
But eleventh grade was probably my favorite year of high school so far.
Yeah, I think we like capstone and stuff.
But I often have to think to myself is this like, although it's super stressful and you're
like, I want to get this done, you have to remember that like when it's done, high school's
going to be done too.
And it's like, you have to remember that like, okay, this is a lot.
Work hard on this, but also like sit back and realize that like, I can enjoy myself
in midst of all of this.
Like I need to like enjoy the moment because if all I'm waiting for is for this thing to
be done, then I'm practically just waiting to graduate.
For sure.
Yes, eleventh grade was crazy, but it was a fun year.
Our next question is, what are some of your favorite accomplishments?
Anything in particular that you're really proud of?
What about UK?
I have no idea.
I mean, I'm not, I wouldn't say I'm like particularly proud of anything.
Like I feel like I've built some like great friendships and things like that.
Like I'm really happy with friendships I have and like, I don't know, I feel like I've developed
a lot over the last few years.
And I mean, I'm happy with that, but like, I don't know.
For me, you got anything?
Yeah, I do.
I've been involved in a lot of stuff at ICS and my most proudest achievement is Right
Track Club.
And I actually say that in all seriousness because like when I joined, there were just
like three people running it and then just like me and another girl whose name was Gargi.
And like we didn't do much.
We kind of just like hung out and like the goal of the club is to like fundraise and
like help people like for specifically involving in education.
And I remember when those three graduated, they said like either this thing's done or
you and Gargi will be the next two people leading it.
And I called her and I was like, okay, we have to decide if we're just going to be like
nope or if we're actually going to try this.
But I was like, come on, like it's not, she was kind of like hesitant to doing it.
We didn't know each other that well at the time.
And I was like, I think we should just give it a shot.
Like you know, like it was helped run by Mr. Tim and we know him pretty well.
So I was like, I think that I can get a lot of my friends to join.
Maybe you can do the same.
So we did, we did club fair online and we got about 15 people, but those 15 people consistently
came and they were really, really good people.
And we did a lot of good fundraisers and our goal at the end was actually fundraising for
this foundation called abundant life, which is an orphanage near Bangsan and Trinburi,
that area of Thailand.
So it was a lot of uncertainty about whether we'd be able to go there if we raised enough
money to help them.
But we actually managed to pull a trick together.
So we all went there for a day.
We went swimming in the beach with no swimsuits, just a regular clothes.
And like everything went so perfectly according to plan.
And I was so proud of all my club members because like there was just so much love there.
And I felt like proud of myself because like I managed, I achieved this through like running
it, but like I was just so proud of everyone, proud of myself, proud of the team.
And like you can do a lot of things in school.
You know, like I've been a part of a lot of the musicals and other things like that, but
it's kind of something else when like you've worked on a project and it just helps so many
people.
You can just see how happy they are.
For sure.
I mean, I think that what was so fun about that trip in particular is kind of like you
said everything went according to plan.
I think nothing went according to plan.
That's why it was so awesome because like even though nothing was how we imagined it
or planned it to be, everything kept working out for the best.
We didn't think we were going to the beach.
We did go to the beach.
We were all in like khakis and like dress shirts and we were sopping wet in the ocean.
And we didn't plan to stay for lunch, but we ended up staying for lunch.
We had a sketch planned, but minutes before we were supposed to do our play for the kids,
we were like, this play is terrible.
We're doing something else.
We had games planned, but there were more kids than we expected.
So we had to change the games.
There was a lot of like uncertainty as we were finding out things weren't as they were
supposed to be, but everything just kept working out even better than we could have planned
or imagined.
Hey, we are done with this segment.
We're running out of time for this segment, but we will be right back in a moment with
the dynamic duel.
But first here's a quick announcement about rain in Bangkok.
The flooding in Bangkok intensifies as more rain pours down from the sky.
If you happen to walk through the flood, please watch your feet as soon as possible to avoid
any and all diseases.
And we are back.
If we had a little more time to load you, it would be quick.
Lion will start us off with this segment.
Hello, gentlemen.
I've got a very, very juicy question for all of you.
It's a, do you have any dating advice?
How has your experience been dating in high school?
There's I just know that this guy, right?
There's this friend of mine that always ends up making a new friend every time he asks
someone out.
So I think he'd really appreciate your advice.
Dating advice.
Okay.
I have some experience through this, of course.
And I would say that like, you know, always onto the next person.
No, not.
I'd say that like what I've learned is like, you should really think about it before you
get into a relationship with someone in high school, because it may not seem like a big
deal, but it kind of is.
When I was like younger, like kind of like ninth, 10th grade, I desired that like title
of like girlfriend, you know, like, I was like, oh, that'd be fun.
Like this girl I get to hang out with.
But like, it was kind of like the title that I wanted and the title I sort of like chased
after.
But then you realize that like when you get into certain relationships, it's just so much
more than that.
And there's like this commitment involved.
And like, I was like, oh, I like rushed into things.
Maybe I should have thought about like, so I would say is really, really think about
it.
So what I say helps me is make this person your friend.
Just hang out with them as a friend.
Become like a close friend with them.
Get to know them, get to know what they like, meet their friends.
And like, once you've hung out with them and you've like gained that friendship with them,
any other like future like dating or like romantic aspects will only add to what you
guys already have together because you enjoy spending time with each other.
So like any future like, oh, like now we're dating.
Now it's more serious.
It just kind of adds on to what you already have and you can just build something strong.
So build that foundation of trust and honestly just friendship.
And that's what's helped me the most.
And that's what's really like, you know, made me a lot happier.
I feel like the best advice I could give, like I feel like a lot of people are told
like, you know, like things don't work out.
So don't do it.
To be honest, I think there's a lot you can learn about yourself.
When you date somebody, there's a lot to learn about like what a relationship looks like,
like what you want, things that you want, things that you need, things that you decide
that you don't think are particularly important.
Not that you should get into a relationship simply for the fact of like learning about
yourself because that can, that can often hurt, hurt the person you're with.
But I mean, I mean, especially if you don't plan on like making it a long-term commitment
and maybe they do.
I think like maybe not don't, but like Darren said, really consider the fact that you're
committing a lot of your time to something.
Communicate with each other and figure out what you both want because often that doesn't
match and that's okay at the beginning, but that kind of like affects things a lot more
later.
So like before getting into a relationship with someone, kind of communicate like what
you want.
Like if you're looking for more long-term commitment, that's perfectly okay.
But like you should both be on the same page.
Yeah.
I feel like in the beginning, you're also really, you're normally really excited that
things are getting started up.
So you often find yourself overlooking things or like, what's the word?
I know compromising your own values and morals and things that you, I don't know, care about.
And you're like, oh, that's fine.
Like I don't worry about that.
And then it's like Darren said, time goes on.
You decide like.
So I would say like have like constant, you know, obviously know what you do to want,
build that friendship, be comfortable in bringing up those conversations and have those throughout
your relationship because that's kind of what like builds a strong relationship, especially
in high school.
When we're all experiencing things about ourselves because one advice that someone said to me
that really sticks with me is a good relationship will make you a better person.
I think Edgy said that.
I did not think he said that.
Yeah, that's true.
Friend of mine said that because like I've learned that through a good relationship,
you know, you start thinking more about like others, you like think about how you can please
others more.
Like it just helps you become more thoughtful in general.
So really think about it, find that right person, wait for someone you can really care
about.
Yeah, I like that.
I like the advice of focus on that friendship, too.
It's really good.
Thank you for the advice.
And so this is your last year at ICS.
What will you miss the most about ICS after you graduate?
I'm going to miss I'm going to miss Darren.
I miss Kate a lot.
I miss all my friends.
I miss all the boys.
I'm going to miss the teachers.
I'm going to miss Mr. Jason.
I'm going to miss Mr. Jason the most.
Thank you.
And my computer apps class full of ninth graders.
If you flunk out, you can always retake the class with me.
Just like my favorite thing about ICS is just like honestly just like how tight everyone
is just a community like the teachers here are such good teachers.
They really national community.
They know what they're talking.
They know what they're doing.
They're experts in what they're teaching.
I don't think I would be near who I am today without a lot of the help of ICS teachers.
The foundation no values at this school to where like they provide that safe space where
you can just be so open with them and like ask for their advice.
Life groups just like after school talks just like getting to know them like we hang out
with our teachers now but we go to like football games with them for FC.
Yeah.
Mr. Well, shout out Mr. Well, Mr. Sean, Mr. Tim and you know any future other for FC goers.
Mr. Jason possibly.
Yeah.
Get him a kid.
So it's like I'm just going to miss that like feeling of like being close having that close
environment like walking down the halls and yes walking down the halls.
Mr. Sean, I love Mr. Sean so much.
I love Sean.
If you're listening, we love you.
Yeah, I think the teachers at ICS they're very good teachers are good at their job and
they make a safe space for you to share things with like there's some things that I'd rather
talk of my history cheat teacher than with my parents.
Honestly.
Yeah, anyway, so what are your future plans guys?
Have you started planning your college apps yet?
I mean, we don't we what we have like seven months before we're headed off to college.
Yeah, it's crazy.
I have a general idea what I'm going to do.
I mean, I plan to I plan to go to school in either Georgia or Virginia.
I'm probably going to get a bachelor's in English and then from there transition into
a law program, hopefully become a IP lawyer.
That's exciting stuff.
Yeah.
So, for me, I plan on going to study in the Netherlands.
I plan on going into either an education degree or a creative business degree.
And I think that there I'll be able to meet a lot of new people.
A lot of courses are in English.
I'll be able to get scholarship as I'm a member of the EU.
And I think that being someone who live in Thailand being a third culture kid, it'll
be interesting to be able to find myself living in a new environment.
For sure.
And what are our other future plans, Gabe?
All that stuff.
Oh, that's right.
So, with all that's done, Darren will finish in the Netherlands and I'll finish in Virginia.
And together we're going to move to East Atlanta.
Atlanta, Georgia.
You know what it is.
Represent EA, Hawks, Green City with the five, six.
21 Savage.
The Hawks, the Falcons, the Braves.
You know what it is.
East Atlanta, A.J. Griffin.
Hey, pursue your dreams, right?
So with that, we are out of time and you both have class to get ready for, right?
Yes, sir.
However, before we sign off, I'd like to revisit quotes of the day.
Remember, the difference between hard work and success is that hard work continues even
when success does not.
Hard work helped A.J. Griffin get drafted to the NBA, correct?
Yes, sir.
And the second quote by American rapper Jack Harlow.
I didn't peak in high school.
I'm still out getting cuter.
Well, I don't have a lot of advice on that quote, except maybe I could say that there
is a lot of life out there beyond high school.
So enjoy your senior year and just have a good time, guys.
Thanks for having us on.
Stay getting cuter.
Before ending, we'd like to thank our listeners for joining us.
Please stay tuned for the release of more episodes about interesting and engaging topics.
Our next episode will feature a special guest known by the whole ICS community.
This podcast would not be possible without the hard work and support of our International
Student Production Team.
All music and sound effects are a courtesy of FixingBay.com, a vibrant community of creatives
sharing copyright-free images, videos, and music.
And we are signing off.
Until next time, we are Students Incorporated, because your voice matters.