Making Memories: Student Life @ AISC

Gautami Ramachandhran, our Advancement Director and Student Life Director Ryan McFarland chat about what’s new this year at the Athletics and Activities Office.

Gautami: Hi Ryan, thank you for joining me. Let’s start with your role as Director of Student Life— what does that involve?

Ryan: Well, the idea of “Student Life” emerged during the pandemic as a fusion of Athletics and Activities, and our role in COVID response. The role that the Athletics and Activities Office plays on campus encompasses sports and After School Activities, clubs, student trips, and also Student Health. My team and I are, in a sense, responsible for the quality of life for students (and faculty) on campus and when they’re traveling on school trips. From addressing the mosquito issues on campus, to looking into all the logistics of field trips—I look after everything that involves the students outside of the classroom.

Gautami: So it’s been a busy year with us returning to a certain level of regular programming. What have been some highlights for you this year?

Ryan: Well, really, I’d say the return to student travel and to hosting events back on campus have been a highlight for me this year. This is such an integral part of the authentic AISC student experience—if you ask any of the Seniors about their favorite memories from high school, so many of them involve either a SAISA sports trip or Discover India trip. Sure, they have great experiences in the classroom but it’s these activities that they do outside the classroom that have a really great impact on them too. And so I’m kind of lucky in that I get to organize student life outside of “school”. In Chennai, so much of their extra curricular experiences are provided through our office as opposed to external vendors.

Gautami: And it’s that opportunity for experiential learning that they might not have access to otherwise.

Ryan: Exactly. The highlight for me is being able to get back into providing those experiences that students are going to remember for a lifetime.

Gautami: We’ve now hosted about two to three big events. What’s new and what has been the response from other schools and from our students?

Ryan: Well, it’s interesting. Some things have definitely changed—like we’re doing hotel stays for sports, when in the past, we’ve always had families host visiting teams at their homes. And the homestays are really valuable in helping create meaningful connections between students and host families. While the hotel stays don’t give you that, they do give our students more time together as a team—to eat their meals together and start and end their days together.

The response overall has been super positive. When we had ASIAC Soccer on campus, none of the kids from ASB or AES had ever been to our school before, and I loved walking with students down the hallway and watching them take in our beautiful spaces and their reactions when they saw the pool and the field and the gym. Even during SAISA Tennis, we had wonderful compliments about the food in the cafeteria. It’s one of things—you don’t appreciate what you have unless you see it from the perspective of someone from the outside. It’s been great to have visiting schools on campus!

Gautami: Absolutely. One thing that has stayed the same is our traditional opening ceremony. Can you tell me, where did the inspiration for the drummers first come from?

Ryan: It was early in my Athletics Director role and I wanted to do something different for our opening ceremonies. I wanted something that would announce to the whole campus that something special was happening and students needed community support. The first time we invited drummers was when we launched the Ayyanar horses on campus and I realized that was a great idea—to have traditional Indian drummers lead the opening ceremonies.

Gautami: The drumming definitely creates an experience. It creates a vibe—there’s something very rousing about it because it reverberates right through you and through the campus. Ryan: You’d definitely have to be pretty far away to not hear them.

Gautami: Last question before I let you go. Your office has planned a lot of trips this year. Any numbers or interesting data points you can share with me?

Ryan: There’s so much opportunity and choice. There’s a possibility of 15 different events that a student could participate in. Students in Grades 5–12 have gone on at least one trip this year— which is the yearly experiential learning trip. And that’s more than 350 students! Add SAISA, ASIAC, AMIS, and ISTA to that and the possibilities for our students to challenge themselves, to make new international connections, and create new memories is almost endless.