The Bear Cave
The Bear Cave is the official American International School of Zagreb podcast - your backstage pass into the stories that shape our school community.
In each episode, we invite voices from across AISZ - students, teachers, staff, parents, alumni and more - to step into the Cave and share their journeys. From personal challenges and unexpected successes to passions, ideas and defining moments, these conversations go beyond the classroom to reveal what truly connects the Bears.
Honest, thoughtful and sometimes surprising, The Bear Cave is a space where experiences are shared, perspectives are explored, and every story matters.
Come in, listen closely and discover the people behind AISZ.
The Bear Cave
The Bear Cave Ep. 7 - Jack Rowe
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In Episode 7 of The Bear Cave, host Myles Finn sits down with AISZ senior Jack Rowe. Jack shares what it has been like growing up in Croatia, spending 12 years at AISZ, moving from the old campus to the new building, and preparing for life after graduation.
Myles and Jack talk about DJing, electronic music, IB classes, mechanical and automotive engineering, school culture, friendships, student life, and the lessons that come from pushing through a challenging diploma program. It’s a fun and honest student perspective on AISZ, growth, and making the most of your time here.
All right, man. We've been talking about doing this for a long time. How are you?
Jack RoweUh I'm good and yourself?
Myles FinnGood. Welcome to the Bear Cave podcast. Thank you. It's like, I mean, I try to keep it relatively chill, but just give you a chance to talk about yourself because you're a cool cat. I've got to know you. Your mom is the is my partner in crime with grade six. And so we're always talking about the goings-on of Jack as you're as you're rocking. Jack Rowe, my man. Uh, why don't you first introduce yourself? Name grade, maybe something that people don't know about you, or something that you want them to know about you. Who are you?
Jack RoweSure. Uh, I mean, my name is Jack Rowe. I was uh born and raised in Croatia. Yeah. Uh I've been in the school for 12 years.
Myles FinnAmazing. So you've seen all of it. Yeah, yeah.
Jack RoweYeah, yeah, yeah. The whole shooting match. That's great. Uh I'm a senior, so this is my last year. Only a couple couple more months than I'm out of here. Yeah, you know.
Myles FinnThat's crazy.
Jack RoweThat's a big deal. And something that people might not know about me is uh like I do mixing, so uh yeah, occasionally, you know, here and there. If there's a party, you know, my friend calls me and he's like, Hey, can you come? Uh we need a DJ and I'll do it for them.
Myles FinnYeah. Uh keep the mic just a little bit tighter to your face. Okay. It should bend. It's a little that's a little wonky work. Yeah. You hear it like cut out every once in a while. That's that's what it does. Okay. Um, but yeah, so DJing is dope. And that is really cool that that is something that you like to do. That's something that not a lot of people get an experience to do in their life. Uh, what like what brought you into wanting to do that?
Jack RoweOh, it's actually quite a long story, but uh very like uh um when I was little, I liked listening to you know electronic music, and I distinctly remember uh when I was a kid, like um wanting to buy a cold play, like album of uh Chainsmokers and like Coldplay. Sure. And uh I bought too many songs because they were all remixes, and then from that point I was really like, you know, I like electronic music, but what started it for mixing was more um last year we went to the coast, uh five of my mates and I.
Myles FinnYeah.
Jack RoweAnd we saw a DJ live uh Nicky Romero. Okay, and he has like a banging song with Avici. Okay, cool. And um at that concert, like uh or you know, that club, he played unreleased Avici. Yeah. Avici is like, you know, my big guy.
Myles FinnLike one of the best of all time.
Jack RoweExactly. He was my idol. And when I, you know, saw unheard unreleased Avici for the first time, I was just taken apart. I was really like seriously, you know, just give me a minute, let me listen to this. And after I just fell in love with it because like looking at the crowd, just one one guy, you know, for he was up there for probably an hour and a half, you know, gave us a lifetime of memories.
Myles FinnOh, absolutely. And like, especially Avici with like him passing and all of that, like to have some some like little memento that you can be like, I saw this. Like that, I mean it makes sense why you have especially if you have a love for electronic music, to like have that, you know, parallel as to like, hey, maybe I should maybe I should look into doing something like this. So, how has that journey been? You've been working with Miss Lana, getting all that stuff figured out, or how did that go?
Jack RoweWell, I bought a deck uh just you know, a month after, you know, I got it shipped in for me.
Myles FinnYeah, like that is so cool. I gotta try that. Yeah, exactly.
Jack RoweYeah, for sure. Exactly. And uh I I really no one around me knew any of that sort of thing. So I was just watching YouTube like every day, and I was mixing every day, every day, every day. Um, and then obviously school kicked in and it you know got a little slower. But Lana uh and especially Mr. Push helped me like uh find software, yeah. Like, oh, you know, use this to download songs. And one of my friends who's also a DJ, I met him at like uh a birthday party. He was showing me like, you know, use all these things so it really connects people. And like I met um, you know, a few people just saying, like, oh yeah, I listen to this, and then you know, you go into huge conversations like regarding DJing and all of that. But I would say for the most part that my well journey, it's only been what a year is just um been mainly myself. But now that I have more time for it after I graduate, I think I'll get much more into it.
Myles FinnYeah, like you and I had talked, we were just talking about this on Saturday. Like that could be a fun gig, like a fun college thing. Like, hey, you guys need a DJ? Yeah, I'm there. Like, let me let me throw some tracks down. Let's do this, man. That would that yeah, I thought it would be super fun. So do you have plans for school next year?
Jack RoweYeah, I mean, uh I I enlisted are like I registered for a couple universities in uh the Netherlands.
Myles FinnCool.
Jack RoweAnd um they're they get back to me in a couple weeks, but I've been mainly focusing on uh mechanical engineering.
Myles FinnVery cool.
Jack RoweAnd uh automotive engineering, specifically in this one school in Torino, Italy. And uh that school is like one of the best in Italy for automotive engineering. And you know, I love cars, it's you know my passion. So when I saw the opportunity, I was like, hey, you know, I told my friend, it's like, um, hey, we can take the test in person. He's like, yeah, sure, let's go. So just about two weeks ago, we went out there, we took the test. Like, uh, I got a decent score. We both got decent scores, but because um the amount of people, it's capped for the amount of people that can get in if you're if you're EU. Because there's a lot of stuff.
Myles FinnYeah, there's I mean, there's only so many spots that they can have for things like that. I get that.
Jack RoweFor international people in the EU and uh our scores were decent, but for me and for him too, they weren't good enough. So we're gonna take it again next week. Okay, cool. And then get to the eight hour oh me. We took a bus, it was 14 hours by bus, but mom said she would drive us. There you go. I'm happy for that.
Myles FinnYeah, that's great. So, what all does like a test like that entail? Are you like actually hands-on working on stuff?
Jack RoweNo, no. Uh surprisingly enough, I thought, you know, it'd be pencil, paper, this and this. There's a computer for every single person in the testing lab. And, you know, there it almost reminded me of like milit like roll call for military. Oh, sure. You're in a stairwell, and the guy like barks your name, you know, Roe Jack. And then we go and take the test, and that feels very dry. Yeah. That sounds very dry. Yeah, you know, you take the test and you see your score right after after you know the first section. I was like, you know, it's just like banged your head on the table. Yeah. Dang it. Really, really, it got away. But you know, now that we know what it likes, yeah, what it feels like in real person, I think we have a really good chance of is there a way for you to study for that? Oh they have practice tests, but to be honest, the test is probably twice as hard. Dang. Yeah. The practice tests are like questions from probably the first years that um they did the test. Sure. And knowledge has evolved, you know. A little bit. And it's and it progressively gets harder every year, just so that they don't have because the last year 15,000 people took that test.
Myles FinnOh my god.
Jack RoweAnd that was 3,000 people more from the last year. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's crazy. So they have to make the you know, the test harder. And uh, yeah, it shows because there were some things on there that were really like, hmm, I didn't study this, you know. That's funny.
Myles FinnBut I thought I'm just like, when you said it's older, I'm just like the Model T was originally and it's like, oh God, that's funny. That's amazing. Yeah, it's good. Um talk more about talk more about like school stuff. Uh some of these questions are kind of lame. Like one of them was like if your friends described you in three words. Yeah, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna make it do that. Um, what does like a typical AISZ day look like for you? What are what do classes look like? How does that how does that look with with IB stuff? How's all that going? Yeah.
Jack RoweThat's a really good question, actually. Like uh in our schedules, like I found also with other people, like there's easier, like maybe a bit laid back day, and then like a more intensive day.
Myles FinnYeah.
Jack RoweAnd I like that because today was one of those intensive days where like, you know, morning English, uh second class math, third class French, you know, it's very you know, you have to work very hard on the rigorous on those days, yeah. Exactly. And then uh I take uh online class business Pomoja.
Myles FinnSure.
Jack RoweAnd you know, for those types of classes, um you have flex, so it's it you really have to manage your time well.
Myles FinnSo like you could just go grab coffee and hang out the whole time. Yeah.
Jack RoweExactly. So when you know, if we've completed our work, or if I've completed my work, because you know, other people, you know, tend to do it at home, but if we've done our work early, you know, we go get a coffee. But it's a very structured day, and then a typical day at AIZ has like a lot of breaks. You know, what I realized is you know, our school days are much longer than you know the average school day in say Croatia. Like they start school at 8:30 and a one.
Myles FinnYou know, what?
Jack RoweYeah, yeah. I did not realize that.
Myles FinnYeah. Are they done? Like, do they eat lunch there?
Jack RoweNo, they don't have to do it. They don't eat lunch, but yeah, they go home, but like our lunch break is what 45-50 minutes long. Yeah, you know, they their classes are like you know, five-minute break in between instead of you know, consultation, homeroom, fries or if it's Friday. Right. You know, they they get it done, you know, much more fast. And I like that we spend more time at school because you know, um, people that really want to do, not want to do well, but can manage their time well, tend to study very well at school. Sure. And I've found that um I can study very well at school as well.
Myles FinnLike you have you have time to work on it. If you have time to work on the things that you need to work on, if you need to like study for something, you have time to do those things, which is great.
Jack RoweAlso, it's really nice that you know we have so many teachers around. Like, yeah, like in uh in creation schools, like I was telling my friends, like, yeah, and then um, you know, I asked my teacher something, I was telling them a story, and then they were like, Wait, you went to a teacher while he was teaching class, and I was like, and they were like, You're you're crazy. I was like, no, I mean, we're you know, sort of the priority in this school, you know. And the teachers will always have, you know, a minute or two for us, and they're and they're like, you know, you're crazy, mate. It's just not it's just not true. And I was like, Yeah, and that's what I like also about uh about this school is that when you're in flex, you know, everyone has a minute for each other, and it's more much more open like that.
Myles FinnYeah, and obviously there will be times when it's like, hey, give me five and then I'll come talk to you. But you know, I think you're so right. Like teachers are so good about being like, no, the student's my priority, no matter who the student is at that time. And sometimes the students in the room have to be the priority or whatever, you know. But making that be a priority, I think, is is something that is a big strong point for the school. And something that I think that they they do really well or we do really well.
Jack RoweDo very, very well. And it's not just like in, say, you know, harder for me, harder subjects. It's like in everything really. And um apart from that, I think the the whole school day is structured. But like one thing I would do is that when we're spending we spend like a lot of time, I wouldn't say in homeroom, but when you aren't requested for consultation, like I found that I spend a lot of time in the economics room and I don't have economics, and it it you know it doesn't get boring, but it's like, huh, what am I doing here sometimes?
Myles FinnThat's interesting.
Jack RoweBut uh, I mean, that's maybe one thing I I would change about the structure is that if you aren't like booked for consultation, you're able to leave.
Myles FinnHave a little more free time. I get that, especially for upperclassmen. I could see where that would be frustrating. Where it's like, do you am I just getting babysat right now? Yeah, I mean it's like a study hall or whatever, but yeah. The nice thing is that like teachers do have the flexibility to be like, hey, let's call you in, let's talk about this, or you have the flexibility to say, hey, can you book me for consultation so that we can do that? I do like that idea. But hey, maybe that could be a proposal. You could say, Yeah, I would love to make this my coffee time if I don't have to do anything. I think that'd be good. Um, so like the IB diploma is new to me. It's like something that coming from the States is not something that a lot of people do there. There are some, I think, private institutions that are either doing IB or DP or both or whatever, whatever that looks like. Um, so talk to me about like your journey getting into the IB diploma. How was that? Was that a stressful thing for you to go through? Like what was that was that fun? Was it rewarding? Like, what did that look like? For sure. I mean, honestly, I'd like to tell you all about it. Yeah, it's it it is quite interesting. It's fascinating.
Jack RoweYeah, it is. And really, it takes a toll uh on students, you know, because comparing it to like um IBGSC, like GCSEs or like A levels, it's I think it's a different, you know, it's a different person.
Myles FinnYeah.
Jack RoweUh it's a different beast, I should say. Is IB really um well in tenth grade they do, I would say, preparations. Like they bring seniors and 11th graders in and like they talk about oh, their first and second years through IB and like the horror story. Yeah, like you know, the horror stories and all of this and um all the all the class. They're they always saying like all the classes that you expect to be easy, like music or art. They're like, yeah, no, it's crazy hard, this and this and this. And at the time you don't believe it. I was like, ah, music, you know, just play guitar all the time. Exactly.
Myles FinnThose those like I regret it so much. Not because it's it's not just like the exams, right? It's it's the the projects or or what what was the what's the project called that you guys are working on? Oh, experimenting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Crazy. Yeah, that's nuts. I mean, that's something that a mu I I am a music teacher, right? And that is like something that I'd be like, that would take some friggin' work to put together. Yeah. That's awesome.
Jack RoweThat is true. That is really true because you don't expect it. And I mean, sure, you have two years to do it, but you really have to develop your knowledge within the first one for when you're at a crunch in like the second year. Yeah, like experimenting is due tomorrow. Yeah, yeah, for us. And that's a huge deal. I got you know, that's I think 30% of our final. Well, maybe you should just go work. Let's be done with the podcast, you go figure it out. That's awesome. I'm almost feeling good. Yeah, yeah, I'm feeling good about it. But for the most part, like um, we have in Ivy Music experimenting, uh, performing and exploring. And exploring is, you know, deep analysis of three pieces. Yeah. You know, you do most of the first you're working on that experimenting, you know, uh, you take a song, you change it up, you experiment with things, you know. I did like uh improv off of the solo for Hotel California. You know, I had great fun, you know. I did it in one take, and Lana's like, yeah, I mean it sounds good. You know, you should add more of your character and sure. But I might re-record it. We'll see what happens. But for the most part, like in experimenting, there's a lot of freedom. Yeah, you know, that's what I like. Uh that's why I like IB music is that you can do really what you want to do, you know. And like uh I have a friend who goes to like a Croatian music school, yeah, and that guy is like, dude, we all all we do is play four hours a day. Sure. Yeah, and another guy who is uh French horn for uh very well-known orchestra in Croatia, he was like, mate, if you're you're having a laugh, honestly, if someone tells you, oh, experiment with this on the French horn. You know, it's absolutely nothing, nothing like IB music. Yeah. And um, I mean, coming from a person coming like that knows IB to you, who you know is new with it, it's like really this music is it's uncomparable to anything.
Myles FinnYeah, yeah, what we do. Like that abil again, like that ability to deep dive on something that you're passionate about, yeah. Um, and then expand upon it into this beautiful, you know, presentation performance, what whatever it ends up looking like is pretty wild.
Jack RoweSo like I did a lot of uh deep house and like house because uh you know I love that type of music. And one of those like, you know, the you know these uh examiners are gonna love it because all of a sudden, you know, you go from you know playing acoustic guitar like uh some old Spanish piece made for like uh exercises and this, and then you go straight into like um niche, uh Russian techno, yeah, deep house, and they're like, you know, it's really good. Uh she's like, it's gonna look really good on your uh diverse, yeah, very diverse. That's what they're that's what they're looking for, is one thing that I found. I've like a broad depth of knowledge, yeah. Yeah, and my theory is horrible. Hey, that's okay. It takes a while. Yeah, yeah. You know, you need experiment uh experience for that. But um that like that is really good. I love that they do that in IB music. That's awesome.
Myles FinnSo hey, it's 1.51. What time do you have to get out of here before I forget?
Jack RoweMa I I have flex until like 2 15.
Myles FinnOkay, perfect. We'll keep rolling then.
Jack RoweWow, that sounds good.
Myles FinnThat sounds good. Uh we were talking a little bit about the journey into IB, just the IB program in general. So we talked a little bit about the music side.
Jack RoweYeah.
Myles FinnTalk about some other classes. What else does that look like?
Jack RoweYeah, for sure. I mean, um, so I chose HL Math, Physics, uh, business management, which is online. And those are pretty hard classes. Yeah. HL Math. And because I wanted to do automotive engineering, you know, you need to take those classes so that it looks good on like ranked universities. For sure. And um everyone made it seem like, you know, you're you're committing social suicide, you know, if you're uh choosing those classes. And to be honest, for the first year, it w it really felt like it because like I I like to go out a lot, you know, school wasn't my first priority, but now it's like I have to be I have to tell my mates, like, hey, I'm not going out this weekend because I have to study, and they were like so much work to do, I'm sorry. You know, and they're like, Why are you studying on a Friday? Yeah, you know, it's like you know, there's so much to do. And all of the students, you know, um in 11th and 12th grade when I was in tenth grade, they were like, you know, it's it's really, really hard. Yeah, you know, you're going to have to make huge sacrifices. And to be honest, I think all of us have in HL Math and Physics. I think there's six, uh eight of us that do it. Yeah. And um both classes, and so that's really, really hard. And then for my SLs, it's French and English.
Myles FinnSure.
Jack RoweBut out of all those classes, I think I've had the most, not problems, but music has been really the hardest. Yeah. Amazing. Like amazing. Math, math, definitely. There was uh some spaces because like during COVID and also in 10th grade, like we weren't listening. Yeah, you know, in class, it was like, wow, you know, what do what do we need this for? And then you have like big gaps in your learning. And when you're doing like complex math, you know, and then there's this one it'sy bootsy little thing that you don't know how to do that you did in tenth grade.
Myles FinnIt's totally it's a cog in the machine, and it like you need to know that in order for the machine to work, yeah. Exactly.
Jack RoweAnd that was like, whoa. So we went back, you know, did a lot of those types of things, and then now it's like just catching up because we finished content.
Myles FinnSure.
Jack RoweSo now we're just reviewing everything in real depth for math.
Myles FinnYeah.
Jack RoweAnd um as for physics, it's it's also quite hard. But what I did like about physics, I think it's also for SL, uh, standard level physics, is that a lot of it is uh more content than calculations. Okay. Like I I assumed physics to be a course much much more based around calculations rather than theory. Sure. And I I quite like that because you can like understand what it's trying to tell you, what the idea is behind it, and get a lot more points on the test like knowing that rather than being able to do the calculations of the formulas. You know, that was interesting to me, is that it's a more um theory, not theory-based, but it's like more knowledge course than that.
Myles FinnI mean, it's back to it's back to what we were talking about with music. It's it's more about the broader depth of understanding than it is like can you regurgitate these formulas? Yeah.
Jack RoweAnd yeah, uh in schools, it's like much more common to see, oh, can you regurgitate, you know, those formulas like the tests that we took for the entrance exam. You know, you didn't have like a booklet of formulas. When in the I on the IB exam, you have the all the not all of them, but a lot of formulas that you need. Yeah. And then also a calculator. On this entrance exam, yeah. No calculator. Oh my God.
Myles FinnYeah. And then you go by hand figure it out.
Jack RoweOh my God, that sounds terrible. That's wild. I had never taken a test without a calculator. I mean, for like, well, math when we were doing like, you know, practice paper ones, but like on entrances again, they're like, you know, you'd have to factor this huge numbers. It's like unbelievable. Amazing. I like I like that flexibility of you know having having things, you know, math and physics, having the formula notebooks and calculator. Yeah. That's something that I do like about IB. And then also one thing I I want to tell you how big jump an IB was doing like the other things, not just those six classes. Sure. No, no, no. The IB doesn't want to, you know, see you not suffer with those six classes. No, you have to write a four thousand word essay. Do you know the the E?
Myles FinnThe extended extended essays? Yeah. The extended essays. Yeah. You know, 4,000 words on a trying to twist the knife a little bit, make it a little more painful for you. Yeah. Extended essays. It's a good, I mean, like to be able to write coherently is such a good skill, you know, and it's something that is super important to be able to do. Not saying that you didn't know and that the essay is what's teaching you how to write it. I don't know how to write coherently. But it's a good, I mean, it is a good, like, um, it's a good skill to learn. Yeah. It's a good it's a good way to learn it too. And it did help me. Yeah. So have you done have you done that already? Or are you?
Jack RoweWe finished that last summer. Like, and I turned it in like a day before the deadline. And when that was turned in, like everything.
Myles FinnYou can breathe again.
Jack RoweYeah.
Myles FinnAnd then you also have cast. Yeah, the cast hours are I think again, like it's it's painful, but I'm sure that you're learning something from it.
Jack RoweOh, definitely. Like a lot of people like to like to say, you know, oh, Cass is this and this, and like the extended essay is just yeah, you know, really it's useless. Yeah. They they like to say it's useless, but for me, the way I think of it is that like when I was writing the extended essay, I learned a lot about myself. Sure. I was like, Is is it about you? Oh, definitely. No, no, no. Like like you you pick a class. Sure. Like uh, so I picked music and then I switched to English, and then you write like 4,000-word essay, you know, on that book or on that topic, or you like pick something for econ, you know, you can pick it in any class. And um then you write 4,000 words like for English, you basically analyze, like I I chose how symbolism um was like evoked, or like the symbolism in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. And like, you know, I like that book because the guy was you know, philosopher. Yeah, he was um he took um certain hallucinogens and then wrote about it, you know. It was it was an interesting guy, interesting things to read. And Brave New World, like there was a lot of symbolism I could talk about for sure. So the extended essay, also very, very flexible, yeah, you know, in that way. And um, so that's that. So yeah, you have you can write really anything about what you want.
Myles FinnBut you learned a lot about yourself through doing that because you just had to figure out how to like kind of live with yourself a little bit while you have to write 4,000 words and be like, okay, what do I actually want to talk about? How am I actually going to talk about what does what does my voice sound like in writing? And to be able to like dig into that even deeper, I think is I think it's crazy.
Jack RoweNo, you're spot on. Yeah. Genuinely spot on. It's crazy. Because like when I was when I was writing it, also um, I was, you know, you learn about how you work because I was spending like I would there was like one day I worked on it primarily for a week, and one day I just worked on it for eight hours, but that was not eight hours of consistent work. That was like 30 minutes listen to music. Yeah. 30 minutes mix for like two hours and then you know, do another 30 minutes of work. And I learned that I wasn't very efficient, sure, you know, studying. And so I worked on that. And that's what that's what it made me realize, you know. It was really it was special.
Myles FinnI liked it in that way. I'm gonna be curious if like we have a if we have a conversation, let's say three years from now. Okay. If you find that college is easier or harder than than what you're doing right now. Because I found like going through going through school, going through college for me was was actually much easier for me than going through high school was. And I don't know what it is. I think I wasn't also mature enough to be able to like know my my own ticks and what's what was gonna make me like study well and you know be efficient with with my work. But um once I figured that out in college, I felt so much more comfortable being successful. Like I was able to be more successful because of that, which is fascinating. So I'll be curious once you get into college, what that what that feels like and if there is a big difference. Do you think that you have um like talk about your growth from from being a 10th grader to where you are now? What sort of things, besides, you know, like your study habits, besides, you know, like very practical things, what sort of growth have you seen from yourself between 10th grade and now?
Jack RoweThat's a good question. Um I found that I'm much more socially like um my social EQ or IQ has gone like up a lot. Amazing. Um I've I'm like uh I like experiencing new things, you know, talking to new people. Yeah. And um, you know, I like I really like talking with new people and through, you know, relationships and uh I've realized that I'm very good at you know, reading people. I can I know, you know, oh, if something's wrong. Like um as soon as Miss Lana was out, I could see Mr. Poosh was distraught and I was like, oh, you know, something's gone wrong with Miss Lana. Yeah, you know, those types of things. And then also talking to new people, it's like something, some things that I'm good at. So I would say my social skills have gone up quite a lot, yeah. Uh from 10th to 12th grade. Yeah. And then uh I also had some big problems with um like um not stage fight, but like when I would get yeah, it's stage fight, you know. When I was on stage playing guitar, you know, my hands would really, yeah, really shake. And in 10th grade, you know, I walked off stage because I was like, sure. You know, in front of the high school, I was like, there's no way I'm doing this. And uh now it's like much, much better. Yeah. So I've progressed, you know, um, I would say socially much more than anything.
Myles FinnThat sounds like confidence in general. Like I feel like you you've probably have gotten more confident through your time. Yeah. And I think probably some of that is is attributed to you know that you can put in the work to be good at something. And it's fun to showcase that when you are good at something, like to be able to showcase things, be like it makes you more confident and more willing to do the thing that maybe would have made you like pee your pants two years ago. Yeah, like this is you're feeling pretty good about it now, which is which is awesome. Because you put in the work. Yeah, you know, like that's that's the big part about it, which is which is incredible. Um, so 12 years at AISZ, dude. Yeah, that's nuts. Talk to me about that. Talk to me about like what as a student, how has that felt to go from because you would have been in the old building. Yeah, I was. How has that felt to go from the old building to where you are now?
Jack RoweUh well, uh the old building definitely had character. That's one thing I would say. Yeah, that old building had character. And it was very interesting, you know, when we moved schools um to even be at the schools. Like, you know, we're in such a modern building. This doesn't feel natural because the old building, you know, we had to students and teachers were duct taping windows, yeah, bathroom bathrooms were falling apart. Oh my god. You know, it was um it definitely had character. And there was, I would say, a much bigger sense of community in that old building.
Myles FinnYeah.
Jack RoweYou know, and when we switched schools, I think um because I think because we changed building, like the sense of community uh, you know, decreased uh within this school. Sure. And I feel like many more students were involved in the school back then. And I think that might be due to like social media nowadays that's like exploded. You know, students don't want to, you know, stick their face out more. I get that. And um over I would say like when we moved school sixth grade, it was kind of a realization that like uh the school is much more different than others. Only around then did I realize like, huh, you know, this is not like my Croatian friend's school. Yeah. The schools in Croatia, they were, you know, when they were saying, like, oh, look at all this homework, you know, I have to do, I was like, well, we barely we barely have any homework. Yeah. And um then with like in COVID, that was huge. Like um some it felt like things were changing every day because you know, one day we would have in school for a week, right? And then it would be two days on, two days off. And at home, you know, we didn't do anything, we just played Minecraft the whole day.
Myles FinnPerfect. That sounds like it, because you would have been in what, like sixth grade? Yeah, it's amazing. It's the best time to do it. Sixth to eighth grade, you know.
Jack RoweThere's no way we have discipline home alone, like nah. No, why would you?
Myles FinnEspecially as a middle schooler, you're like, whatever. That's so funny.
Jack RoweAnd then after that, in like ninth, uh, ninth and tenth grade, you know, when we came back to school, um, I think we were, you know, slowly starting to go through puberty, starting to mature. And, you know, uh, that was also like a hard, hard time for me and a bunch of other students because it just wasn't um I don't know, the environment, like this environment was just different than it was outside of school, like you know, playing sports, you know, with those types of people. It was just it was just different. And I don't think that um it was very not that it wasn't comfortable, but it was just it was just different, and I didn't like that feeling, you know, of going to school a while, you know, outside, you know, playing sports. It was much, much better. Yeah. But then uh towards the end of 10th grade, like reality kicked in and it was like, well, you know what, we have to start doing school now. Yeah. So then in 11th grade, it was it was tough. Like the first year of IB IB was definitely tough. But now 12th grade, it sort of smooths out. Sure. After all the IAs are done for each class, we have to write an IA. After all the IA that like are done, it sort of smooths out. But you know, now it's like the last kind of push for the exams, you know.
Myles FinnIt's gotta feel crazy. Yeah. To like, especially, you know, do that more, reflect more if I were to give you any advice. Like, reflect more on like what that felt like to be in that space and and again to you know, see the improvements that you've made on yourself over over the last 12 years, whatever, 18 years. Um But I I wanna like I want to push you a little bit more on the on like the the culture thing. Cause I wonder, you know, was it the building, you think? Yeah. Or I mean much?
Jack RoweI mean, you know, a big a big part of it was um like I would say I've been in this school longer than 90% of the teachers in this school.
Myles FinnThat's probably a fair guesstimate.
Jack RoweAnd if if not more. And I think there was this one thing like um when we moved buildings, you know, um, you know, friends come and go. And I think that's that's the big thing with this school. Like I haven't like outside of school, you know, I've had friends I've known for, you know, 12 years, you know, they're my best mates, you know, like this. But from this school, I don't have those types of people. Yeah. You know, um sure you have those friends, you know, you know them for you know two or three years, but am I necessarily going to stay in contact with you forever? Forever. Yeah. You know, there's probably three, four people that I would say, like, oh, I'm gonna invite you to my wedding. Yeah, you know, this type of thing in the future. I think that's a big part of it too.
Myles FinnSure.
Jack RoweAnd um, but regarding the culture, like yeah, the school shift was huge. That's fascinating. And if I could ask like people that graduated two years ago, um, maybe three, I think for them it was also huge, you know. Like um being in eighth grade and then switching over. I think for them it was big, but like uh when we switched schools, you know, the school used to have like an annual egg drop event. Yeah, and that was like the highlight. You know, we had STEM week where all the science classrooms would come together and um like a student from every grade would help on this project and the egg drop. And yeah, you know, it was very we had those activities that brought the community together. Sure. And then also the school barbecue, you know, like when we have it at this at you know, this physical school, yeah, it's huge, you know. Oh, it's fun, but at the old school, it felt like half the city was there. Because you're all like jam-packed. Everybody and their mother, you know, it was like uh even students that had left for other schools would come back to that, would come back just for the yeah, yeah. And um I that's what I think uh I meant by like the census. No, I get that.
Myles FinnAnd you're missing that a little bit. Yeah. That's one thing. Uh I've seen Farney working on that quite a bit, yeah, which I'm which I'm impressed with. Mr. Farney has done an amazing job.
Jack RoweLike, yeah. Really. I he's he's done a very good job. And Mr. Buckley also. Like it was, I think it's just times have changed, and now like with new technologies, I really would like to say that Mr. Farney has done a very good job on that. Like, I even at the gala, like I was at the gala helping out, yeah. And like his speech really kind of evoked, you know, I wouldn't say those old emotions, but you know, it was a bit nostalgic, yeah.
Myles FinnYou know, like you get to you get to think about the community, you get to think about like how how it felt to be a kid growing up in an environment that felt so warm and welcoming, and that you have maybe you know pined after after that for a while. And so to be able to like feel that again, I think is I think is great. Yeah. We're gonna keep working on that. Yeah, on the community, on the community aspect, because I think that is something that is hard. It's hard. Like what you said with with you know, friendships only last two or three years or something like that. That is that is kind of a reality of the international school system, you know, like ambassadors' kids will come in or people like military families will come in or whatever, and they'll only stay for two or three years and then they'll have to go, you know. So, like being able to find those people that you do want to stay connected with, that you are going to invite to your wedding, you know, like you get to be a little bit more picky, maybe. You get to, you get to really like know who you want to invest your whole heart into, rather than just being like, I'm gonna have this like 50% relationship with somebody that I'm just gonna like, you know, give a little bit to, knowing that they're gonna go away a little bit. But knowing that you can like fully invest in somebody and say, like, hey, I'm gonna want to spend a lot of time with you, even if our time is fleeting. You know, that's that's kind of a that's a priority. It's a it's a hard thing to do, though. I totally get it. Yeah. Uh I'm gonna ask you one more question, then I'm gonna have to get you out of here. Yeah, so actually let's do some let's do some rapid fire questions for you. Sure. So um the what'll just be like quick, quick answers. Um again, some of these are kind of dumb. So just take with it what you will. Take a bit of what you will. Um, what is the most student thing that you have done recently? Like stereotypical student.
Jack RoweUh I would say purposefully be late to class.
Myles FinnPerfect. Great, love it. Uh, what class uh would you take if you could create your own class? Uh-huh.
Jack RoweOh, it'd probably be like um like uh maybe a cooking class. I don't know.
Myles FinnCool. I love it. Yeah, that would be great. Um if the school had a theme song, what would the theme song be? Uh theme song for uh Curious George. Perfect. I love it. Uh what is one trend at school that makes no sense to you?
Jack RoweUh well, I don't like when um the voice uh like uh it's like a certain hairstyle, you know. I really, I really don't I really despise newer hairstyles, you know, with a passion.
Myles FinnYeah.
Jack RoweAnd uh I mean, sure, I was I I did the same exact thing, you know, when I was in ninth and tenth grade, but like now that I see it, it's like you know, not for me.
Myles FinnSo if we see you running through with a pair of clippers, we'll know why you just get 'em. Get 'em. Go get 'em. Uh and last one is who's more dramatic, students or teachers?
Jack RoweOh, definitely students, but on the contrary, teachers can also be, you know, very dramatic and over the top.
Myles FinnUh yeah, they're pretty pretty chaotic.
Jack RoweYou know, I tend uh actually in every situation, um I tend just to say or think like, you know, this isn't worth my patience, it's not worth my time, you know. And the best way that you can um like get over a problem with the teacher is either ignore them, which usually gets you in trouble, or or you just like act like you don't care. And that's like uh what I've what I've you know really done a lot. Like um I don't me personally, I don't like when people make decisions for me. Sure. And maybe like when some teachers make like suggestions for me, like, oh, you know, you should do this. I was like, you know, I'll do what I want.
Myles FinnYeah.
Jack RoweYou know, that's that's maybe something that's a bit dramatic, but for the most part, I'd say students are dramatic, more dramatic than teachers. Yeah.
Myles FinnI love it. That's great. All right, and your last one is, and this is like more of a closing rather than a rapid fire. One if you could give one piece of advice to younger students at AISZ, what would it be?
Jack RoweOh, okay. Like uh the first thing is um it's I would say like two parts to it, but if you're only here for three years, make the most of it. Yeah because if you're only here for you know a couple of years, you know, this is a very cracious special place. Yeah, you know, um after some time it gets very boring, you know, you know, 12, I've lived here my whole life. But if you're in the school, make make your time good here and don't hate the school because a lot of people dislike uh the school because they're like, oh yeah, my past school is much better. But you know, to people like me, actually the school is very good, yeah, you know, and you can learn a lot from it. It's just how bad do you want it?
Myles FinnYeah, you do you want to give it a chance, give it some love. Exactly.
Jack RoweAnd a lot of uh a lot of people, you know, especially today in this day and age are very judgmental. But you know, I'll always approach something, you know, with a creeping eye, like, you know, is this safe? But you know, with the school, obviously, you know, you know, take your chances here and there, but I found that you know, students who really appreciate, you know, they try very hard, they they do much better, you know, than the people that just hate it here.
Myles FinnYou know, so everybody can be a hater. It takes a lot more energy to be that person that is able to give the love and that it deserves.
Jack RoweYeah. And um and then another piece of advice is don't take IB music if you don't know seriously. I love that.
Myles FinnThat that's I mean, that pretty much wraps up our conversation. That's a perfect way to end it. That's awesome, man. Well, hey, it's 215. You gotta get out of here. Thanks for being on, dude. This is fun.
Jack RoweThis is my pleasure. Thank you.
Myles FinnAppreciate it.
Jack RoweThank you.
Myles FinnSweet.