“You must bet everything on what you truly love to deserve every achievement it brings.” For Lila Zhang, BCIS Class of 2019, these words are more than just a mantra—they're a lived reality.

Having pursued a degree in Environment & Information Studies at Keio University in Japan, Lila has immersed herself in hands-on research projects, working alongside graduate and doctoral students on topics such as disaster recovery and environmental governance. With a focus on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) frameworks, she dreams of applying her knowledge through strategic sustainability consulting for global businesses. Her unwavering resolve—choosing her path without hesitation—comes from a deep-rooted passion that drives everything she does.

That resolve took shape early. By Grade 10, Lila had set her sights solely on Keio University, applying to just the one institution: the renowned GIGA Program, taught in English. Her decision wasn’t impulsive—it was the culmination of a life-changing experience in 2017, when a BCIS scientific expedition took her to the rainforests of Costa Rica. At just 16, Lila found herself beneath a dense canopy of tropical green, surrounded by the rich scents of sulfur from the Arenal Volcano and the distant calls of Monteverde’s vibrant birdlife.

It was there that she saw a sloth slowly reaching for a broken branch—one that had snapped due to deforestation. That quiet, powerful moment revealed a deeper truth: environmental protection wasn’t just a concept in a textbook—it was a calling. It marked the beginning of a lifelong commitment to exploring how nature and humanity can coexist, sparking her ambition to bridge environmental responsibility with business strategy.

Motivated by this clarity, Lila chose to forgo the traditional path of applying to multiple universities in the U.S. or UK. Instead, she doubled down—learning Japanese, crafting every detail of her application, and spending long hours in the BCIS college counseling office, anxiously checking whether her documents had made it across the ocean. “I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like leaving room for regret,” she said with a confident smile. For Lila, having a clear goal and chasing it with everything she had was the only way forward.

This “all-in” mindset was nurtured at BCIS. While many peers juggled the rigorous demands of the IB curriculum, Lila transformed her CAS projects into powerful learning journeys. She interned at an organic food company to study agricultural sustainability and conducted laboratory experiments to synthesize crystals—despite repeated failures. Supported by dedicated teachers who stayed late and even tended to her experiments over school breaks, Lila came to see education not as a means to an end, but as a process of fueling genuine curiosity until it ignites purpose.

At Keio, she’s continued to embrace challenge with the same conviction. Through her Environmental Information program, she participated in interdisciplinary research that took her to Onagawa, a town rebuilding in the aftermath of the 2011 Japan Earthquake. Alongside graduate students and faculty, she interviewed local fishermen, business owners, and NGO leaders—an effort requiring her to weave together insights from environmental science, public policy, and community leadership.

With the freedom to explore, the tools to experiment, and the resilience to learn from failure, every step she takes is a testament to the belief that focused passion can drive meaningful change.

From the rainforests of Costa Rica to the recovering shores of Miyagi, from painstaking lab work to the forefront of environmental innovation, alumni like Lila Zhang are living proof of a shared BCIS truth: education is most powerful when it empowers you to make choices that change the world.