Urshella Hisham has become our 7^th student, and 6^th in the last 9 years, to win a place at Harvard, the world’s top-ranked university.  Given that Harvard normally accepts only one Sri Lankan student each year, this is a remarkable achievement.  Urshella plans to study Chemistry and Astrophysics, with a Secondary in International Relations, reflecting the breadth of her interests.  She says her motto is ‘Always be passionate about what you do’, which epitomises the attitude behind the success of so many of our students.

Like all the top universities around the world our students attend, Harvard stands out for the incredible opportunities it provides to students after graduation as well as at the university.  We have, therefore, caught up with some of our former students who have attended Harvard to see how they have taken advantage of these opportunities.

Hisham Mabrook was our first student to go to Harvard, back in 2004, having scored full marks in his SAT exams.  He graduated in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science but also enjoyed the opportunity to study with world-renowned philosophers, economists, historians and mathematicians. While at Harvard, he completed internships at Deutsche Investment Banking in London and Calyx Financial in New York. He currently works in corporate strategy for EMC, a Fortune 200 technology company.  Hisham says, ‘I still fondly recall my time at school. I made some of my best friends there, and still stay in touch with them even though they are scattered all over the world. I am very grateful to the teachers at Moir who invested a lot in us: I don’t think I had better teachers even at Harvard!’  Hisham’s determination to enable other students to enjoy these same opportunities led him to start the Moir Alumni Scholarship Trust two years ago.

Nirasha Guruge graduated from Harvard with a degree in Economics in 2012.  Nirasha had been Sri Lanka’s National Squash Champion from the age of 14 and one of three Elizabeth Moir School students to represent Sri Lanka at the 15th Asian Games in Doha in 2006. At Harvard, she was named to the CSA All-American team in all her four years.  As Co-Captain of the Women’s Squash team in her final year, she led Harvard to the National Championship.  After graduating, Nirasha moved to New York to work as an analyst at HSBC, and currently works in their Global Banking division.  She says, ‘I would have had less chance of getting into Harvard if not for the guidance I received from the school and I am very grateful for all the support.’

Sabrina Ghouse studied Environmental Science and Public Policy at Harvard, where she was President of the College Art Society and did volunteer work in East Africa and the Philippines, as well as internships at the United Nations and Harvard Business School.  After graduating last year, she has moved to San Francisco to work for the AAA with Google and Tesla on their new self-driving cars.  She says that, at Harvard, ‘it made me so proud to know that the majority of Sri Lankans at Harvard attended Elizabeth Moir School: the Admissions Office clearly trusts the calibre of students who apply from our school’.

Atul Bhattarai studied Government at Harvard, where he was an editor of the Harvard Crimson and wrote for the Harvard Political Review.  Since graduating he has been pursuing journalism in New York, focusing on international affairs.  He says: ‘Harvard and similar places look for schools from which they can reliably take competent students year after year, and Moir is clearly one of those schools. At Moir we were lucky to have teachers who encouraged us to excel and were dedicated to helping us do that. Naturally this is something that continues into college.’

Yohann Sequeira is in his final year at Harvard, majoring in Economics.  He is currently Co-Captain of the Cricket team and has recently co-founded Boost-in, a community service group working with high-schools in the poorer neighbourhoods of Boston to mentor students with the college application process.  Yohann says: ‘I would never have got where I am and be who I am without my experiences at Moir. Despite being one of the top private schools in the world, it still has an almost family-like feel to it. There are so many opportunities to discover yourself and grow that students are able to mature and succeed far beyond their years.’

Steffan Paul is in his first year at Harvard, studying Biology.  In his short time there, he has already joined two dance companies and a Community Service project.  In the summer, he will be going to Vienna as part of the Harvard Study Abroad programme.  Steffan feels his time here was crucial in preparing him for fresh challenges at university: ‘Moir always pushed me to do more than I thought I could, and it is that mentality which is keeping me going in this competitive environment’.

<< Back