Originally created by Brandon Stanton in New York, Humans of AISB is a photo blog aimed at bringing communities closer together through the power of identity. It originated from the personal project of a 10th grader, Laila. After creating a book about the stories of the staff at AISB, she got a lot of questions about how people can access the book and continue reading the rest of the stories. Hopefully, this project can bring students and staff closer together. There will be new stories every week ranging from students, staff, faculty, cafeteria workers, and more. We hope you enjoy!
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Nicoleta Patravanu
Worked at AISB for 2 years.
“I’m the first and last face [people] see at school. I’ve heard many call me “The lady at the gate,” but they don’t know I have a Master’s Degree in Communications, and they treat me as if I hadn’t even finished school. Here, we (the staff) try to please everyone, from the drivers, the nannies, to the children. I don’t know how much they appreciate us, but I’m not interested in being appreciated; I know I’m doing my job. “
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Robert Florea – Security Guard
Worked at AISB for 12 years
“I have a small daughter and she is 2 years and 3 months old. I have worked at this school for 12 years but now I know what it means to be a father and that is why I am always very cautious with the children and try to make sure that they are safe. Sometimes parents will call the office very worried and looking for their children. Before it was just a job and I thought they were overreacting, but now I understand how worried they are because if something happened to my daughter, I would be terrified.”
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Stephanie Finnell – Grade 6 & 7 counselor
Worked at AISB for 4 years
“My little brother, he’s 5 years younger than me. So he’s 25 now, and he got arrested when he was 19 years old for murder. He’s been in prison for 6 years now, and that was a really defining moment for me because when you know someone and you know they’re good and they’re your brother, it’s hard to comprehend them doing something like that. And watching his evolution as he’s been in prison has been really interesting because even though he’s there and he will be there for another 15 years, he’s still trying to become a better person, which is not typical in prison. I’ve watched him become a better person which is really inspiring for me.”
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Jacqueline Whitney – Humanities Teacher
Worked at AISB for 2 years
“When I was 16 years old, I was working with a modeling agency in Manhattan. My agent invited me to join him at an event; welcoming US Sailors back from sea on the USS Intrepid. At the time, none of the sailors knew that I was an aspiring model, and instead believed I was already famous and working in the industry. These were the days before the internet and social media. When my agent introduced me on stage, and I had the opportunity to say a few words where I thanked the men and women for their service to our country and welcomed them to the Big Apple, they simply assumed I was a star. I signed autographs, took pictures with the sailors, and received a few letters from the men at sea when they departed again. The best part of the night was watching Joan Jett perform “I love Rock n Roll” and dancing with the NYC Skyline in the backdrop.”
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Jennifer Jones – Science Teacher
Worked at AISB for 3 years
“When you have a wedding, you suddenly think about all the people you care about. Whether its family or friends and having all those people come together, it’s really special. Every moment after that became so much better, like the birth of my kids was just the most amazing thing. Realizing that you’ve created this new life and the responsibility that comes with it is so incredible. You know, looking after this tiny little helpless thing and then seeing them grow and develop personalities and seeing bits of yourself and your husband come out in them and blaming each other for whos fault those characteristics are. My family is just really who I am.”
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Christopher Powers – English Teacher
Worked at AISB for 3 years
“I haven’t lived in my home country in 10 years and I miss it a lot. However, I think it is very important to stay connected to my culture so I often make an effort to eat foods from Canada and spend time with fellow Canadians that I can relate to. I also have a hockey team called the Bucharest Torpedoes and I have been on the team for a few years and I find this a very important way to keep my culture a part of my personality.”
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Simona Stan – HS Administrative Assistant
Worked at AISB for 10 years
“When I was in grade 6, I had my first contact with the English language. I was in a state school and Romania only offered Russian and French as foreign languages so English was very new to me. My first semester my grades were passing but my second semester, I was failing. I was desperate and I had never failed any subjects before. My teacher was very tough and she had very high expectations. I begged her for a retest and she accepted and I finally passed but that gave me the push to work my hardest and be able to speak it. After 2 years of hard work, I reached a 10 which is the highest in the Romanian grading system. Failing inspired me to work harder and I ended up being an English teacher for 6 years, which still amazes me because I never thought I would be able to speak a foreign language besides Romanian.”
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Ian Edwards – English and TOK Teacher
Worked at AISB for 6 years
“I had a difficult time as a high school student. I was a pretty awkward teenager and I used to be very overweight. I was bullied a lot in my early high school years. One of the worst experiences was when I got into a pretty bad fight with my best friend. His little brother had been provoking me because he was jealous and saw me as his competition. After that, my best friend disowned me and for the rest of the year he was basically stalking me and harassing me to try to antagonize me. At the end of the year, he had to move and we made peace. When I was in Grade 11, I discovered drama and did school plays and it helped me escape.”