International Baccalaureate Office Introduces New Painting from IB Alumnus

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Office recently livened up the walls with a painting by recent IB Diploma Program Alumnus, Edwin Onyango ’21.

The painting itself was inspired by Edwin’s belief in climate change and its detriment to the earth. He painted a series and donated them to community members, including IB Coordinator, Kim McGlynn. After he gave the paintings to Kim, Edwin had the idea to paint a piece specifically for the IB office.

“It took me quite some time to figure out what I was going to paint,” said Edwin. “Water waves normally break one after the other and with each break, there is always a difference made, even if it’s just a mere movement of a few sand particles. The special thing about them is that they never stop breaking and according to me, that is the IB spirit,” said Edwin.

Hidden within the painting are many other odes to the IB program, “The universal aspect of IB is expressed by the presence of the globe inside the letter ‘b’ in the painting,” said Edwin.“ The detailed sky and the rock scenery are manifestations of the simple, yet deep and creative thinking process that most IB disciplines, like Theory of Knowledge (TOK), strive to nurture.” 

Although Edwin says that it was difficult to include all aspects of IB in a single painting, he was especially happy with how the piece turned out because it was a learning experience for him.

“As I celebrate my IB diploma, I know that it is more about the journey and I am really grateful to my teachers and coaches who were always around to make sure that the skills I was acquiring were being put into practice,” said Edwin.

Edwin shared that the IB program was one of my most productive and fun moments at George School and cited projects like Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS), that challenged him to wonder how he is making the world a better place; a question he believes could save future generations.

Edwin will attend Dartmouth in the fall, majoring in Computer Science.

“I feel ready to venture into the new world and be open to new knowledge that comes my way, influence the world around me with the knowledge I gain, and finally hope to be able to ask more questions about the world because learning never ends.”