We are proud to share the heartfelt words of Viviana Izquierdo (2020, Mexico), a Survalienne whose journey with us started 7 years ago. In her inspiring speech that Viviana delivered at the Swiss Embassy in Mexico, a powerful testimony to the lifelong connection, confidence, and global perspective a Surval education nurtures.
Viviana has returned to Surval as part of the team for three Summer Camps and one Winter Camp, becoming an integral part of our Surval family. With her creativity, empathy, and eye for storytelling, she captures the spirit of Surval through her photography and films—preserving the special memories our girls make and helping them stay with them forever.
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Surval doesn’t lead you down the right path, but rather encourages you to create your own.
This is a line from the graduation speech I gave at Surval when I was 13 years old, and it’s an honour to be here today sharing it with you. My name is Viviana Izquierdo, a proud Survalienne, and I’d love to tell you a little about my Surval experience.
I first arrived at Surval when I was 10, walking through the wooden doors that, years later, I’d be running through with friends, bicycles, skis… family. My sister Alexa was about to start her year at Surval, and I came along as company, confused as to why anyone would want to spend so much time away from home. But it only took the laughter in the hallways, the warm smiles of the teachers, and of course, the breathtaking view over Lake Léman for me to feel the same excitement and sense of adventure that my sister did.
Three years later, I returned to those same wooden doors—but this time, with three suitcases in hand.
Learning French, travelling across Europe, trying on skis for the first time, and connecting with wonderful, unique people—my first months were a dream come true. But by February 2020, the virus we’d all been hearing about, COVID-19, began to alarm the world. By March, boarding schools across Switzerland closed their doors, and students were sent back to their home countries. Worried, I started packing my bags, assuming Surval would be no different.
But Mrs. Woodhouse stopped me and, surprised, told me: neither the school, nor she, would ever close their doors on us. We were safe at Surval—we were home.
Things changed a little: most students went home, and our planned trips were cancelled for safety. But what never changed was the school’s love and care. There were four of us, 13-year-old girls, in the middle of a pandemic, our families on the other side of the world, unsure when—or how—we’d get home. Scary, right?
Actually, no—it was the opposite. Surval made that experience even more exciting. They nurtured our curiosity, offered us an amazing programme of activities, and gave us the tools and support to continue discovering who we were, our passions, and our dreams.
With its care, warmth, and security, Surval gave me the confidence to fully express my personality, my talents, and my curiosity. As I said in that graduation speech, Surval didn’t push me to choose the right path—it inspired me to create my own, just as they did during the pandemic.
Now, at 19, I’m proud to say I am a brave, bright, and confident young woman who knows who she is—and who she wants to become. I’m proud to say I am a Survalienne.
Today, I continue returning to Surval as a member of the winter and summer camp team, and it brings me so much joy to see how the girls begin to transform from the moment they walk through that wooden door—just like I once did.