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Leesa Tulley, who graduated The KAUST School in 2017, is fulfilling her musical theatre dreams by performing on stages of ‘West End’ Theatres in London, England. – Leesa was a performer in the cast of Six: The Musical and more recently as lead part in the new musical ‘Why am I so Single’. 

During her time at KAUST, Leesa was a force of nature in TKS performing arts scene, starring in productions such as The Music Man, Dr. Doolittle Jr.and the Wizard of Oz,, and lending her rich soprano voice to musical showcases at TKS and in the community – such as the KAUST Commencement Ceremony. Leesa always demonstrated a passion for singing, dancing, and acting, and attended Emil Dale Academy of Musica and Drama in Hitchin, England upon graduating from TKS to pursue further training and degree in Musical Theatre.

Leesa joined the cast of Six: The Musical in 2022. Having performed in cities across the UK as part of the National Tour, her favorite song in the show to sing is "I Don't Need Your Love". She was recently nominated for the Best Performance by an Understudy/Alternate in Any Play or Musical award at the BroadwayWorld UK/West End Awards for her role in Six. In March 2023 Leesa performed in Six the Musical in Seoul South Korea. After completion of the tour Leesa continued to play periodic alternate cover to all Six queens in Six the musical in the Vaudeville Theatre in London’s West End. 

In November 2023, Leesa was cast in the showcase of a new Musical called ‘Kin’ in ‘Theatro Technis’ Theatre in London. 

In her most amazing success to date, Leesa has been cast as Nancy, a lead role in the new Musical ‘Why am I so Single’ which opened in August 2024 to great acclaim in the famous Garrick Theatre in Leicester Square in London. https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/why-am-i-so-single-west-end-review-a-heartfelt-meta-theatrical-marvel_1630202/. If you travel through London at the moment, you will see Leesa’s face on billboards in the train and London Underground stations across London. On the 22^nd of September Leesa was invited to sing one of her solo songs from the new musical in the world-famous venue The Royal Albert Hall, to a sell-out audience backed by a 50 piece Orchestra. Be sure to check out Leesa’s show if you are visiting London – running until January 19^th 2025. 

Bravo, Leesa!! ‘Break a leg’ - we are so proud of you!

Louis Davidson, TKS Class of 2022, stopped in recently to share an update on his first year at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Louis is studying Psychological and Behavioral Sciences and shared that “this course is allowing me to study cognitive, social, developmental, and biological psychology within the broader context of the behavioral sciences.” Outside of his academic studies, Louis has pursued other passions and has earned a spot on the audition-based Charter Choir, is volunteering regularly in the local community and is an Assistant Researcher at the University for a project on student mental health. He is also getting involved with The Cambridge Union – the oldest continuously running debating society in the world.
When asked about a favorite memory of TKS, Louis shared a story of the TKS graduation ceremony, particularly the opportunity to perform a solo along side the next generation of performers at the school, and described it as “a really meaningful culmination of my performing opportunities at TKS and a wonderful send-away for my peers and me.”
Louis feels TKS prepared him to readily adapt to new situations and engage with different groups of people. “Due to TKS' diversity, I am comfortable and open-minded when it comes to collaborating with people from different backgrounds and with different beliefs. Further, I am really grateful for all of my teachers throughout the MYP and DP as their support with learning IB content and their words of wisdom have helped me as I have navigated new waters.”
Louis left us with one piece of advice encouraging current seniors to “take a step back from the chaos that is that final year and appreciate the opportunities they have been given. Seniors tend to (understandably so) get caught up with how they are doing in their subjects and where they want to go after graduation, but it is really important to realize that those final moments are worth taking in – they're not a preparation for life. They are life.”

Blake Remington, from our Class of 2021, now attends University of California, Berkeley, where he is studying in the College of Environmental Design with a focus on landscape architecture.

While at TKS, IB Design and IB Physics were two of his favorite classes, and these courses inspired him to pursue a major in university that allows him to continue to explore these areas.

Blake had a number of co-curricular interests in High School including sports, Model United Nations, boy scouts, and choir. As a sophomore, he auditioned and was selected for the Berkeley Chamber Chorus, which is the premier concert choir for the university.
Only 35 singers are competitively selected and participation in the Chamber Chorus prepares students to sing with professional ensembles.

Music by the Chamber Chorus is available on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube.

Bethany Nason graduated from TKS in 2020. Now based in the UK, she’s studying Psychology at Durham University. She’s been busy since she started university, particularly with various extracurricular activities outside her degree, and has gained recognition for her abilities. 

“I was awarded a scholarship for research and leadership where I got to work with a postdoc over the summer looking at cognition in monkeys, Bethany explains. “I was at the zoo every day, which was such a cool experience! Aside from that, I now tutor for a company called Lanterna which is aimed at supporting IB students through their MYP and DP years. I also play in goal for my university water polo team!

At school, Bethany took Higher Level Psychology, Biology and English Literature. She took Economics, Maths, and French at Standard Level. 

We had a busy time meeting up with Bilal, Abdullah, and Kieran (Class of 2012) when the trio returned to KAUST and paid us a visit at TKS.

“I am incredibly grateful for the lifelong friendships I have made since TKS. One of the things that we love to do is travel the world, and we have been fortunate enough to visit many incredible places over the years. One of the highlights of our travels was attending the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup.” – Bilal

“I currently work as an IT Consulting Specialist here in KAUST IT. After TKS, I earned a degree as a Digital Media Specialist from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.
Seeing KAUST for the first time in 2009 was a spectacular sight, and somehow, I knew that in the future I would find myself back here, not as a student, but as an employee working on comprehensive and interesting projects.” – Abdullah

“My time at TKS taught me a lot, not only from my educational or cultural experiences but also in learning to be adaptable and embracing change.
I completed a biomedical sciences degree with honors at the University of Queensland, where I was the treasurer of the UQ Arab Student Association and coincidentally met a few people with connections to my KAUST friends! I then made the shift to commerce, becoming a chartered accountant and working as an auditor at Deloitte.” Kieran

A Class of 2021 graduate has contributed to a paper published in a science journal on targeted therapy in cancer treatment. 

Jenna Sleiman’s work featured in the American Chemical Society’s Applied Nano Materials, following a placement she undertook at KAUST when she was still a TKS student.

Niveen M. Khashab, Professor of Chemistry at KAUST, said: “It was such a pleasure to host Jenna in our lab. She is very interested in biomedical nanotechnology and she asked me if she can run some experiments for her school project. 

“She did an amazing job in the lab and so I think High School students who are interested in pursuing a career in STEM should approach the TKS Outreach Coordinator and get started early on towards their career goals. Our KAUST Provost, Prof. Carin, is very keen on establishing this link between the school and the University.”

Jenna is now studying in the United States at the University of Virginia. .
Read the paper here

We caught up with student Hanna (Class of 2020), who moved to Canada after receiving a scholarship to study engineering at the University of British Columbia. 

“I chose biomedical engineering as my major after a competitive first year, with a specialization in biomedical informatics. Biomedical informatics is the interdisciplinary study of and computer science to analyze genomic data and inform medical decision-making. I am particularly interested in the application of math as a modeling tool for problems in medicine.

In the near future, I am looking to go on co-op, a program allowing students to expand their university education by gaining work experience. As a biomedical engineering student, I would be looking to involve myself in the medical technology industry.”