Balanced and Reflective Inquirers

In a fast-changing world, being balanced and reflective is not about doing everything equally or getting everything right. It is about knowing yourself, learning from experience, and adjusting with purpose. Across medicine, elite sport, and student life, the panel showed how reflection turns experience into growth. 

Renowned neurosurgeon and associate professor Dr. Cao Lei described how his team has refined minimally invasive endoscopic techniques for complex tumors in young people by questioning older methods and learning from complications. For students, his story illustrated that reflection is important for innovation in medicine and beyond. “Every day, we go first into the operating room and face the most complex organ, the brain,” he explained. “After surgery, our team always comes back together to review what we did, what problems we met, and what we can improve. That reflection is what drives new solutions for our patients.” 

Internationally-recognized Olympic swimming coach Stephan Widmer shifted the focus to mindset in high‑performance sport. “I’m a strong believer in a process‑driven approach, train the way you want to race in the future,” he tells his swimmers. Every push off the wall is a chance to notice body position, streamline, and timing. “If you just see a 25‑meter lap, you’ve already lost. You have to see the details and play with them in your mind,” he added. 

Stephan also reframed balance using a three‑legged table: one leg for sport, one for personal growth such as education, and one for social and family life. “That table can only stand if all three legs are strong enough for that person,” he said. “Balance has to be right for you.” He added that balance looks different to different people: that for some, balance is working towards peak performance, for some, it's ensuring that we get the best from our team-members by encouraging enthusiasm and positive energy.  

Grade 11 student Rachel, founder of the Neuro Network club, shared how she combines higher‑level science with music, art, and multiple sports. “My hobbies and interests are pretty broad and diverse, and that directly affects how balanced my life is,” she said. Reflecting on her neuroscience exhibition, which Dr. Lei helped review, she added, “Getting feedback from experts gave our work credibility. It also showed me how important communication is in science.” 

Grade 11 student Kai, swim team captain and co‑founder of the Hearts of Hope club, defined balance as adaptability. “For me, balance is being able to adapt, not evenly allocating all your time,” he explained. “If there’s a really important swim meet, you need the flexibility to put more time into that.” 

He sees academics, swimming, and social life as one cohesive whole. “Sometimes I’ll work for 30 minutes at high efficiency, then my focus drops. Swimming becomes a mental reset,” he said. On reflection, he added, “Without looking back at what you’ve done, your future plans won’t make sense. Small, consistent steps add up to big gains over time.” 

The panel closed with Dr. Cao challenging students to reflect honestly on what kind of future will feel fulfilling and sustainable for them. He described spending the recent three‑day holiday flying between four cities to perform four surgeries, arriving at WAB physically tired but refreshed in spirit. He reminded students that if their work motivates them to keep learning and making a positive impact, then even when they are exhausted, they can feel grounded and balanced. 

This year, through our Innovation Series, in collaboration with Stephen Taylor, our Director of Innovation, we’ll be sharing stories and examples of what innovation looks like across WAB. We’ll share stories from classrooms, examples from alumni, and insights from global partners. Our hope is that together, we can build a clearer picture of how innovation at WAB helps our students become better learners and prepared for life beyond WAB.