Each year, Avenor graduates choose universities across the world — from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to Italy, Spain and the United States. Over the past seven years, 139 graduates of Avenor International High School have been admitted to leading academic institutions worldwide. Our alumni study Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology and KU Leuven, Economics at the London School of Economics and Harvard, Medicine at Trinity College or the University of Groningen, and Design at Istituto Marangoni.
At Avenor, career guidance — and subsequently university counselling — begins in the first year of high school. Through a comprehensive process coordinated by our Career Counsellors, students discover their own path and develop a deep understanding of the options available to them at universities around the world.
The diversity of destinations and fields of study is no coincidence. It is the result of a guidance process that starts early and helps students build not only an academic pathway, but also a clear understanding of their values and identity.
At Avenor, preparing for university also means building roots strong enough that, one day — once professional expertise has been shaped in some of the world’s most competitive environments — returning home becomes a deliberate and meaningful choice.
This is how the partnership between Avenor and the Romanian Students Abroad League (LSRS) was born — an organisation that, for over 17 years, has connected Romanian students at universities worldwide and promoted academic excellence, engagement and international collaboration.
This year, Avenor is supporting one of LSRS’s most important projects: the Romanian Students Abroad Gala, which will take place on 7 April at the Palace of Parliament.
Far from Home, Close to Romania
On 7 April, at the Palace of Parliament, the Romanian Students Abroad League will host the Romanian Students Abroad Gala — the annual event recognising the outstanding achievements of young Romanians studying internationally, across fields ranging from STEM and research to the arts and civic engagement.
This year’s theme, “Far from Home, Close to Romania”, captures an idea that resonates deeply with the Avenor community as well: international education is not only about studying at top universities around the world, but also about remaining connected to Romania and understanding why returning home is meaningful.
Avenor students will therefore attend the Gala not as simple spectators, but as future university students engaging directly with young people who have already walked this path. They will have the opportunity to ask real questions about academic choices, about life in an international environment, and about what it means to be Romanian at a top 50 global university — conversations that transform an abstract future into a personal and tangible one.
Learning from Real Experiences
Avenor high school students’ participation in the Gala is designed as an opportunity for exploration and direct dialogue with Romanian students studying abroad. They will discover authentic stories about university applications, adaptation, academic challenges and everyday life in an international context.
At the same time, they will be able to ask questions and hear diverse perspectives on real experiences: what the first year away from home truly feels like, what challenges arise, how the academic culture of a British university differs from that of a Dutch one, and how students learn to navigate between them. It is also the ideal context to explore an essential question: how — and at what moment — do you realise that you want to return to Romania?
Such open and unfiltered discussions complement the university guidance process in a way that no guidebook or presentation can replace. For Avenor students, these encounters transform aspirations and dreams about the future into more concrete plans — and this is the best way to prepare them for the next stage of their lives. Choosing a university stops being an abstract concept and begins to take shape through real faces, experiences and stories.
Shared Values: Academic Excellence and Responsibility Towards the Community
The partnership between Avenor and the Romanian Students Abroad League is built on a shared vision of education: academic performance is not an end in itself, but a starting point for meaningful contribution to society. Both Avenor and LSRS support the idea of a generation of young people capable of performing internationally while remaining connected to the community they come from.
This year, Diana Segărceanu, Founder and Executive Director of Avenor College, is part of the Gala’s Grand Jury, alongside prominent figures from the Romanian and international academic and cultural environments — an involvement that reflects the direct connection between Avenor students’ international journeys and the responsibility to transform global experience into local impact.
“At Avenor, we do not aim solely for our graduates to gain admission to prestigious universities. We aspire to something more ambitious: to shape young people who become among the best in their field — in London, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Milan or Bucharest — who build their professional experience alongside leading experts, and who, at a certain point, choose to bring that expertise back home to Romania. Returning thus becomes a conscious choice and a source of pride, because they have strong roots and understand why their contribution matters. For us, this is education with purpose.” – Diana Segărceanu, Founder and Executive Director, Avenor College.
Wings and Roots — The Foundations of a Meaningful Journey
At Avenor, career guidance and university counselling are not simply about helping a student secure admission. They are about supporting each student in understanding what they wish to build and where, having the courage to go far, and at the same time the clarity to know what they may one day return to.
The LSRS Gala is one of the moments when this process takes shape. For the Avenor students who will be present on 7 April, it will likely be the first time their academic future acquires real faces and stories — experiences that prepare them to fully embrace international opportunities while preserving their Romanian roots, making the decision to return home both a possibility and a conscious choice.
