Just a year ago, Martina Godoy was completing her final stage at International English School of Castellón. Today, she is studying Medicine in her first year at the Universitat de València, one of the most demanding degree courses in higher education. Her recent journey offers a valuable perspective on the transition from school to university and invites reflection on which tools are truly decisive when a new academic stage begins.
We spoke with her to learn how she has experienced this transition, which lessons from her time at IESC remain present in her daily life, and what advice she would offer to students who are now approaching the end of their own school journey.
The move to university: a different kind of challenge
The change, Martina explains, has been profound. The difference between school and university is immediately noticeable, especially in the size of the groups and in the relationship with teachers. Moving from small classes, where support was close and continuous, to lecture halls with around a hundred students also brings a new way of learning and organising oneself.
What Martina values most about her school days is that genuine sense of closeness. She fondly remembers an environment where the teachers were deeply committed and support was always at hand. This proved invaluable when she transitioned to studying Medicine—a demanding degree defined by dense content, a relentless pace, and a first year that requires rapid adaptation.
However, if she had to pinpoint the single most important tool she took with her, it would be learning to study well in advance. Cultivating the habit of preparing for exams early during Sixth Form has, in her experience, been one of the most valuable lessons she took from school.
Consistency as the foundation of academic performance
Gaining access to Medicine does not depend solely on a great final grade. It requires continuity, method and sustained discipline over time. Looking back, Martina identifies two essential pillars in that process: effort and discipline.
When preparing for the PCE examinations, starting early, maintaining a steady study rhythm and becoming familiar with the exam format proved decisive. In this respect, she believes that the school’s academic structure played a particularly important role. Frequent tests, continuous follow-up and the emphasis placed on exam practice all helped her develop a rigorous and effective way of working.
Beyond preparation for a single set of examinations, what she values most is having acquired a solid study habit. And it is precisely that habit, more than any specific result, that now allows her to face a highly demanding degree with greater confidence.
English as an academic advantage
One of the clearest things Martina has realised during her first year at university is just how important English is in academic life. Even though she is studying Medicine in Spanish, a huge portion of her study material—including videos, scientific articles, and specialist textbooks—is actually in English.
For this reason, she believes that the level of English she acquired at International English School of Castellón has given her a significant advantage. Being able to understand this material naturally allows her to focus on the content itself, without adding an extra layer of difficulty to an already demanding degree.
For Martina, English has become an indispensable tool. The language skills she naturally developed during her school years are now a seamless part of her daily academic routine.
The memories that remain
When Martina looks back on her final year at school, she does not speak only about subjects or examinations. She also speaks of places, familiar names and a human environment that deeply shaped that period of her life.
She mentions Greta’s office as one of the places where she spent the most time and which she associates with something essential: learning how to concentrate and how to make her study hours truly count. She also remembers Inma’s classroom, a space marked both by moments of frustration while trying to understand Maths and by many other lively and unforgettable moments. And she speaks particularly warmly of Enrique, her tutor, for the motivation he gave her every morning.
To those memories she adds Elena, the receptionist, whose presence, she says, has been part of her entire school life. But above all, Martina highlights the importance of the people who surrounded her during that final year: classmates, friends and teachers who made that time especially meaningful.
A message for those who are about to finish
For the students now entering the final stretch of Year 13, Martina would offer a simple but deeply important piece of advice: make the most of the time you have with your classmates and teachers.
With the perspective that comes from finishing her first year at university, she now sees clearly that many everyday school experiences—which might have seemed ordinary or even demanding at the time—later become the ones she treasures most. School leaves behind far more than just academic knowledge; it leaves a legacy of relationships, shared routines, and a daily way of life that, over time, she deeply misses.
Looking to the future from a strong foundation
Martina’s experience shows that school does much more than just prepare students for university entry exams; it helps them build lifelong habits, strong judgement, and confidence. For her, the years spent at the International English School of Castellón were about far more than just academic preparation for Medicine—they provided a solid foundation that has allowed her to face this new challenge with true maturity.
Her journey is only just beginning, but it already conveys an essential lesson: behind every important transition lies a combination of effort, consistency, support and well-directed education. And it is precisely in that combination that an educational stage acquires its true value.
