Overarching Reflection Collingwood

It seems hard to believe that I have been at this school for the past 13 years of my life. Yet as I am looking back on them now it has felt like it has gone by in a heartbeat. When I started Collingwood back in kindergarden I had no idea what lay ahead of me. I had no idea the amount of opportunities and experiences that this school would have in store for me. Only now as I am only a few weeks from graduating do I truly understand how the four strands of academics, service, arts, and athletics have truly helped shape who I am today as an individual. Despite them just being four common words that to anyone else in the world would probably mean nothing to if you put them all together; Collingwood has brought about a meaning behind each of those words that has stories that shape every student and teacher that passes through this school. The academic strand has taught me the ability to achieve academically and set goals for me to strive for and watch myself succeed in ways I did not even imagine possible. The service strand has allowed me to interact with not only my peers but with my community on a personal level that I would not of been able to reach otherwise. The arts strand has allowed me to explore my creative side and helped me discover new things such as I am an awful artist but I enjoy such a thing like photography, where I learned that a photo can be much more than a picture taken with an iPhone and adding some instagram edits. The area I have most excelled in, the athletics strand has allowed me to pursue my passion of sports in many different areas and allowed me to develop my skills and given me chances to display them in places all over the world. Needless to say, those four simple words have had a massive role in who and what I am today and for that I am very thankful. The achievement that I am most proud of, as cheesy as it may sound is honestly graduating. Graduating is something that you look forward too as a kid ever since you start school or see older siblings go through it, yet for some reason it is something that you feel is never going to come. Yet when it does it feels like it comes up incredibly unexpected and fast. I think that is because no one really wants to graduate they just enjoy the anticipation of it coming. Well that is not entirely true, I am excited to graduate. It is going to open up a whole new world to me that I have been waiting to enter for the past 13 years of my life. At the same time I am going to be leaving behind people and experiences that I will never get back when I walk out those doors, but I will never forget them. So with graduating, one thing I would change about high school would be to make people not look so forward to the future, but live in the present. While graduating is exciting and seems to be freedom, don't let your high school years go by wasted and not taking advantage of every opportunity that you have, because you will miss them when they are gone. The first 13 years of your life shape who you are and most likely who you will turn out to be in the future, so let them shape you the right way by doing everything you possibly can in those 13 years; im just thankful that I am lucky enough to say that Collingwood has given me the best 13 years of high school that I could ask for. So, as I leave I know that I have been well prepared to enter University life and beyond because of everything Collingwood has offered me. Yet, if I were to give you all one piece of advice it would be to do your grad transitions asap when they are due because it will come back and be a bitch (sorry for language) .... but yeah. Grad 2013 xoxo

Academic Highlight #2 and 3 Choice Highlights

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Academic Highlight #2

My second academic highlight was my acceptance into Huron University college. Although it is not my first choice I will be able to attend Western which is my first choice and I am very excited to commencing my next four years at Western next fall.

Choice Highlight #1

My first choice highlight was the Australian rugby tour over spring break. This was by far the most memorable school event in my grade 12 year as I got to travel with the rugby team to Australia for 3 amazing weeks. I met new friends and had plenty of new experiences that will better prepare me for life next year and created long lasting friendships with kids from across the globe.

Choice Highlight #2

My second choice highlight was getting 84% on my English provincial exam. While this is not an A it is one of my highlights because only about 10 people in my whole grade got above 80% and this was a big accomplishment for me. It has allowed me to drop English and given me more time to enjoy the last few weeks of school I have left.

Choice Highlight #3

My third choice highlight will be the BC rugby provincials. While we have not actually gone to Provnicials yet I know that it is going to be a ton of fun and I hope that we will come away with a gold medal at the end of it. Our team has worked very hard this year to work towards winning the gold medal.

Grade 12 Service

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Service Highlight

My grade 12 service highlight is my participation in the Encounter XIX and XXI program. I went as a leader on the XIX program and was fortunate to be given the great honour of being a rector for the Encounter XXI trip. It is a lot of work but I am looking forward to further being able to give back to the Encounter program.

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I chose to do my service refelction on my Encounter XXI experience as a Rector. As a Rector for Encounter it involves a lot of long hours and time out of your day after school planning for the 4 day weekend. While a lot of the work is long and focuses a lot on tiny details it was probably one of the best experiences seeing it all pay off as the weekend progressed. Seeing how all the hard work through the 4 months led to helping each and every person through the weekend and their personal experiences was absolutely life changing. It was truly one of the only times I have ever felt like I have really give back to people and have them notice and thank you for it. Even though the weekend is not about me and was about all the candidates, I feel like they taught me things that I could not have learned any other way. They taught me how to be a leader, be understanding, compassionate, and a friend. I felt as though I was watching them go through something that could change their lives forever, and many im sure it did. There are no words to describe the feeling that you have and even though I got maybe 4 hours of sleep the whole time up there it was worthy every single hour, minute, and second that got put into it. I really hope that the Encounter program continues to thrive for years to come and maybe if I am lucky I will one day get to come back as an adult sometime in the future.

Grade 12 Academics

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Academic Highlight

My grade 12 academic highlight is my acceptance into the University of Calgary. This was a big accomplishment for me and I was accepted into the Business School which was very exciting considering that was my number one choice if I were to attend University of Calgary.

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My grade 12 academic highlight was on my acceptance into the University of Calgary. I chose this because it was the first University acceptance I received and it was a big relief to see the hard work that I had put into the first term of school really pay off. To make it even more rewarding I got into my first choice of the Business school. However since my acceptance into the University of Calgary, a lot has changed. My first choice as of now is the University of Western Ontario where I hope to attend the Richard Ivey School of business. Calgary was an appealing option at the beginning of my Univdersity search yet as time went on my interest were a lot greater in Western University. Particularly because for the first two years of your degree  you can study any subject you want and then transfer into the Richard Ivey School of Business which is what I plan to do. Going through grade 12, waiting for university acceptance is on of the most stressful times of highschool. I am happy to say that I have been accepted into all of my top choice schools and all the hard work at the beginning of the year allowed me to have many options in deciding where I would like to spend the next 4 years of my life at post secondary.

Grade 12 Athletics

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Athletic Highlight

My grade 12 athletic highlight is from the senior soccer team. Our senior soccer team has been a blast this year and we are currently in the process on attempting to qualify for the first ever provincial birth that Collingwood has ever had with senior soccer. I cannot wait to try and make it to provincials and possibly end my senior year as provincial champs.

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Athletics Reflection:

My athletics reflection was on being a part of the Senior School soccer team. When I wrote my highlight our team was in the process of competing in the North Shore playoffs for a chance to win a birth in the Provincials. Sadly, our quest for Provincials was cut short by a hard loss to Sentinel. Yet I would consider my last season as a high school soccer player to be a big success. For the first time in a long time we had students come out to support us at games and there was a buzz around the school about our team. One that had been long lost through the years of constant disappointment. I wish I could come back one more year to help the team finally qualify for a Provincial birth yet I believe that we have enough skill upcoming that we will have no trouble in further building on our success for the years to come. Being on the team as a senior also gave me major leadership experience and allowed me to become more confident in asserting myself in front of large groups of people. I may try to continue my soccer playing career as I attend University next year but if not, Collingwood was a great place to end my career of playing soccer competitively.

Grade 11 Service

Service Highlight

My service highlight in grade 11 is when I did habitat for humanity. It was on a Saturday and we helped to start the process in building a new house. It was a great experience and I look forward to doing it again this year.

Reflection 

I chose Habitat for Humanity as my service reflection because it was a major service event for me in my grade 11 year. Habitat for Humanity is a organization in greater Vancouver that goes around and builds low cost housing for families that cannot afford the to live in the growing wealth of Vancouver. They are usually small complexes with one to two stories that are big enough to fit a whole family and have all the necessary appliances and accommodations for everyday life. While we do not supply any of the appliances or equipment we do play a major part in the building of the actual houses. When I went on it we had to clear away what was probably a 10 meter long and 2 meter wide area of brush that was condensed with prickle bushes and other shrubs. While this was hard labour and not truly that exciting, it was good experience because it gave me an opportunity to see what kind of effort it takes some people 24/7 to get through their daily lives. It also showed me how lucky I am to be living in an area where I do not need to worry about where i’m going to sleep and whether or not i’m going to have a roof over my head. It really opened my eyes to the struggles that people can go through in their lives. Thats why as we were clearing the brush and putting in soil it gave me a great sense of accomplishment when I could look at the open space after and know that I personally contributed to a family being able to move into a nice home with a roof and essentials and know that every night they can be warm and comfortable in a place they can truly call home.

Grade 11 Art

Art Highlight

My art highlight in grade 11 is me taking photo 11. Photo 11 is a very interesting course because it is a way for me to express myself artistically with really no boundaries being put on me. I would recommend this class to any aspiring photographers.