Four Stranded  

Grade 10  

Academic #1: Spanish 10 Spanish is my third language. It was difficult to learn another language in my second language, English. However with the support of Maestra Castañeda and hard work, I was able to get a B in the course. Even though it wasn't my best mark, I gained a tremendous amount of confidence to believe in myself. I learnt with personal experience that I could do anything if I put my mind to it.  

Academic #2: Math 12 Even though I was in grade 10, I had 90% in every test except one test, one question wrong on the math 12 provincial test, and one of top 5 mark in the course.  

Academics Reflection It was a very new experience for me to be taking Mathematics 12 in grade 10. The atmosphere of the class was very different than any other class I have been in. I felt very out of place. The "big" grade 12s worked very hard because their universities were dependent on their marks while the "little" me sat in the back of the room nonchalantly. I felt intimidated, but I decided to overcome the pressure and work calmly in a well paced manner. I ended up getting over 90% in every test except one test. Also I had received 98% in provincials. It was the first time being in a very pressured academic atmosphere and I was able to do well!

Athletics #1:Rugby Entering grade 10, I was able to join the Collingwood Senior Rugby team. Being a rookie, I wasn't able to play many games, but I went to practices diligently to become a better player.  

Athletics Reflection When I became part of the senior rugby team, I was frightened of the strong players. I realized that I was alot smaller than most players. The realization motivated me to work out at the school gym. I did not only physically train my body, but I started to read articles, studies, and books about proper nutrition and training techniques. Through rugby, I was introduced to a hobby that I love dearly.

Arts highlight #1:Clay There was 3 weeks in Arts 10 where we had the chance to work with clay.  

Arts Reflection It was remarkable how we could mold the clay into any shapes that we had wanted to. I was able to make multiple sculptures that I truly felt like I was "doing" art. I was able to express myself with the interaction between the clay and my fingertips. For the first time, I had understood the influence of art. I felt one with Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, and Leonardo Da Vinci. I felt like an artist. It gave me dreams of traveling across the world, one art gallery to another. It gave me not only the experience of being an artist, but also gave me dreams of learning more about the art culture itself.  

Service highlight #1: 30 hour famine
For 30 hours, we could not eat to raise awareness and experience the daily conflicts that people in the world go through every day. We slept over at school and woke up to have the fast break with a breakfast together.  

Service Reflection
It was 11 PM. I was in the dark room in the math domain with my fellow faminers. I laid in my heavily cushioned Northface sleeping bag. My stomach growled like a bear waking up from a hibernation. It wanted foods of all sorts; meats, veggies, chips, and diet pop. Very rarely in my life, I had ever not been able to satisfy my taste buds when it was desired to. It was a day of self reflection, a day that I found out that I had been spoiling my taste buds. Quite frankly, it wasn't a "famine" or anything close to what we tried to replicate. However, I learnt that fake-famining for 30 hours was enough to drain my body of energy and general well-being. I could not even imagine the less fortunate people around the world where this problem was their daily problem. I told the story of this experience as I started in this reflection. I was able to turn few people's opinions on how this is not a tedious service event, but how it was an opportunity to experience and learn the jist of struggles that people go through every day.

Highlights #1 Cyclebetes 
This was a great day because I got to raise money for diabetes by cycling with a close group of friends. We got to spend the whole night helping each other to keep pedaling through the total 24 hours lasted. We didn't only help other people, but we got closer as friends.

Highlights #2: New Student Day 

It was a day to welcome new students to Collingwood School. I went to the school to talk to the new students to make them feel welcome at a new school. I knew how it was like to go to a new school so I felt very empathetic for the new students.

Highlight #3: Soup Kitchen

I went to soup kitchen with already baked cookies. I felt pretty good feeding the hungry people. It was very worthwhile to wake up very early, take the long bus ride, and stay in that stinky room for hours.

Grade 11
Academic #1: Microeconomics AP
It was one of the hardest courses that I have ever done in high school, but I was able to get 93% in the course and 5 on the AP exam.

Academic #2: Calculus AB AP
Majority of the people in Calculus AB had tutors and I had the choice to get one. However, I wanted to prepare myself for university where there won't be much help. So I spent more than 2 hours every night to keep up with the pace of the course and the course load. I showed myself that I was capable of anything.

Academic Reflection 
I was very scared that I would do badly in Calculus AB. Grade 11 marks are very important when it came to US universities. So it was all or nothing. I had no chance to make a mistake. I needed to do well. I spent hours at home googling practice tests for each chapter of the course. I was very happy when I finished the course with an A and a 5 on the AP exam. I was extremely proud of myself and it is one of my milestones in my academic career where I took the big step to become independent in my studies.

Athletics #1: Rugby
We had won Hatch Shield, New Zealand Shield, and came 2nd in the province in AA Rugby.

Athletics Reflection  
This year I learnt alot about the my new position as an outside center. I watched the grade 12 player's techniques so I could use them as well. I was able to learn how to run hard and tackle with no fear. I am ready to play next year when I will be part of the First 15.


Arts #1: Photography
I took up photography as a hobby. I learnt how to use all the setting and effects that DSLR cameras provide.

Arts Reflection
After being unable to join the photography class due to class conflicts. I decided to take it up as a hobby because my father had lots of cameras. Quite frankly, I never liked arts because I was a terrible artist. However when it came to photography, I had a chance. I just had to press bunch of buttons and the camera would do all the work. I loved it. By the end, I was taking pictures that I thought that could be on a postcard or a wallpaper. It was the first time in Arts when I felt that I was actually good at it.


Service #1: Soup Kitchen
We went downtown close to east hastings where homelessness is prevalent. We went early in the day to prepare the food we were going to serve the homeless people. We got to serve all of the hungry people. It was one of the first times that I have ever closely interacted with homeless people.

Service Reflection
When I first arrived at the soup kitchen, I was a little scared. Everyone stank and some people seemed a little crazy. The majority of them were clearly on drugs and it was not a pretty sight. I did not see one person who thanked us. They violently took the cookies off the trays when they knew that they were only allowed a certain number of cookies. They demanded more food as if they were entitled to it. It was hard because no one recognized that we took the time out of our Sunday to come down and feed them. Even though we weren't thanked by the people we helped, the adults there made us realize that service is not being about thanked. Service was about helping each other in need.

Highlights #1: Getting My LEARNERS 

I was the last one to turn 16 in my grade. On the day of my sixteenth birthday, I took my learners test and barely passed due to my insufficient time invested in studying. I wasn't nervous to take the test until I saw Kelsey, who had the same birthday as me, fail the test and leave the ICBC test center in tears. But luckily I passed due to shear luck.







Highlights #2: Working out

Grade 11 gave me enough time and stress that gave me the perfect atmosphere to work out like an animal. I worked out every single day with a strict diet regime. By end of the year, I was strong and fit as I wanted to be. I was lifting 315 pounds on the bench press, 405 on squats, and 405 on deadlifts when I was 185 pounds. I am very proud to reach my goals and I will carry on with my goals until the day I die.



Highlights #3: Vancouver Riot

I was in downtown watching the game with my friends in a sushi restaurant. After our loss, I started to hear noises outside the restaurant. I looked outside to see this man running toward a parked cop car. He kicked the back windows and they shattered everywhere. Then suddenly, hundreds of people started to break stores, cars, and each other. I watched as people panicked. Then I was tear gassed. I couldn't see anything and it burnt my eyes. Even though I haven't done anything, I was victimized.
Even though this event wasn't a positive event, it taught me the true reality of the world that help me mature. I can look back to this day and remember the times when I learnt that there are very odd types of people out there. I realized more of reality that day.

Grade 12
Academic #1
Physics C AP
This is the hardest course that I have ever taken in my life. It is equivalent to 2nd year university physics. The concepts that we are faced with are moderately difficult to grasp. I am proud to just be part of the course because this course made us always aware of the tim

Academic #2
Statistics AP Mock Exam
Statistics was very difficult for me. I needed to get over 90% in the final exam to get my desired mark and I thought I wouldn't be able to get it. I studied for countless amount of hours at school and I was able to pull away with a 93%.


Academic Reflection
Even when I felt like I was a dead end in my academic career, the effort paid off as always. Now that I will be entering university with much rigorous course load, I need to be able to handle every challenges that I will face. This hardship gave me the courage and reassurance to my future academic career.


Athletics #1
Senior Rugby
After 3 years of being in senior rugby, I believe I have improved alot and I am very glad that I got to have experience of playing rugby in Australia and being one of the best teams in the province.

Athletics Reflection 
The three weeks we spent in Australia is the time that I will remember and cherish forever. We got to live with some awesome families that took us into their home. We did not only play rugby against one of the best rugby players in the world, but we got to see their lives and the Australian culture. I had made lots of friends that I hope one day I will see again.
Rugby has allowed me to become very close with my teammates. Now I share a special bond between lots of my teammates that I love dearly much. I really love the sport and everything that goes on behind the scene. I am really glad I had this experience and I will miss it more than anything!

Service #1
Jump Rope for Heart
We went to the Wentworth Campus to organize games for the little students. We were in charge of making up the games and the children.

Service Reflection
Never in my life, I had ever worked with kids. They seemed scary to me because I felt as if they would not listen and act on their own whimsical terms. However I was pleasantly surprised when most students would listen very well. Then we were able to make very fun games for the students which involved competition between the girls and the boys and it got everyone involved having fun.


Highlights #1
Australia Rugby Tour
The best 3 weeks that I could ever ask for in my Grade 12 spring break. I got to spend the time with my boys and to meet incredibly awesome new people that I will stay in touch for the rest of my life. I am already planning on meeting my billet's sister in Europe this summer. :)

 

Highlights #2:
I was at school when Judy, the front desk lady, the nicest lady ever, notified me that there was an awesome picture of me playing rugby on the Newspaper. I don't think I had ever been on newspaper so it was pretty cool.
http://www.nsnews.com/sports/Cavaliers+claim+Shield/8418062/story.html


Highlights #3: University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

4 years of my hard work has finally paid off and now I will be attending UIUC, top 5 best engineering school in North America. I am very proud to go to this university and the next 4 years of my life will be dedicated to become an engineer who will fix any problems that society has.

Over Arching Reflection

 Collingwood has been a loving home for the last 4 years of my high school life. It gave me opportunities to do excel in 4 important strands; service, academics, athletics, and arts. Now that I am wrapping up everything that I had done in the last 3 years and to see it all together, I am truly overwhelmed and finally understand the gravity of everyone’s help.  

I learnt the love of giving and I won’t ever forget to give back even when I am in university. The empathetic mind was discovered only because Collingwood School has challenged me to do so. I wouldn’t have found this part of myself without taking risks as taught by our teachers. 

            I loved playing rugby for the Collingwood Senior team. It was an honor and a privilege. I am truly grateful of the fantastic coaches that we have and the skills that they have taught me on and off the field. 

            I thought art is the part where I was always going to lack in skill and knowledge.  However through the years at Collingwood of being constantly challenged, I am not only knowledgeable in art history, but also can take some postcard-like pictures. 

            The rigorous courses that Collingwood offers was a perfect opportunity for me to get prepped for university. I have done 10 AP Courses during my high school career that now I go into university with tons of credits. I did not only save money for university, but I also saved time. The teachers and the school gave me the opportunities and helped me reached my goals. 

All the things that I thought was too much work were actually the things that made my high school years memorable. Without the challenges that I had faced, I would have had an easy unrewarding experience. I could not thank Collingwood School, the facility, and the students for my unforgettable past, promising future, and the friends that I will cherish forever.