Before our seniors graduated our summer student and Old Ridleian Nicholas ’12 interviewed a few of them about their Ridley experience. In this interview he spoke to Jesus Serrano ’14.
Jesus is from Mexico. During this past year he was a rower, the Drum Sergeant Major in the Cadet Band, a Prefect, and sang in the choir. He was in the first graduating class of the IB Diploma Programme, was valdictorian of the class of 2014, and won the prestigious Mason Medal. In the fall, Jesus will be attending Princeton University.
1. Where is your favourite place to study on campus?
I like to study in my room in MSO (Merritt South).
2. What is your best memory of this past year?
One of my best memories is taking the Santa and his helpers photo during our improvised Winter White Out dance, I also loved going to Shawnigan Lake School for a march break rowing training camp, and going to the OFSAA Championships for swimming.
3. What do you think you will miss the most about Ridley College?
I will miss having life chats about whatever comes to mind in the house with the boys. I think that those are the moments where I developed the friendships and bonds that I want to have for the rest of my life.
4. Who is your favourite faculty member?
My favourite faculty members are Mr. Charl van Niekerk, Ms. Sarah Braun, and Ms. OR. I admire these three in particular because they had a passion for the subject they were teaching, on top of being extremely good at them. They inspired me to look for something in life where I can find a passion similar to theirs.
5. What have you learnt from Ridley?
I learned two main lessons. I learned to treasure the friends that you find, because true friendship is way too valuable to lose. And I learned to forget about other people’s opinions, and to do the things that I like without worrying about what everyone is going to think. This was huge for me, and it changed the way I think about my goals in life and my attitude towards them.
6. Please share a quote (yours or otherwise) about any aspect of Ridley/ life at Ridley (ex: academics, art, buildings, duty, history, passion, etc.)?
“If you lose, say nothing. If you win, say less.”
