Today on the blog – getting to know your Prefects. The Prefects are the student leaders of Ridley College. Ulrich is a boarding student from Germany and is a member of the Ridley Rowing team.
- Why did you choose Ridley?
The first thing I decided that I want to go to a boarding school in Canada. I started searching for schools and I informed myself by talking to friends, who had already experienced living in the community of a boarding school. By the recommendation of Ridley by two of my good friends I got curious what it meant to live at Ridley College. Last spring I had the awesome opportunity to visit the school and to make my own impressions of the college. This was the final step of choosing Ridley College as my future high school.
- Did you feel prepared coming to Ridley?
I really did feel prepared coming to Ridley because of my personal visit of the school and my experiences in a summer school in England. Especially my summer, which I spend in England gave me the first impression of a boarding school and this made me feel more confident coming to Ridley. Also the information about Ridley given to me by my friends, who lived at the school already, helped me to start preparing for Ridley.
- What are your plans after graduation? (i.e. university, college, gap year…degree of study, city you plan to live in, extracurricular pursuits)
After graduation I would love to go to university. I am not quite sure yet, which university is my favourite and in which city I want to study, but my future education will be in international business. I am very interested in the University of Maastricht because of the excellent program and the awesome country but I am also interested in American universities like the University of Boston.
- Who is your favorite faculty member and why?
It is truly hard to say who is my favorite faculty member but according to last year Father Jason is my personal favorite. He taught me World Religions and reinforced my interest in religion. FJ taught me new information and he gave me the chance to grow off my challenges. As a Chaplin of Ridley College, a teacher and friend he created the perfect mentor and companion for my grade 11 year.
- What has been your greatest challenge thus far at Ridley?
My greatest challenge was been to balance academics and athletics. I am a passionate rower, who spends a lot of time and effort on being an athlete, but school is always challenging for me. To keep up with the work and to fulfill my duties in school wasn’t always easy. To handle my academics I sometimes had to take a step back from rowing and set my priorities on school.
In the end I managed to set priorities in my schedule and organize my day by using tips, tricks and help from others, especially my coach to manage school and rowing at the same time.
- What has been your greatest accomplishment thus far at Ridley?
My greatest accomplishment at Ridley is fitting into the community and learning English. I am very glad and proud that I found so many awesome friends and that I am a member of the Ridley community. But I am also proud to speak English with more confidence and to be more skilled in the language itself.
- How has Ridley prepared you for the future?
Ridley has mainly prepared me for the future by teaching me a foreign language, but there are also lots of other steps where Ridley has helped me that have personally prepared me for the future. For example the excellent preparation for universities by the guidance team and Naviance helped me a lot. In addition to that the boarding school life itself confronted me with challenges and opportunities, which formed my character and prepared me on the path for my future.
- What has been your favourite Ridley experience (thus far) and your favourite part of Ridley (chapel, rowing, your house)?
My favourite experience in my time at Ridley was the rowing program. We had a good season with a lot of fun and awesome moments. The athletes and the coaches grew together as a team and we build on each other. With working as a very young and inexperienced team we achieved a lot. Experiencing the Ridley rowing community and program fulfilled my life at Ridley.
- What are the most important things you have learned from your time at Ridley?
I think the most important things I have learned at Ridley are caring for each other and working as a team. Ridley showed me how to really grow together in the house, the sports team and as a whole. With a number of events and situations in the daily life Ridley showed me how important working together as friends and teammates is. This is a very unique experience and I am very happy to be able to acknowledge this. I am also looking forward to sharing this experience with other students next year.
- What advice would you give prospective students about Ridley?
I would advise future students to find a way to access the Ridley community. For me life at Ridley consists of friendship and teamwork and these are the factors perspective students will experience. It is great to have a number of friends you trust and if the person has a positive attitude to meet new people and learn new skills it will be a great year for the student.