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what high school did you go to?

 
Old 08-23-2008 at 06:06 PM   #1
lorend
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what high school did you go to?
Since we've got a lot of 'tell us about yourself' threads kicking around, I'd thought I'd start another.

What high school did you go to? Why did you like it, and/or why did you hate it?
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Old 08-23-2008 at 06:09 PM   #2
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I'll start....

I went to Mayfield, which is on the Caledon/Brampton border in Peel Region. I wasn't in the Arts...although I took four years of Drama.

I liked my school because we had some really good teachers who were tough on us, so first year wasn't a huge shock.

I disliked the school because it was cliquey. Lots of really snobby girls who were jerks if you weren't part of their group. The guys weren't as bad, but a lot of them were still pretty lame at times.

Also, I hated the stigma that if you weren't in the arts you couldn't be in any of the plays. Kilbertus, Stern I'm looking at the two of you jerks.

That, and it was a 25 minute bus ride for me to get there in the morning...so I got picked up at 7am every morning. Ew.
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We are people of this generation, bred in at least modest comfort, housed in universities, looking uncomfortably into the world we inherit. -- Port Huron Statement



Old 08-23-2008 at 06:43 PM   #3
mitch
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I went to Thornhill Secondary School in, you guessed it, Thornhill. I went there instead of the one closer to me, Thornlea, because I was in the gifted program.

My school had some really great teachers, some I still stay in contact with to this day! However, I'm biased cause these were mainly gifted teachers, so I'm not too sure about the other half.

It was a pretty small school and was quite boring. I find university soooo much different than high school and a million times better! *Even though it's a million times harder*

I was going to go into general science and possibly major in Biology, but after taking grade 12 exercise science, I realized that Kinesiology was much more interesting for me. I decided to minor in Bio instead. The teacher for that course was sooooo amazing and I still talk to her about my life and keep her up to date with my medical school situation.

Oh yeah, I had busing to and from the school, but apparantely they don't have it anymore. What's up with that?

I also wanted to add that there was this time when the students were trying to raise money for some cause, and they played "Domo Arigoto, Mr. Roboto" over and over and over again for two weeks straight on the P.A. system during lunch hours. They wouldn't stop until we raised enough money! Fun times.

Last edited by mitch : 08-23-2008 at 06:46 PM.
Old 08-23-2008 at 06:51 PM   #4
stevenback7
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I went to Ridgetown High School, population 320 in the small town of Ridgetown.

What I liked and hate about it was that it was a small school.

You go to know all your teachers really well and it was easy to make friends and meet everyone. And there were interesting courses which were challenging to a degree.

But everyone you were friends with, your friends were friends with. So if you had an argument with someone over something it became everyones problem. So you had to be nice to everyone for 4 years or else there would be problems lol.

So definetly looking forward to the large population of Mac.
Old 08-23-2008 at 07:14 PM   #5
kenvin100
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I attended Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute. (Scarborough, Kenbnedy and Lawrence) Im no super genius but honestly I did not have a good 4 years there. Grades 10 and 11 were in the middle so I guess I had the most fun during that time.

A whole lot of teachers in our school are terribly underqualified, this is why I hated the school the most, I took this as an advantage and got solid 80s for 4 yrs but unfortunately I think Im gonna pay for that now that Im going to Mac.

But this school was one reason why I chose Mac. I wanted to go to a "prestigious" reputable school..one school I can say I'm proud of coming from! I could've chosen other universities in Scarborough or Downtown but I chose to take independance and make new, AND BETTER friends in Hamilton. I really couldn't trust many students and couldn't take many chances when I live with my folks, so this is the time to take risks and have fun.

In my 12 years in Scarborough, I realized we have a lot of good and bad in this part of Toronto, but it does not follow the apparant "Bronx" life everyone else stereotypes it as.

I hope I can make new friends, have a whole lot of fun, and do amazinginly well in McMaster. I just have to remember that this is just another game, thas harder and costly

My two Canadian Cents
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Old 08-23-2008 at 08:03 PM   #6
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Oh, someone else from Scarborough! Yay!

I went to West Hill Collegiate Institute... which everyone told me was a bad school, because there's always police cars, fights, drugs, etc. But it wasn't that bad, actually. If you didn't look for trouble, you didn't get it. I personally think we had some really amazing teachers who cared a lot about their students!! There were the odd ones who didn't but I never had them so I lucked out in that aspect.

It, however, is 54 years old. And being in Scarborough and not having the best reputation, unlike RH King or Agincourt, we got no funding at all! My friend had part of a door fall on her foot, even. So our old derelict building had quite a few nicknames... I personally like West Hell and Waste Hole. :D

But I really did love my high school, even with the bad parts. I'm really looking forward to McMaster's physics olympics because then I can see some of my teachers again - we always participate and we tend to win at least something!
Old 08-23-2008 at 08:32 PM   #7
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I went to Brother Andre CHS in Markham.
Personally, on the outside I think it looks like a form of a jail, haha.

I thought it was an alllright school.
I liked it because it was fairly small so you knew most of the people.

I disliked it because we had a relocatable building outside in the back so it was a pain to go outside to that building especially when it was raining or snowing. Also, there were of course, annoying cliques.

The teacher's are alright, I had an amazing teacher for my first semester of Grade 12. I had him for three englishs and I loved it, I was never really interested in English all that much, but after having him for three English courses in one semester I loved it in the end.

But I'm really excited to go to Mac ! Differen't school, different environment
Old 08-23-2008 at 10:50 PM   #8
Nino
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I went to Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute in Scarborough. It's probably the largest school in Scarborough and despite all the stereotype about it being dangerous and all, it really isn't all that bad. We have a large forest right behind the school and I would say that this was the biggest problem that the school faced. Lots of students would go to the forest to fight, smoke weed, drink etc. I'd say the biggest issue we had in the school were the fights every now and then between Afghans and Tamils. The students involved in these fights were usually from other schools and barely any students from my school took part in them. I also remember the time a student decided to slash the principal's tires. That was another famous incident at my school and the story behind it is actually really hilarous.

The school was very multi-cultural and the '07 and '08 years were probably the best two years Cedarbrae has had due to the students there. I really enjoyed going there and most teachers weren't too bad. I found it very easy to get involved with clubs, sports and student council. My grade twelve year was the best year of my life by far, especially because of our prom.

Last edited by nino : 08-23-2008 at 10:52 PM.
Old 08-23-2008 at 11:21 PM   #9
davey
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apparently some kids that recently graduated broke into my school over the summer... mission impossible style. they went through the air vents, used ropes to lower themselves, and ended up in the broadcasting studio where they smashed computers/tvs/studio equipment worth $25,000 in total. they got caught on camera though, and now they're being fined and trialed. ahahaha.

http://www.thespec.com/article/418234

oh, and back on topic... i went to Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary in Ancaster. Its one of the newest schools in the greater Hamilton area and it was bulit only 4 years ago.. meaning the people in our grade were the first graduates who attended all 4 years there. That being said, those four years were quite lack lustre. The people we're alright, and I had a lot of meaningful friendships... which was good, but some teachers and the adminstration especially, annoyed the hell out of me. They were overly preachy and not very liberal. They were quite keen to censor ANYTHING that was against catholic teachings. For example... there was a prolife campaign at my school where pro-lifers wore tags on themselves that stated prolife messages... however when my pro-choice friend wore a tag that said "pro choice" they told him to take it off. In another situation, I was going to a presentation of womens rights, and a part of it was going to be on the history of female contraception... apparently that was too contraversial as my teacher told me to "watch what i say". (psssh. i live in canada, thank you.. and i have the right to free speech). Religion class was the worst though... a class were we were taught condoms were against church teachings, and a place where i would have to sit for four years listening to how homosexuality is morally wrong. grrr.

Oh, and our uniforms were ugly as hell!! maroon polos with oversized black pants and MANDATORY black shoes. eww. enough said. Anyways.. im done my rant now. =p

Oh wait.. another thing to add after reading about all of your schools. My school was not multicultural at ALL!!! I only had one asian friend and one black acquaintance. Out of a grade of 200ish... we only had like 5 asian people, 4 black people, and 2 middle eastern people.. I mean, not that I care what race my friends are.. but its good to add a little multiculturalism to a school. But alas, what can I expect from a rich, white-dominated surbuban Ancaster? v.v

Last edited by dvy88 : 08-23-2008 at 11:36 PM.
Old 08-23-2008 at 11:21 PM   #10
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i guess i'm the first person from mississauga to post! i went to st. aloysius gonzaga secondary which is RIGHT beside the erin mills town centre mall (quite convenient during lunch, might i add) and attached to a community centre. i honestly LOVED my high school. the fact that we were attached to a community centre with all these great facilities (pool, library, dance rooms, etc) was definitely an advantage. the students were great, i don't even remember there being any bullying or cliques or whatever. at least, there wasn't in my graduating class; can't say the same for the other grades, though. gonzaga is pretty new, and it was designed by our first principal (cool, huh?) which makes it extra special haha. we also have these really great academic programs that aren't available in other high schools (ie: career path, french immersion, etc) in the area. the teachers are pretty awesome, too. well, the ones i've had...especially in grade 12. my grade 12 chem teacher was/is a genius.

soo, yes, i'm one of those people hahha. i will definitely miss my high school and will be visiting it during the year, and i'm not afraid to admit it!
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Old 08-23-2008 at 11:27 PM   #11
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ugh, i hate it when people get preachy. we're each entitled to our own opinions so just LEAVE ME ALOOONE. i feel like what your school was doing was morally wrong haha. anyway, maroon isn't such a bad colour (you're gnna have to get used to it anyway, seeing as it's one of mac's school colours) .. but with oversized black pants? ....i loved my uniformmm hehe. our kilts looked like the burberry pattern and our ties made us look very sophisticated ...though they got rid of that uniform when we graduated; now they're ugly khaki pants and navy blue rugby shirts with orange and yellow stripes down the arms. barf.
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Old 08-23-2008 at 11:41 PM   #12
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I went to Queen Elizabeth Park/Abbey Park High School in Oakville. I went to Q.E for one year and then they closed it down, since the majority of the students going there were being bused down. Q.E was a pretty sick school, freakin old, but still bomb! Donovan Bailey, the guy who won a few medals at the 96 Olympics used to go to Q.E and I met him at the reunion!

Abbey Park High was a "remake" of Q.E Park as =the name is similiar and prob 90% of the teachers there transferred over. Anyways, brand new school, new rep.. so nothing to really say right now haha.

Most of the public schools in Oakville are pretty bomb but sometimes I think I should have accepted my admission into Appleby College :p
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Old 08-23-2008 at 11:51 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by samantha__ View Post
Most of the public schools in Oakville are pretty bomb but sometimes I think I should have accepted my admission into Appleby College :p
My brother went there.. and i used to live like a block away from there for a while.. however, after his experiences we realized that private school = waste of money. lol.
Old 08-23-2008 at 11:52 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shleyaa View Post
ugly khaki pants and navy blue rugby shirts with orange and yellow stripes down the arms. barf.
lol. now i feel lucky.
Old 08-24-2008 at 12:02 AM   #15
Nino
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dvy88 View Post
apparently some kids that recently graduated broke into my school over the summer... mission impossible style. they went through the air vents, used ropes to lower themselves, and ended up in the broadcasting studio where they smashed computers/tvs/studio equipment worth $25,000 in total. they got caught on camera though, and now they're being fined and trialed. ahahaha

Haha, that sounds so familiar. Reminds me of the time last year when twelve of my friends and I broke into the school during the summer through the yearbook room which my friend got the keys to after becoming the new yearbook editor. We ended up basically having a little picnic sort of thing at the school with food from the staff room. We didn't get caught but even if we did, our school wouldn't care because the administration liked us and most of us were in the student council.



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