Last night, our Grade 12 students and parents (along with some Grade 10 and 11 families) got the exclusive opportunity to meet with over 40 Canadian colleges and universities at our annual University Fair. The Grade 12 students were a mixture of excitement and terror … excited about all of the options open to them but scared that they will make the wrong decision. I even overheard one student say that she was even torn about last night. “Should I be here finding out the courses and marks I need or should I have stayed at home to study in order to get the mark in the course I need?”

Having graduated from Goderich DCI (a small rural-ish high school), I did not experience any of these things. If there was a university fair somewhere, I didn’t hear about it and only a handful of universities held information sessions at our school. I never worried too much about my marks (to my mother’s chagrin) and neither have I ever questioned my decision to accept Wilfrid Laurier University’s offer over Western and Waterloo.

If this year’s Grade 12s could only come to Commencement tonight and speak with the Class of 2015, they would get re-assurance from these post-secondary “veterans” (they have been away for 5 whole weeks after all!) that everything will work out just fine. They would hear that being a TSS/Mentor grad does not mean that you are immune from all the distractions of university but that when you move your stuff into residence, you will also be bringing with you a unique skill set that allows you to balance the fun part of post-secondary life with the academic side. In other words, you have the academic background and work ethic from your years here that will allow you to be just as involved in extra-curricular life as you were in your high school years!

Have a wonderful long weekend, everyone!

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School