Latest / Upper Canada College Admission Community Conversation / UCC Admission Community Conversations | Episode 3 - Finding Your Passion

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UCC Admission Community Conversations | Episode 3 - Finding Your Passion · Upper Canada College Admission Community Conversation

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_03: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Upper Canada College podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_03: I'm your host today, Riley Carter, and I lead prep school admissions here at UCC.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_03: Today we're talking about something that really is at the heart of a UCC education, and that is finding your passion.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_03: When we think about passion, we sometimes imagine that a boy arrives at school already knowing exactly what he loves.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_03: But often passion is something we discover along the way by simply trying something new, meeting someone who inspires us, taking a risk, or simply having the opportunity to explore.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_03: And here at UCC, boys have an extraordinary range of opportunities to do exactly that through the athletics, the arts, clubs, leadership, service, affinity groups, outdoor education, and so much more.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_03: And what can be particularly powerful is when an interest becomes something deeper.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: It becomes a passion, it becomes a strength, and eventually a way to contribute to the greater community.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_03: Today we're very lucky to have three different perspectives with us.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm going to ask our guests to introduce themselves, and Max will kick off with you.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Hi everyone.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is my 28th year, and I have uh lived a lot of the college.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: I've been a grade six teacher, a grade seven teacher, grade seven homeroom teacher, and uh I currently coach the grade seven hockey team and the varsity lacrosse team.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's great to be here.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks, Max.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: 20, 28 years of experience.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_03: Hard to compete.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um we also have Chris with us.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_03: Chris, why don't you introduce yourself?
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh hi, I'm Christopher Sheng.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm a year 12 student.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: I started in uh grade seven, and I'm the co-captain of the Arts Council and a rower and a swimmer.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_03: Amazing.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you, Chris, for joining us.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Hashem, why don't you introduce yourself for us?
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh hello, I'm Hashem.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a year 11 student here at UCC.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: I joined in grade nine and I'm involved in varsity football, boarding leadership, and I'm also founder of Footprints for Hope.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks, Hashem.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna we're gonna get back to chatting about that footprints from for hope soon.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_03: So hang tight.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_03: So let's start with you know, how we actually discover what we love or what that what that passion really is.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_03: And so, Chris, you mentioned you started at UCC in year seven.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_03: And when you think back to those first few years here at the college, you know, did you already arrive knowing what you were passionate about or did you discover some of those interests when you got here?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: Tell us a little bit more about that.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh when I arrived at UCC, I was kind of like unaware really where I wanted to take things, uh especially as I moved into the upper school from the prep.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: And the prep it was a really great time to just explore uh different things that kind of interest me.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: So for example, art and then also music, being able to have both is a really big opportunity.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um and allowed me to like differentiate like which one I liked more and where maybe I wanted to take it further in the future.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, my interest in visual arts really developed in uh especially in grade nine and ten, where we had the option to differentiate and pick the course that we wanted in the arts, and just doing more visual arts over time just allowed me to express myself in a way that I wasn't able to in other courses at the school.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: And it allowed me to, and it was a really good outlet for me to just express uh to let out emotions that maybe I couldn't know in like, for example, like a math class.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, and trying things at UCC was probably my hardest thing for me, especially when I arrived.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: But the longer I stayed here, the more things I wanted to do and try.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: And just having those ample opportunities allowed me to like find passions that I don't I wouldn't think I would ever find anywhere else, especially in like rowing.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I joined the rowing team, great opportunity, but I never knew what rowing was until I saw the uh sign-up poster in the school.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's so cool.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: So you you had never rowed before, no prior knowledge.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: No, yeah, it was completely from fresh start.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: My friend dragged me to the signup sheet, and I was like, okay, I'll try it with this once.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: And it was probably one of the best decisions I've ever made.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_03: And are you still rowing now?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's an amazing experience.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: And what how early are the practices?
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they start at 515.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_03: 515.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, look, that's discipline, right?
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: That's amazing.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_03: So many life skills learning from that.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_03: That's great.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_03: Max, uh, 28 years at UCC, and you know, you you have really watched generations of boys coming through the college and discovering their passion.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_03: So talk to us a little bit about, you know, what do you notice when a boy starts to sort of find something that really is is clicking for him?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well, thank you.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's interesting.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually the second generation is now arriving.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: So some of the my first students, uh, their sons are now arriving, which is great.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um this morning in assembly, uh, they talked a lot about the other clubs that we do in the prep school.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: So there was uh the yearbook, there is the Eco Warriors, and you could see kids sort of moving to the edge of their seats saying, Oh my goodness, I'd love to do that.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I think just to reiterate what Chris was saying, is that uh especially in grade seven, where we have the largest number of students in a grade in the prep, we have so many offerings of sports, clubs, bands.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And what I really like is that, especially from an athletic perspective, everyone has to really do a sport or an activity every term.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh students are signing up for something maybe they haven't done before, and they are discovering something within them that, oh, I really like rowing, for instance, as Chris said.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um I would have never signed up for this in the past.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so you see um you see uh students trying something new, you see that sparkle in their eye, you see them, you know, practicing on the field or practicing uh their instrument in uh one of the cubicles.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: So there's there's just so many opportunities, and you can see kids take it on and then run with it.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um and that's what's really exciting, you know, obviously from an athletic perspective, but also from our arts and our clubs.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um so many kids, so many students are able to try something new and discover something within themselves, which is wonderful.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: And and just to reiterate, it's not like they're doing sports or band.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: They can be doing sports and band.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: They can be doing band and eco-warriors, they can be doing athletics and the yearbook.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's really it's just great to see that um through these opportunities, kids are getting kind of a well-rounded uh look at our school and and really taking uh a part in the full life of the college, which I love.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, um I think you raise a really good point about students not being limited, and our timetable is designed so intentionally that um it's not that you are bound to just yearbook club or just an athletic, that the offerings are taking place at different times.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_03: And as we tell everyone, you know, try something, say yes, take a risk.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and the scheduling really allows students to do that for a whole breadth of opportunities.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um just to add, then you can, if you really do find something you love and are passionate about, you have that ability to specialize in it more in the upper school.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: But in the prep school, you have that opportunity to try everything and and and really get a feel for it before making a decision, so to speak.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: And so, really, that is something that makes the UCC community and our campus uh and our programming just so unique.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_03: And that's the sheer breadth of opportunities available to our students.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and really often like discovering what you love simply starts with having the chance to try.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_03: And I think Chris did such a great job highlighting that with rowing, right?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_03: He just had the trance, he had the chance to try it.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_03: He took a risk and he said yes.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so Chris, you're such a great example of taking advantage of these opportunities here.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and you know, it's interesting because you're so deeply involved in the arts, but you're also a rower and you're also a swimmer.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_03: And so talk to us a little bit more about how having access to so many different experiences has shaped your experience at UCC.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh like Mr.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Parent was saying, uh especially in the prep, well, having a dedicated time for sports was especially formative for me.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I did a wide variety of sports.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: I did volleyball, I did cross country, I did rugby, and just having the opportunity to like try everything and not like be like scheduled and not having to like sacrifice one over the other in at such a young age allowed me to like find things that I liked.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: And having rowing and swimming like eventually come to me was just by having those like opportunities available to me.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't think I would ever even think about trying rowing without like that sign-up sheet or that friend that dragged me to practice.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, and again, like how my arts experience evolved alongside my athletics experience.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of the people you meet at the school are not just one, like don't just have one discipline.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm one of many who decide to do athletics and art or drama and art or music and art, or sorry, or music and athletics, or such a wide variety of different combinations.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: And seeing other people who are so like have a multitude of interests and a multitude of different levels of participation, uh kind of inspires me to like try to do more and try to take on things and try to fully do everything that I like rather than just fit focusing on one.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_03: Amazing.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_03: That's awesome.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Hashem, okay, your UCC experience.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, taking a little bit of a different um avenue right now, but it's such a great example of how a passion can develop into leadership and then it can turn into service work.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_03: And I know um in your introduction, you mentioned footprints for hope, you know, and I'm really excited for our audience today to learn a little bit more about that.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_03: So I'd love for you to like take us all the way back to the beginning of what is footprints for hope?
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_03: Where did the idea come from?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_03: And like how did something that you care become and cared about and was a passion all of a sudden become like an opportunity to make a huge impact.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_03: Walk us through uh footprints for for hope.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, for sure.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: So it's basically started with me on Instagram, and I saw this video of this baby who had infections uh on his feet and like fungi and stuff.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I saw the description of the video and it mentioned how he got these infections and stuff because he didn't have access to shoes.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: Shoes are something that we take so much advantage of here because it's abundant, everybody has them, right?
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like they're everywhere.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I saw this and I was like, wow, there's a lot of people in Canada who have extra shoes that they don't use or and are uh sitting in their closet that can benefit someone else across the world.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, well, I want to do this, I want to bring the UCC community into this and help the people around the world.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: But one thing I struggled with was I mean, how am I gonna deliver these shoes around the world?
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_02: Because once again, I'm just a high school student.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: These communities are very remote, it's very hard to find them.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: They're in very uh different countries, so it's like really hard to access those communities in the first place.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: And while I was doing some research, I I um came across this other charity called Souls for Souls, and they do similar work, but what they also do is they use uh used shoes and they give them to um uh women who are widows or women in uh very poor financial situations, and those women are able to sell these shoes for a living, uh, but they also give these shoes to people in need uh as well.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, wow, this charity is doing similar work to what my ideas are.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I uh got in uh touch with their head.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: I talked to him, and he was like, Wow, you I love your courage, I love your passion about this and your enthusiasm.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: And he was like, Yes, um, you can collect all the shoes and we will deliver it, deliver it ourselves.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, wow, that just takes off all the stress about that part, which I was so concerned about from the start.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: So then I was like, I need to bring this idea to Mr.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: Sweetman, who is thus like service and the community kind of head at our school.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I went to Mr.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: Sweetman, talked about this whole idea.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: We had a whole hour meeting, and he loved it so much as well.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, we should get this started, get a get a drive going.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: And he's like, Yeah, let's do it.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_02: So we found some dates that we aligned on.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it was a three-week drive.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: I made a bunch of posters, wrote a bunch of emails to the whole school, to the parents.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I spoke at assembly about it.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I found any way I could uh make sure that people hear about this because that's the hardest part about uh stuff like this.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I placed these big boxes right in front in the burning foyer uh right when you walk in.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: So nobody misses them.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_02: And it's and it said big words for Prince Word Hope shoe drive.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: And uh when it started, the results were actually overwhelming.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I got so many shoes that I had to empty the boxes, um, keep them in the boarding basement because I'm a boarding student here, and uh and I had to like because there were so many shoes coming, and the shoes uh people were putting them on the ground, which you know the receptionist wasn't too happy about, like just keep them in the boxes.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: So I had to keep on like emptying the boxes because they would get refilled the next day again and again and again.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: And then uh we do something called our personal project in grade 10.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I did this for my personal project, and my my supervisor was actually the assistant head at the prep, um, Sir Evans.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, why not bring this to the prep as well?
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I brought it to the prep.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_02: I got in contact with Ms.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: Carter here, and she made the transition so much easier.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: And we started at the prep as well, and it went very successful there.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_02: So by the end of it, I was able to get um 570 pairs of shoes, uh, which is an incredible amount, and it helped so many people.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I delivered these to the warehouse in Mississauga with the charity that I was partnering with, and then they delivered these shoes to uh Latin America in the very uh remote communities and the people who actually needed them.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_03: Amazing.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, I mean great story.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: So great.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean, Hashem, you took your passion and made an opportunity to make impact, but you know, like that passion also spread.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: We had students down here at the prep school who in the classrooms were rallying and encouraging each other to go through their old shoes.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so it really became a movement.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_03: You had teachers behind you.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I mean, what's next for put for Footprints for Hope this year?
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_03: Are we are we uh doing it again?
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_03: Are we leaving or are we leaving behind a legacy?
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, no, no.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: We got some big plans coming up.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_02: So I want to expand this organization more.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I have some friends at these other independent schools in Toronto.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: There's around seven in the co-sod kind of league, uh, seven plus UCC.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I'm trying to find people at these seven different schools who can also host a drive at their own school, and then we can kind of oversee the I can kind of oversee the whole drive uh in itself.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: So I have people from uh three of the schools so far, so UCC plus three others, and I'm trying to use my friends to find friends at their schools to you know get people um dialed for this.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I'm trying to get eight schools here, and then I have a lot of other friends from uh around the province who really like the idea as well, and they were so motivated by it, and they also want to run it at their school um because they they love the concept and it's something that a lot of people don't even like mention, like shoes.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: We just kind of like overlook it.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_02: So now the fact that I've brought it to attention has brought a lot more people's passion into it.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: So um seven more schools plus UCC and at least five other public schools around the province.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: So in total, that's around 12, oh sorry, 13 schools.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and my goal for this year is collecting 5,000 pairs and actually yeah, 5,000 pairs.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm basically uh 10xing the old one, but you know, you got to set high goals to uh achieve great results.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_03: Uh you can do it.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_03: I have I've got all my confidence in you.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and uh this time I actually want to maybe go deliver some of the shoes myself.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: So we'll see, we'll see how that goes.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_03: Amazing.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for sharing.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_03: That's incredible, truly.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um I want to talk about something that's you know, sometimes it's important for younger boys or even students who are newer to our community.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_03: And that's that sometimes, you know, we assume that we need to be good at something before we have a reason to pursue it.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but often what we're learning is that passion can come because we give ourselves permission to say yes, permission to take a risk, or even um permission just to be a beginner at something, something that you've never tried before.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, Max, with all of your athletic experiences here at the college, you know, and overseeing our athletic programs now, do you have to be good at something for it to become a passion?
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely not.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um absolutely not.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I think what's great too is with our offerings in the prep and we have kids trying something new.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so they might have a bit of a prerequisite in one sport, but they're finding a completely new passion in another sport that builds on those skills or or their love for it.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: So the answer is no.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but they have to be willing to, as you just said, take a risk.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: They have to be uh open to learning.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: And what I really take pride in is the level of coaching we have in the prep school.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: We have former NCAA athletes, we have former youth sport athletes, we have uh some people who have played pro.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so there's a great deal of expertise.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: But there's also expertise in our drama department.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: We have wonderful directors who are, you know, getting the best out of you.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that in getting the best out of you, that can often uh spur a passion.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: You've worked so hard, you've kind of laid it on the line, and you're like, oh, I can I can do this.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is this is you know, this is a feeling that I I I can't replicate often.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I really feel that no, you don't have to be set, uh, but you have to come in with an open mind and and to to go back to what Chris and Hashim said that you have to be willing to try something.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: You never know where uh this is going to take you.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: And especially when you're given all of these opportunities at UCC, be ready for where it may take you, because it it may be completely unexpected, but so satisfying and so wonderful for the greater good.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, Max, you I mean, many, many years coaching varsity, lacrosse, right?
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_03: But you you you have kids who have probably never held a lacrosse stick who come out.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yes?
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we yeah, we uh one of sort of my favorite stories is there was a very good athlete, um, but he was a hockey player.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: He saw himself as a hockey player, he started playing lacrosse um and was actually offered a D1 uh scholarship, and that was something unexpected for him.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: He was a hockey player, true, and uh and just decided to try something new.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: And oh my goodness, he loved lacrosse.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: We certainly loved having him there, and but yeah, he found he found a new route, and uh it was totally unexpected for him and his family.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I think I I feel like we we experience that or we see that a lot in athletics, but it's the same holds true in our bands where someone starts band in grade six, and by midway through grade seven, they're in the string ensemble or uh they are in the jazz band, and it's just something that's taken off for them.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: So it's wonderful.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_03: Amazing.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_03: And Hashem, you know, when you think about um the things you've sort of become passionate about through your UCC experience and how important it was for you to just come here and have the freedom to explore without knowing I'm not I'm not good at this yet, but I could be, and it could develop into something more.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, talk to me a little bit of sort of about that, any other passions or interests that the college has really supported you in discovering.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, uh coming into the college, uh at my old school, there were no clubs, um, there were there were sports, but they weren't that serious.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: So, like coming in here, having all these opportunities was kind of overwhelming because there were so many things to do, right?
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_02: And you kind of get stuck, you're like, do I want to do this?
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: Do I want to do this?
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: Do I want to do that?
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: Whatever.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: But when I first came, I joined um N U N because I always found it really interesting.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: I found politics very interesting, and I found that whole kind of segment very interesting.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I joined the club, and I remember my first meeting.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the we everyone had to kind of give a speech about this one issue, and most people's speeches were around a minute, and my speech was only 20 seconds, and over that 20 seconds, I was stuttering, I was so nervous, I was like shaking in my boots, I was like super, super, super nervous.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I just remember that so much because coming in, I was so nervous to even just speak in front of around 40 people.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but that club um developed me into such a great speaker, being able to um speak in front of a large audience without um getting nervous or any of that.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: And and it just goes to show that yes, I was very, very scared the first couple meetings.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: But you just kind of have to overcome that.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of new students, when they come, I tell them, look, this the first month is gonna be difficult, but afterwards you're gonna be so comfortable.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, in boarding, I tell the guys like you don't even want to go back home because you're just so comfortable, you're everything.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like uh you kind of just have to go without pressure, stop having such high expectations of yourself when you go into a thing that you've never done before, which for me was M U N.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: And then at the end, you you actually become something great at it, just uh straight through practice.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_02: And then I was able to make the travel team, and then we had a big conference here, which is our UCC's uh own MUN conference, which is called the Ontario Model United Nations.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: And my friend dragged me into it, same like Chris.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, it's uh it's a big conference where 700 students attend the school for uh Two-day conference, which is like you know, pretty huge for a high school.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it just goes to show that you have to go into things without putting pressure on yourself, stop putting expectations on yourself because you actually limit yourself when you put expectations.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, when you go into something without pressure, you have no limit.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_02: There's this the sky is the limit, basically.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_02: There's no limit, so you can go as far as you want.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: But if you're trying to put barriers on yourself, that kind of limits you from reaching your most potential.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_03: Love that.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_03: Like such great advice.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_03: And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you're playing on the football team right now.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: I'm playing on the football team.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_03: Any prior experience in football?
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like, uh, not really.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I played five football in middle school, but then I came here and played on TV, which was amazing.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: I then broke my arm, so I couldn't play in grade 10, but now I'm playing on varsity, which has been amazing so far.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: We have a game tomorrow, so very excited.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_03: That's great.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_03: Amazing.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, all right.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_03: So we're gonna, we're gonna, we're close.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna wrap this up.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I thought a great way to sort of um end would be just to get some advice.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_03: Advice for you for students who are considering UCC or even in general as they're trying to sort of discover, you know, I don't know what I'm passionate about yet.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_03: Um, what what would you tell them?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_03: Chris, we'll start with you, but like what what is your what is your piece of advice as as we are trying to sort of navigate a path and finding that passion or that thing that clicks?
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, just try things, just trying everything is my biggest point of advice.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: Be willing to be a beginner.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and don't worry about you not liking it, because 99% of the time when you try something new, you're especially at a school like this, most of the things are tailored for you to like them.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: And don't be so worried about like, oh, I'm worried about I won't like this how I try it.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: Everything is very open to just joining and maybe not maybe stepping away.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: And your interest can change.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: So just be willing to try things and give everything a shot.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_03: Your interest, your interest can change, right?
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_03: Like we we sometimes think a path has to be so linear, and that really often isn't the case, especially with what a breadth of opportunities we have.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Hashem, what's your advice?
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_03: One piece of advice.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_02: I would say take opportunities.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: Don't like at UCC, you have so many opportunities and your time is very limited.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: You think it's it's you think you have so much time, but you actually don't.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's very limited.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: It goes by really fast.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_02: So take advantage of every single opportunity, meet people, say hi to everyone, get to know everyone's name.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: And then when you're going in the hallway, everybody already knows you and you feel so much more comfortable.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: You feel at home.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you can kind of get motivation from the story of my MUN career is like try something else out of your comfort zone.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be hard.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: Mr.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: Perrin mentioned this, Chris mentioned this.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of like a repeating pattern in everybody's journey at UCC that the first couple things are hard.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: But once you get comfortable, you start to get used to and you actually love it, which is um a great experience.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I think too, like, don't underestimate where an opportunity could lead.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_03: You saw a video that inspired you and look at um this incredible or uh organization that you've created.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, who knows that could have gone there.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like I my first goal was the 100 pairs of shoes, and it went to 600.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like, who knows?
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_03: Incredible, incredible.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_03: And Max, what do you think?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_03: Piece of advice.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, uh, it's certainly, yeah, passion doesn't happen overnight.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I think both Chris and Shim Shim have said that you know they were open-minded, and all of a sudden they listened to their friends or they heard something and they got involved in something that maybe they never thought that they would be involved in, say in grade seven or grade nine, and now they find themselves at the end of their UCC career doing something amazing, and they're involved in the arts and they're involved in community service.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess sort of listening to these fine young men, also listen to your friends and talk to your teachers and seek advice.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um no one, no one person has all the answers, but I think through your teachers, your colleagues, your friends, you know, you might find something in there that's gonna just pique your interest.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, and I think it's all waiting for it.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: We have so much going on at UCC.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's so many paths to take to the to the end where Chris almost is in grade 12.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you get to write your own or or choose your own path.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_03: Amazing.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_03: And I think, you know, that's such an important message for families to leave this with is that you don't you don't have to arrive here knowing that path or that passion.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um sometimes it starts as simply as trying.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um, maybe it's a teacher or a coach who sees something in you, or or even Chris and Hashem both spoke to it being a friend.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I always tell people, you know, high tides raise all boats.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_03: And we really live that motto here at UCC.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_03: So your friend dragging you to sign up for rowing is just an example of that, pushing people out of their comfort zone and challenging them to an opportunity that they didn't expect.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I think all three of you have really spoken to the power of our co-curricular experience here at UCC, right?
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_03: It's not about filling a schedule, but it's about giving boys an opportunity to explore and discover what matters to them, develop their strengths, and ultimately find a way to contribute to our community here.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_03: So, um, Chris, Hashman, Max, thank you so much for sharing your experience with us and to our listeners and our prospective families.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much for joining us.