Microcosm

I'm Mars, and I'm a Senior Two student, soon to be an alumnus. I've been writing for the Hound three out of my six years here, so I wanted my last article to be a special one. I wanted to reflect on all I have done here, and give some thoughts on this very unique school.

But those who know me probably know that my thoughts are probably not cohesive most of the time. So I will try, in this article, to summarize my thoughts on this school, then reflect on who I have been relative to my understanding of this place.

Let us begin with what makes this school special. Why does our school have a tear-inducing admissions rate - why do so many people want to come here? Well, all the individual factors (amazing campus, amazing faculty, etc.) all come down to one thing in my opinion - the extensive extracurriculars programme, which offers students many opportunities to participate and even lead activities outside of their everyday classes. And why are extracurriculars so important? Other than the extrinsic factors like university admissions benefits, they give students a taste of what doing certain tasks in post-school (adult) life feels like. Indeed, by offering so many choices and opportunities to us students, Appleby, more so than other high schools, transforms into a microcosm of adult life and society as a whole.

Using this idea, I want to give what little wisdom I have on some issues in the Appleby community. Firstly, I want to address the complaint that many aspects of the school are unfair - things like grading schemes and leadership positions come to mind on this complaint. Clearly unfairness is not the best outcome for students, but looking at Appleby through the lens of a societal microcosm makes this inherent unfairness easier to accept. Our broader society, perhaps due to human nature, is ridden with nepotism, corruption, and selfishness - and Appleby certainly presents some of these traits in certain parts. In my personal experience here, there have been many times I've benefited from such unfair systems, and just as many where I've resented them. Unfairness is as prevalent here as in other schools and organizations, and likely won't change as long as society itself remains in its current state.

Secondly, I also want to address the issue of performative initiatives, as perceived by many people - many think that students at this school engage in activities that are too surface-level, which do not have any significant or lasting impact. My answer to this is once again that oftentimes broader society works similarly - look at elections, or the news media, for examples. Students creating initiatives to add to their resume which have minimal real impact are simply mirroring the actions of the broader society. Now, just as above, it would be ideal if all initiatives had great impact, but sometimes, extrinsic motivating factors lead the appearance of the initiative to be more important than its substance. I've participated in and even led initiatives that, in retrospect, were more about appearing than creating value.

Now, such cynicism is unhelpful as practical advice. But even though so many of Appleby's glaring problems are caused by it giving students so many freedoms and opportunities, this nature also leads it to be a place where students can choose their own path. At Appleby, there are so many sub-cultures and communities within the community that it isn't difficult to find belonging to at least one of them. So my advice is to choose your path wisely. This could be what classes you choose, what co-curriculars you join, but most importantly what friends you make. Its giving of freedom to its students is both its greatest strength and its greatest flaw. Appleby is what you make of it - I know many students who took advantage of the many opportunities here, and just as many who have resorted to cynicism and coasting through these final days. Neither perspective is wrong - the only thing that matters is whether you are happy with your decision on what route to take. Few other schools allow all students to feel the belonging Appleby students do to even one subgroup.

How have I done in these years, in light of this view? Well, it'd be only right to use a tierlist, since I have created so many (and for good reason! What better article structure than to quantify something completely subjective?), but relative to what? Because I am not intimately familiar with other people's experiences, I must only judge my experiences at Appleby based on my expectations of Appleby as a new student in Grade 7, and on that aspect I'd say I deserve a solid B+ for my choices, as in slightly above expectations. I've done okay academically, I found my social place in the end, and I've found belonging in places that I didn't expect to. I am disappointed, however, in not participating in many opportunities that I could've flourished in, such as the performing arts. I also have some regrets about the people I've befriended and allowed to influence me - I wish I had known many wonderful people sooner, and didn't spend time with people who influenced me badly. Oh well - hindsight is 20/20.

I know my experiences aren't unique at all - someone could say the same things in much better words than me. What even is the point of writing this article then? Well, if there was another Grade 12 student in this co, I wouldn't, but I felt obliged in a way to share my thoughts on this community. You are not alone in your concerns about the school. I'm sure teachers, students, everyone else also echoes their awareness of many of Appleby's issues.

But in the end, finally the real end this time, to change many things about Appleby requires a change to the wider society. Perhaps you can make that happen. Or if you can't, you can certainly choose how the remainder of your days here are spent, whether it be six days or six years.