Is UniHigh the place for you?

By Abbey Kendell 10J1

With a strong desire to strive for excellence in STEM and a passion for chemistry, Olivia Shani (16), has flourished in the environment that our school provides. But can everyone follow their passion here? After jumping in the deep-end, transitioning from mainstream to the accelerated program, despite the overwhelming amount of work, she really enjoyed the change to AP. Her experience has helped her gain a new perspective of the school. Olivia believes UniHigh is the place to be. But is it the place for everyone? Do you think social media controls and divides us all? Are we truly a trendy bunch of students, or just following fast fashion trends? Together we are going to take a dive into Olivia’s perception of UniHigh, then you can decide if UniHigh is the place for you.

Do you think that Unihigh is a place where students flourish socially?

Yes and no. Yes, because it is a very culturally diverse school, and we get to know a lot about each other. And no, because social media is a big part of a student's life now, and I think that it refrains us from being ourselves, as we are influenced by trends. 

What do you think about UniHigh’s performance academically?

I think that UniHigh does really well academically, and I think that the teachers are really supportive and experienced. The school has a lot of resources like EBSS, GTAC and the library.

What was your first impression of the school and its community?

At first I thought the school was very welcoming, and had a wide range of different students. I was kind of intimated at first because the school had a great reputation of being disciplined and the students were really high achievers. The school community seemed also very supportive, having a wide range of councilors and well-being groups.

What kind of different social groups have you noticed about the school? 

There are definitely two main social groups of people at school. There are groups that are really into social media, and trends and whatnot, other groups of people don’t really value social media, but rather school. I think that social media plays a massive role in students' lives. I think that the ideas that social media present definitely separates the kids.

What do you think about the fashion at Uni High?

I think that is super, super diverse. A lot of the kids definitely follow the fashion trends of social media. A lot of kids really like the style of street-wear and athletic wear. There are other kids who like modest fashion or gothic, dark academic clothing. Everyone uses their clothes to express themselves, which I think is really cool, as you get to know a person by the way that they dress. 

Do you think that our school should have a school uniform?

I definitely do not think so. I think that having a school uniform would be great if you are indecisive about what to wear in the morning, but I think that clothes play a really important part in expressing identity, which emphasizes our school value of individuality.

What subjects do you recommend?

There are no specific subjects that I would recommend. Everyone has a different passion and has different goals. Choose the subjects that you are passionate about.