School & Program
Emerson College, Film

Meadowridge Student Since
Grade 7

Born in
New Westminster, BC

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I like to write, make films, and have a thing for languages. I’m fluent in English, Mandarin and French, but I taught myself Cyrillic and I’m learning Russian. I like to write short stories and plan for novels—although lately it’s been a lot of planning and very little doing. I started film when I was eight, when I attended a film camp at SFU, and now I work at the same camp. I just kept taking more and more courses as time went on. Over the last two years, I even took IB Film online. I really like horror movies. Let the Right One In and Saw—movies one, five and six—are my favourites, and Final Destination. I guess I really like series that go on longer and longer and get worse and worse. I’m not really into any specific genre when it comes to my own films, but I’d eventually like to become a writer/director. Of course, everyone wants that. For now, I’m interested in cinematography, writing, and editing… those will be my jumping-off points.

How did you first find yourself at Meadowridge?

My parents wanted something different. Meadowridge was the first school we toured and it seemed the most fitting. They came home and said, “you’re going to Meadowridge,” and I said “okay!”. I remember doing the rubber chicken thing with Mr. Banack on the backfield where we had to introduce ourselves during the New Family Orientation. Anyways, in my first year, I kind of flopped. I hadn’t written a lab or an essay. I was kind of confused. That persisted for a while. But I met friends—made more friends than I had before—and I liked riding the school bus. That, at first, was a novelty for me and quite exciting. Now, it’s free nap time. 

I’ll miss teachers who genuinely seem to care about what they are teaching and will go out of their way to help you.

Tell us about your year ahead.

I’m going to Boston and will be living on campus. My uncle actually lives in Boston, so I have the guarantee of good food at least! Emerson is a communications college, so it’s a lot of liberal arts, which I’m excited about; I get to explore all sorts of media, not just film. Actually, I have a lot of waivers and college credits thanks to the IB and SAT scores!

What are you most looking forward to in the year ahead?

School, obviously. I’m also looking forward to living away from home and experiencing something new. I look forward to making new friends and working on new projects. There’s also a new David Cronenberg movie—Crimes of the Future—that’s coming out, so I’m excited about that. But, also, Boston is an older city and has lots of history. I’ll be near Little Italy and Chinatown, so there’s lots of great food nearby. Emerson’s film program is really hands-on. They give you a camera and tell you, “go”. That’s a big draw for why I wanted to go there.

What will you miss most as you move onto the next chapter?

Familiarity. Guaranteed stability and being around people who I know. I’m a creature of habit, I guess, so living in a new country with new people at a new school is going to be a confusing time. I really like staying home, knowing where everything is, and where I’m going to be. I like that my life right now is rhythmic. I have a schedule, I know who I’ll see, where we’ll eat lunch… I’ll miss those everyday things.

Favourite Meadowridge Memory.

When I think back on it, it’s a blob of feeling—there’s no one specific memory. I’ll miss teachers who genuinely seem to care about what they are teaching and will go out of their way to help you. I was on a Zoom call the other day with Dr. Reinick because I’m applying to a writing course and he took the time to talk about what I should say and give me advice. I’ll miss my friends, too. 

Making the most out of Meadowridge – what wisdom can you pass on?

Time management! Do your stuff when you get in and don’t wait. With the Extended Essay, I made a very solid plan to work throughout the summer. I decided when I was going to finish and when I was going to edit, and then would have the rest of the summer to relax. Of course, I didn’t follow my plan. My essay turned out well—I wrote about queer subtext in The Count of Monte Cristo and The Picture of Dorian Gray—but I know I could have done much better if I had followed my plan. At Meadowridge, there’s just so much going on at the same time and there are always new things getting thrown in. My advice is to prioritize and focus on what really matters.