• 2019/20
Serena came for the IB, but stayed for the community

The IB Programme is what first attracted the Bath Family to Meadowridge, but it was the community which made them stay. Daughter Serena '20 explains, "It was the IB Programme, but also the community feel. When we did the tour, we had students lead our whole tour and everyone seemed so close-knit. Not even within the grades, but across the school. I came here in Grade 8, so I was nervous at first, but everyone was so welcoming..." 

Serena Bath '20

School & Program
University of British Columbia, Sauder School of Business

Meadowridge Student Since
Grade 8

Born in
Langley, Canada

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I have been pretty active within the Meadowridge community. I was on Student Council, as well as served on the Yearbook. Outside of school, I’m involved in track and field, and – until recently – played in high performance league soccer. For the last few years on the weekends and during the summers I have also worked as a lifeguard for the City of Surrey and the Township of Langley. A unique thing about me, I guess, is that I have a big family and we all live together on one big property. There’s 11 of us on one property – obviously, we have separate houses – but we end up meeting up quite a bit at our basketball and tennis courts to play, and even do a weekly family olympics. During the quarantine, that’s become almost daily! Lastly, I compete in cross country and track and field, and I’ve have gone on to provincials a few times.

How did you first find yourself at Meadowridge?

It was the IB Programme, but also the community feel. When we did the tour, we had students lead our whole tour and everyone seemed so close knit. Not even within the grades, but across the school. I came here in Grade 8, so I was nervous at first, but everyone was so welcoming.

Tell us about your year ahead.

I’ll be going to the UBC Sauder School of Business. I wanted to stay on the west coast for a few reasons: I enjoy being outdoors, hiking, running, and skiing. I also cannot handle cold weather! Plus, I’ll live near a beach and will still be close enough to see my family on the weekends. 

The teachers, the community… I don’t think I’ve ever heard of another place where the Grade 12’s talk to the Grade 8’s

What was it about Business?

My family is involved in business, but I also looked at my strengths. I’m good at communications. The skills I’ve learned through council and clubs… there are my strong suits. I loved my Business Management Class at school, too. Right now, I’m leaning towards commercial real estate and urban development or marketing and communications.

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

New experiences, living on my own, and meeting new people. I’m also excited to go into my program. It’s the first time I won’t have to do math or science and can instead pick what I want to learn. But it shouldn’t all be about school – you need to be more versatile than that! That’s no fun. So, I’m looking forward to exploring. I hope to be in a couple clubs, and to join sport intermural to meet new people and get connected. University is what you make of it… so, I’m going to put a lot into it.

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

I was thinking about this! The teachers, the community… I don’t think I’ve ever heard of another place where the Grade 12’s talk to the Grade 8’s. I felt intimidated being in Grade 6 at my old school and going anywhere near the older kids. Here, it’s not the same. It’s our upbringing within the school. I think Council Events and Spirit Days have a lot to do with that. In House teams you work together as a team.

I also loved being Vice President of Student Council. I loved running Spirit Days. It was hard, but a lot of fun. My favourite part was announcing who won, and all the time leading up to it, creating new events with council members, picking up point slips, figuring out who was going where. It’s funny, because I never appreciated Council at first until I joined in grade 9, and my initial incentive to join was because two of my friends were joining and I didn’t want to have lunch alone! [laughs] In all seriousness I wanted to make changes for sport intermural at the time  But when you join you realize just how much Council does, you have a new appreciation for everyone that makes the lunch time events and those who quite literally create the house spirit within the school.

Any parting words of wisdom?

Don’t get discouraged by your failures. Seriously! You’re going to fail 10,000 times. You don’t start to see the light at the end of the tunnel until Grade 12. Things start to come full circle by then, and you learn the perseverance to keep going. I think of my life as a race – a lot of the things I learn in running are really transferable. Math and Science don’t come easy for me, but it helps to break things down. Plan each step, one through ten, and you’ll be okay.

  • 19-20
  • Community