Interview with Bond Academy Alum, Michael and Michelle Hack

The thing I appreciated a lot about Bond Academy was the extracurricular activities. One of the coolest things for me was joining the band. We started playing instruments in Grade 6. Usually, you don't join the Bond Academy showband when you start playing instruments, but they made an exception for me, and I got to join the band. That was the first year we did any competitions, which led to some of my best memories. 

I think what differentiates Bond Academy is the sense of community and the opportunities that present themselves while you're there. When I was at Bond Academy, I was on the basketball team, and I was on the soccer team, I did football, I did everything. I didn't know that most people didn't do those things because I had been at Bond Academy for so long. When you see high schools on TV, you see each grade hanging out with their grade level. For example, if you're in Grade 12, you hang out with Grade 12’s. When I was at Bond Academy in high school, I would hang out with the Grade 8’s, teachers, and all the high school students. In elementary school, multiple grades would hang out also.

The personality traits of Bond Academy would be familial and caring. Even now, I go back now and then to see the teachers and see who's there and whatnot. Because of the sense of family at Bond Academy, and because it's so small, everyone gets to know you. They care about your education and your well-being, and they try to push you in different ways, and try to make you more of a complete person.

We were all very close at Bond Academy. We basically did everything together, and our class was the same from Grade 2 onward. I'll still talk to people from elementary school, and definitely people from high school.

They are big on character education at Bond Academy. In elementary school, we had character class all the way through, which was a big part of the curriculum. Even in athletics, the gym teacher there pushes for determination and trying your best. I think that's what it leaves you with. Students learn to have that good character, what it means to have a character, to try your best, and not to be scared of failure, but to learn from it, keep pushing on, and trying your best.

I think attending Bond Academy has made it easier for me to approach people. When you're in a bigger school, I think it's harder to go and ask for help if you need something, especially if you don't know that many people on a personal level. In contrast, it's much easier to approach people in a smaller school like Bond Academy. When you need help, you can’t always just figure it out on your own. Sometimes you’ve got to go and seek out a network and see who you can get help with, especially once you get to university, for sure.

I felt like Bond Academy prepared me for university a lot more than I thought. I didn't really appreciate it at the time, but I was ready for everything when I went to university. Bond Academy is such a small community, so I think it's easier for each student’s voice to be heard. You can just be who you are.

The three main reasons someone should choose Bond Academy are the opportunities, the communities, the strong emphasis on academics, and because they try to make you a more complete person. When you go to university, you must get up in front of your class and present projects, I've seen people freeze up on the spot. I think Bond Academy gets you ready for that. It prepares you for whatever you want to endeavour, whether it's a university, college, or whatever you feel like you're passionate about.

A lot of parents like to get involved at Bond Academy. They help with many events, and they even help coach some of the teams. My dad came with us on our graduation trip. Bond Academy has a lot of after-school activities, so our parents would pick us up pretty late. I think sometimes they picked us up at 6:00 pm or even later. I think once you get involved in getting to know the school, you get to see it more, and you get to appreciate it more.

Bond Academy students can also go in and talk to the other teachers too, whenever. Just don't be scared. I think once you're willing to put yourself out there, that's when you get to enjoy whatever you're doing instead of being too scared to put your best foot forward. I think you’ve got to put your best forward and be willing to fail and try new things.

I never played soccer in my life until I went to Bond Academy. I ended up being a starting member of the team, and it was a lot of fun. I had never played soccer, but it’s a great memory.

What I appreciated most about Bond Academy is the community spirit, and the whole environment. Everyone knows everyone. You could probably name everyone there at one time, which is kind of cool.

At Bond Academy you get to try a little bit of everything. You're involved in everything from sports to organizing events. You could be on the volleyball team and be a part of organizing prom or something like that. So you get both perspectives.

Bond Academy teaches values like leadership. Because I was involved in everything, and was able to lead certain teams, and organize certain events. We also learn in sports that winning is not everything; you learn things from losing.

Bond Academy shaped me confidence-wise because in high school we did this competition where was it like a quiz with a whole bunch of other schools, and I was on a team of them. Usually in school you do things like that in your school, but not with six other schools. I'm not that outgoing, and Bond Academy increased my confidence in interacting with other people on a larger scale.

The amount that you're prepared for university or college at Bond Academy is more than you would think. When you're doing it, you're like, ‘why am I doing this?’ But then, when you get to first year university, everything is a recap of what I did in Grade 12. It's nice to know that you learned it before, and then you can apply it again.

When Bond Academy students join activities, it can help them be well rounded, and learn how to do many things. They might find something they like that they had no idea about prior.