Interview with Hudson College Alum, Beatrice Javet

We got a very personalized experience. Everything was very personal and it was a community. There was definitely a sense of Hudson being a family and our families were involved a lot. The parents knew each other and everything was very tight-knit, so there was a strong sense of belonging in the Hudson community. All the students were from Toronto or around Toronto, and these were very like-minded individuals. Because of the small classes and the small student body, there was a sense of community even across grades. I knew most of the people in the grades below and the grades above, and friend groups would mix all the time. It wasn’t clicky at all because everyone was one big community, with smaller friend groups that still came together on spirit days or school trips.

All the teachers knew everyone’s individual needs and how to help people individually because person A may have different needs than person B. It was very one-on-one teaching, and if you needed help, it was there, and if you didn’t, they would just let you be. The teachers built very strong foundational skills through the curriculum. They were very focused on your success and would help any way they could, whether with content, letters of recommendation, or personal problems. We knew the teachers so well, and I follow them on Instagram now because we were very close. They all went the extra mile to support our needs, whether academic or personal, and they were solid, great teachers.

The schedule was different than regular high school because you would do three classes per semester. You were only focusing on those three things, which helped with being less scattered and gave you a very deep understanding of the material. I found that going to Queen’s after Hudson, I already knew how to write essays and develop an argument. I think a lot of people go into university from other schools without as strong foundational skills as Hudson gave me. The one-on-one attention academically was so valuable because many schools don’t give you that individual help and teachers don’t always know exactly what each student needs, but at Hudson they did.

There were actually a lot of extracurricular activities. You would expect that for a school so small they wouldn’t have many, but there were around ten different sports and a bunch of different clubs like knitting and Model UN. I was on the volleyball team, and that experience was really good because you became close with people in different grades. The people behind the programs really cared about doing a good job. Sometimes teachers ran the programs and other times they hired coaches, which was nice because we had professionals teach us. If you wanted a club that didn’t exist, you could start it. There were many opportunities to get involved, like bake sales for clubs, talent shows, spirit week with the house system, and big days with bouncy castles and slushy machines.

Hudson has four houses that you’re put into as soon as you arrive: Maritimes, Rockies, Prairies, and Great Lakes. We had house events at least once a month, which helped you get to know people from other grades and teachers who led the different houses. There would be big events and one house would win at the end of the school year. I think that was a unique part of student life, and I don’t know many people who have had an experience with a house system. It was a great growing tool because some people took on leadership roles while others chose not to, and it was a lot of fun.

Hudson is in Midtown Toronto, so it was obviously very urban. Most people took the subway or streetcar to school, and we could go anywhere on St. Clair for lunch, which gave us freedom during breaks. The facilities were great, with 3D printers and really nice study areas to use during study periods or breaks.

There was one event where alumni came in to talk about their university experiences, which I found very valuable. I’ve seen that it is a very tight-knit alumni community with our own LinkedIn group and the Hudson Connect platform. The alumni are active on the platform and use it to help each other with business things and advice. Once you’ve graduated Hudson, you’re still part of the Hudson community if you want to be.

For admissions, I took a test to get in, and I think it was math and writing. I went into a Grade 7 class for a day and saw how their day went and what their procedures were. I got integrated that way, and it was nice to see if I would like it. It was pretty simple.

Being there in person sometimes felt a little small because we had 50 people in our graduating class. As I’ve gone to big academic institutions and had lectures with 600 people, I’ve definitely started to appreciate Hudson more. In university, it’s harder to have that personalized experience, so I’ve come to appreciate it a lot.