Interview with Lynn-Rose School Alum, Ian Chan

At Lynn-Rose, if I ever had any difficulties understanding concepts, or just difficulties in general, I could easily approach anyone, and they would be more than willing to help me and put me back on the correct track.

The teachers at Lynn-Rose, when they taught me, they didn’t teach me to memorize, they taught me to understand. And that was really a step forward for me, especially in university. I feel that, prior to attending Lynn-Rose, when I was in Grades 9 and 10, I was a very memory-oriented student. In biology, I would set out to memorize ‘A, B, and C’, and then I would just regurgitate it on a test. But when you’re doing that, you’re not really learning. And at Lynn-Rose, the teachers really taught me to understand the concepts rather than to memorize.

I think what really differentiates Lynn-Rose  is how close you could be with the teachers. I’m sure at a lot of private schools you could also be really close to the teachers, but at Lynn-Rose there’s something called ‘Study Hours’ after school. If you have any questions at all, you can just approach the teacher and they would just help you to the best of their ability. I can take advantage of these Study Hours and ask the teachers, ‘Hey, do you think I’m on the right track?’ It’s almost like one-on-one teaching and learning with the teacher.

With the guidance counselor, it’s such an open-door policy with them that everything is really free-flowing. I remember when I was applying to McGill, I had some questions about their applications because they’re outside of Ontario and I didn’t know how that was supposed to work. So the guidance counselor actually put me on the phone with McGill’s admissions and we actually had a talk. That was a really unique experience to me, having such an open-door experience with staff at Lynn-Rose.

I think integrity is a major part of the school’s characteristics. Everyone in there, they’re all very honest with you. So if they see something that they don’t like, they’re not going to beat around the bush. They’re going to tell you, ‘Hey, I don’t think this is acceptable’ or like, ‘Hey, this piece of work, I know you could have done better,’ and everyone’s just really honest with that. It’s a really good way to know your teachers and a really good way to understand and improve yourself

Another characteristic is that everyone at Lynn-Rose is very driven. The teachers are very driven to help you succeed. I think that’s a really major thing. When the teachers are there to try and help you to succeed, then as a student, you obviously are going to be putting in the effort to succeed as well, seeing everyone that’s there to support you.

We have a really large cafeteria for such a small amount of students, and because of that I could easily talk to the Grade 9s, the Grade 10s, and they could easily talk to us. And as we talked more and more with each other in that cafeteria, we got to know each other more. I think that was the main thread that really linked us all together and really helped us communicate with one another and really made that close-knit community. I think it started with the cafeteria.

At Lynn-Rose, the major three values that they present are ‘Wisdom, Strength and Integrity.’ I think what I really saw was those three, plus collaboration. I remember I was doing this one tech project and it was something about singing, and I’m not that good of a singer, so I asked some Grade 9s to help me—‘Hey, can you help me sing this part for me?’—and they helped me sing. I think that just shows just how open the whole community is. That’s one thing I really saw actively was just how easy it was to collaborate with people, even though they’re either older than you or younger than you.”

What I think people will find most surprising is how small the school is. When I was in Grades 9 and 10, my school had over 2,000 students with two campuses. It was a very big school, but with Lynn-Rose, it’s such a small school that when I went into that, I was also kind of surprised. But it did work out really well for me because I did enjoy the smaller class sizes.

I think the school has greatly shaped me and just the way I learn—like everything I’ve learned, learning not to memorize and to actually understand concepts, and applying that right now into university. That’s really shaped who I am, and I think that’s also a major factor on why I was able to maintain my marks entering university. This will continue to help me to learn in the future and shape how I approach a lot of the questions and a lot of the problems in my courses, while thinking about different viewpoints.

I feel like one of the major things that really impacted me was when I was deciding on my university, I was really hesitant on going to Western at first, hearing a lot of rumors about it being a party school. But the principal did go to Western and she told me a lot of her experiences and what to do, what to keep in mind. And I was like, ‘Oh, there’s no way it’s this simple,’ but then once I’m finally at Western, I realized what she said was all true. All the advice the teachers previously gave me—they were looking out for me. They’re telling me what to look for. And I think, looking back, that has really impacted and changed what I’ve done throughout my course.

Another reason to enroll would be because there are a lot of international students that come to Lynn-Rose, and—where they were raised and where you’re raising, where they were brought up—we think very differently to our very core. When we’re working together in group projects, problem solving questions, discussions, knowing and understanding how they think and how we think, it just really helps you solve more future problems.

The most important thing is how open the teachers and principals and guidance counselors are—how open the line of communication is to you. Despite it being already over a year since I graduated, I still keep in close contact with the head of school, with the principals and guidance counselors. We still talk and they’re still concerned about a lot of students—like, ‘Oh, how are they doing right now?’—and I think that’s just a very good thing. It shows that the teachers really care about the students and they’re not just there to teach.

I think firstly, you should obviously visit the campus and have a tour. I think that’s a very important thing.  At Lynn-Rose College, it’s a very modern design. They have, like, ceiling-to-floor glass. So, you can easily see how teachers teach. I think just by understanding how the teachers teach, you would see how much the teachers really care about the students, and the school’s really small community.

I think my one piece of advice would just be, ‘Don’t be shy, just really go out there.’ Because if you’re not going to approach people, I feel like a lot of people would come and approach you, and they’re going to make you feel like a part of the community. Like, there’s no one considered an outcast at Lynn-Rose. If you’re not willing to really talk to others, if you are really shy, there’s going to be someone there to help bring you along.