Interview with Royal St. George's College Alum, Christopher Black
Christopher, an alumnus of RSGC, shares his views on the school’s balanced approach to education. He appreciates receiving the right combination of support and challenge while at the school, as well as the combination of community and friendly competitiveness. He highlights the importance of focusing on good manners as a central element in character development, becoming a well-rounded person.
Highlights from the interview
For me, RSGC was a good balance of being both like a small school and like a big school. It allowed me to succeed academically, to do well, to learn the way I wanted to learn. It was sufficiently challenging, without being intimidating or overwhelming. I think that’s what stands out for me.
I think a huge part of where I've ended up, and where I ended up going to university, and what I've done since then, is really in a lot of ways a credit to the RSGC education. It made a huge difference in my life.
It allowed me to figure things out in the way that I wanted to figure it out. You are able to pick up a bunch of different things and it gives you the opportunity to really round yourself out. I did well academically, thanks to the environment there and thanks to being in a position that allowed me to learn in the way I wanted to learn.
RSGC is a really compassionate, friendly, and supportive place. I think it is also really a fun place. We played football outside every day at lunch. And we had, I don't know how many occasions we had, teachers come down and just jump in for a few plays. There was just a feeling of everyone having a good time in the middle of trying to learn and figure ourselves out. You really do figure yourself out.
There's a sense of community, and a sense of friendly competitiveness. We'd have a Spirit Day and you'd want to go beat the other house. And then, a friendly competition, if we were out playing another school in whatever sport it was, there was a friendly competitiveness in trying to go and somehow pull it off and beat a school. We are a small school, and so that meant going out and beating the odds.
I think so much of the school is about teaching you how to be well rounded and how to become, not just someone who does really well academically, but someone who is able to do all of the little things that you need to be able to figure out in life. The importance of having good manners was really emphasized. The motto, ‘Manners Maketh Men,’ was constantly repeated. Our headmaster, when I was there, used to love saying it. To the extent that I have figured things out for myself, a great deal of credit goes to the way the school approaches just the subject of manners.
Today, what I appreciate is the whole balance of the school, how they taught everyone to behave as men in the world. I really appreciate it now. Looking back, I think it made a really big difference. I think if you had asked me in Grade 7 or 8, I would have said that I liked the school and that I was having a good time. I think if you’d asked me in Grade 11 or 12, I would have said I loved it there. Every year was better than the last year.
Another big factor, I would say, is the support. For everyone who went to school, that was important in different ways. There were guys who probably didn't have a very easy time academically, and I think the academic support for them was very important. And, for other guys, it's the support to go and try something new, and not sit in your shell. And, so I think the school, for all of the guys who went there, was very good at offering that in different ways.
The community is something that I really appreciate now. A bunch of guys who I am still good friends with all these years later, and I've known them for a very long time now. I think it was a big part of the school, when I was there as well, just the nature of the community.
Choosing between any pair of schools, it really depends on the nature of your child, and an honest appraisal of what your child needs to be successful. As a school that is able to put it all together and able to really help young guys figure themselves out, as much as anything, I think it really does a good job there.
The advice I would give, to current or future students of RSGC, is just stick with it and enjoy the experience. I think, in a way, you have to go through it and figure it out for yourself. Maybe you get to the end of figuring it out for yourself, and then look back and have a little laugh. But, yes, I'd say enjoy it as best you can. Everybody gets there, but it's about getting there at your own pace.
