Interview with WillowWood School Alum, Yan Fu

I think I was lucky because WillowWood is really nice and all the teachers care about you. And I can be myself in WillowWood. I know there are some private schools having lots of Chinese students and you cannot train your English skills very well. But WillowWood had a lot of Canadian students, so you can make more foreign friends and train your English, and then you can better get used to your life in Canada.

If it were a person, WillowWood would be a really kind, nice, professional person, and you can feel warmth from him. And then like a big brother. I am an international student, so I don't have friends or I don't have any family members here. So I was lonely when I first came to Canada, but they would take good care of me. And then they asked me a lot about my life and also my study progress. They take care of me.

Besides studying, for example, if you were in a bad mood, you could ask teachers to help you or answer your question. I think it's the teachers' concern for students because in WillowWood, every teacher knows the study progress of every student specifically, and takes really good care of every student. And we also can ask teachers all questions. Like we even have some problems in our lives or even communication problems. They can help us.

I think it's the proportion of teachers and students, because I know in public schools the proportion of teachers and students is really big, like one teacher for more than ten students. So I think teachers cannot take care of every student in a public school. When I was in China, I didn't know really well about WillowWood, but I just looked at the proportion of teachers and students and then I thought, wow, 50 teachers is like 200 students and teachers can take good care of every student. 

For me, the favourite part that I liked about WillowWood, it's the group activities. Because I really want to play games or participate in activities with classmates and teachers, because they can make me know my classmates and teachers more effectively.

So I think students or children can get used to university life or college life much more quickly in WillowWood. WillowWood is still really nice because teachers also call me sometimes and ask me about university life. And teachers tell me that if I have any problem, I can still ask them like they are just like my parents.

But in WillowWood, I can ask teachers questions anytime. And if you have some problem with your homework or assignment, you can also ask the teacher or let the teachers explain the knowledge to you again. But in university, you need to learn by yourself, like learn by yourself much more than in high school. The best part that I recommend WillowWood is because all the teachers are really nice. They take good care of students, and also the life in high school in WillowWood is similar to university, so students can get used to it faster than other school students.

Teachers will remind you that you are going to university. So the way that I teach you now is like the university way. So you need to get used to it faster so you can get used to your university life or college life much better. Two other reasons we have many activities are mainly sports competition, and also campaigns and rock climbing or bowling, like that. 

And the other reason is that I think even though WillowWood is not that big, like, it's a small school, but it's enough for all the students. We have a computer room, science room or music room and a big gym. Don't worry about your children in WillowWood because it's a big family. It's just like you will have lots of your sisters and brothers, like siblings, and teachers are our parents. Yeah. So don't worry about your kids. In WillowWood, they will be taken care of. So be ready to be a part of WillowWood and you will be proud of it and you will feel warmth from WillowWood.