By Kira Allen & Nate Loken | June 21 2021 |
Curious to see what your peers are doing post-secondary? We contacted some KSS graduates to hear their plans.
Arts
KSS has certainly fostered some graduating artists! Alexandra McChesney will be earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Ryerson University for performance dance. She also plans to minor in psychology, as well as certificates in health studies or disability studies. Nils Lintner will embark on a Performing Arts Preparation program at Sheridan College, where they plan to take singing and dancing classes.
Maya Duff is going to Dalhousie University to study arts and social sciences. She hopes to go to law school eventually, but for now, she is “super excited to live on the coast, explore Halifax and meet new people.” Kennedy Joyce will also be studying social sciences. She is headed to Nipissing University for their bachelor of social work program, and to play varsity basketball. Daina Blair will be going to Western to study art history and museum history with a minor in film.
Apprenticeship
Wally Hoover completed the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program and has been signed on as an apprentice in Brick & Stone Masonry.
Commerce
Matt Pilkey, Ben Kanellos, and Spens Alexander have chosen to study commerce. Ben will be attending Queen’s University whereas Matt tells us he’s “going to McMaster commerce, [and isn’t] really sure what [he is] doing there but we will find out in September.” Similarly, Spens will be playing rugby for McMaster and has “no clue” what he’ll be doing after university.
Concurrent-Education
Clearly, some of our graduates have been inspired by their teachers at KSS. Mack Leveque-Fraser, Tridib Datta, and Jude Wheeler-Dee plan to study concurrent education at Queen’s University. Jude is hoping to run competitively for Queen’s and will be focusing on science. Tridib, on the other hand, will be majoring in history and taking a double minor in psychology and French. He told us he will be living at home to “save that bread”, and aspires to teach alongside all the teachers at KSS who have helped him become the person he is. Mack is currently employed doing community outreach for The Spire before they take on con-ed.
Design
Anna Zborovsky and Griffin Wade-Salay are both taking design, and coincidently, both hope to travel the world! Anna will attend Laurier to take user experience design, while Griffin is going to Queen’s for urban planning and geography. He hopes to become a film director.
Gap year
Not all KSS graduates will be heading straight into University or College programs, some like Chloe Pyke and Adela Marin will be taking gap years next year! Chloe is “really excited to learn more about farming,” and is deciding between Olds college, Lakeland college, and McGill’s MacDonald campus in Quebec. Adela will be working during her gap year, then going to Queen’s in 2022 for a Bachelors of Arts degree majoring in psychology.
Kinesiology
Kinesiology also seems to be a popular choice among our graduates. Abed Abu Hijleh decided to take Queen’s kinesiology instead of Waterloo software after realizing he would enjoy kinesiology “way more.” Caelan Baron is also studying at Queen’s university. Sam Hillen pictures kinesiology leading him to physiotherapy or medicine. He is looking forward to living in Vancouver, particularly because it’s “[the] most walkable city in Canada, [with] mountains for MTB, skiing, and hikes, [and] a big coastal city.”
Psychology
Stella Wheeler-Dee plans to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in psychology here at Queen’s University. Max Collom will also be studying psychology and he plans to take a Bachelor of sciences degree at the University of Ottawa.
Science
We also have several graduates interested in pursuing degrees in the vast field of science. Quinn Varma will take computer science at Carleton University. He is interested in film studies courses, but has “no clue” what he will do after university. Clare Frymire is headed to Dalhousie’s integrated science program. Rida Ahmad will be taking Medical Sciences at Western since she wants to go into dermatology later on, and tells us she will be getting a cat! Namirah Quadir tells us she’s headed to “Harvard for neuroscience and maybe politics on the pre-med track.” Her motivation for applying to Harvard was Elle Woods from the film Legally Blonde. Kieran Raymo is heading to Saint Lawrence College for a year of pre-health sciences; she then plans on heading to Algonquin College for Medical Radiation Technology (i.e. work with x-rays, MRIs and more.) She also intends on maintaining her volleyball skills over her year at SLC and hopes she can play for Algonquin when she attends there.
Obviously, this is only a sample of the post-secondary paths from KSS students this year. Ms Morris Pocock has informed us that a total of 220 students will be graduating this year. Of the students pursuing post-secondary education, 70 applied to college programs and 130 to university programs. Many students applied to both colleges and universities. The majority of graduates attending colleges are heading into health-related fields (e.g. nursing, pre-health science), the trades (carpentry, welding, hairstyling), media studies (e.g. radio broadcasting, cinematography and graphic design) and business.
Still others are heading directly to the workplace or have been connected with the KEYS summer youth program to transition into the workplace. Lastly, some students have elected to return to KSS in order to take advantage of some of our expanded opportunities such as dual credits, co-op or additional courses.
As the class of 2021 goes out into the world, we’ll certainly miss them at KSS, but we’re excited to see all the amazing things they’ll accomplish. We wish all of them the best of luck in post-secondary and beyond.
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