Ridley College - Review #4

Ridley College is unquestionably Canada's finest boarding/day school. Founded in the 1880s, it has produced generations of leaders in all walks of life. Its motto, "Terar dum Prosim" (loosely - "wear oneself out in service"), continues to guide the school into the 21st century. Ridley students enjoy a comprehensive education that builds the heart, mind, and soul. While an outstanding faculty teaches a rigorous curriculum that stimulates both academic excellence and inquiry, athletics, chapel, and cadets all serve to fortify a student's spiritual, moral and physical dimensions.

Away from home, I learned to be self-reliant, focused, and more disciplined. I began to consider the long-term consequences of seemingly unimportant choices. Life took on a more serious mantle.

Accept the rules and you'll be free to make positive choices. Participate, join, and explore new activities. Seek people and experiences outside of your normal comfort zone. Recognize that time accelerates as one ages. Seize the day! Know that these may be the best days of your life.

For the first time in my life, I felt that I had become a part of something greater than myself. While I was merely passing through, I became aware that I had joined the ranks of fellow Ridleans, both past and future, who would carry and cherish their school's legacy for many years to come.

As a 17 year-old, Chapel seemed to be an inconvenience that one learned to tolerate. In hindsight, I look back nearly a half-century and remember those twice-daily services of introspection and personal reflection with great fondness. My two years at Ridley College were among the very best in my life. I entered Ridley as a boy, and exited as a man.

Small class sizes, well-planned syllabi; emphasis on whole language (particularly writing); tutorials in specific content areas; excellent facilities; knowledgeable, creative, and articulate teachers; mandatory study periods; demanding but meaningful assignments; and thought-provoking electives. As a student, I learned to express myself with both confidence and competence. Students were taught to be both creative and critical thinkers - two qualities that served me well in university and graduate school. Ridley produces "life-long learners".

The camaraderie that existed on the individual teams, regardless of the proficiency level. Also, the student support given to all teams was remarkable. The coaches, facilities, and equipment ('tho antiquated by today's standards) were all top-drawer. The inter-school rivalries among the Little Big Four (UCC, SAC, and TCS) were high points on every team's schedule. I was proud to be a part of the very earliest rowing teams, as well as a medal-winner at both the Independent School Relays and the SOSSA Track & Field Championships. I was especially proud to have my picture (First XII - 1968) join the many others in the hall leading into the Chapel. In fact, a picture of that 1968 football team still adorns my office.

I participated in several dramatic and music endeavours while at Ridley. I appreciated the ability to try new activities, regardless of one's skill or prior experience.

Several of us (mostly Americans of draft-age), formed a student-run "Chapel Committee", with Rev. Hunt's blessings. We were allowed to create topical presentations for the Evensong services during the Trinity Term. In order to do so, we met on a regular basis with the Reverend, to discuss current events, societal issues, and matters related to our age-group. As a direct result of these meetings, I studied Religion and Philosophy as my minor while at Colgate University.

During my years at Ridley ('67- '69), I was considered a 6th Form "neutral". As such, I was not subjected to the "Old Boy system", which was based on a three-year residency. The system was alternately a means of student-supervised discipline and mean-spirited bullying. I am glad that it was vanquished to the dustbin of history many years ago. In general, dorm life was pleasant - residents mingled, although they tended to self-segregate by form-level. Each House had its own personality, often derived from (and reflecting) the House Master's own personality. As a VIA (grade 13) student, I was allowed to choose my best friend, despite his VIB (grade 12) status, as a roommate. Our room (23 AB) soon became the meeting room for the flat. Accommodations and services (cleaning and laundry) were uniformly excellent.

Our meals, served table-side by a wait staff, were typically bland, cold, and tasteless. Nonetheless, meals were the one time that you were able to converse with classmates about topics of one's choosing. Assigned as table "heads" on a rotating schedule, one learned to converse with different students and faculty members on a routine basis. The special events - Cross Country, Christmas, end-of-terms, and graduation dinners - were memorable occasions. The dinner meal (at noontime) was a daily opportunity for the Headmaster to address the entire school, including students, faculty and staff.

Old downtown St. Catharines was a 15 minute walk from school. It was a vibrant community at that time, with a wide variety of retail stores, restaurants, and cinemas nearby. The Ridley Commons now offers similar stores nearby the school.

Cliques existed, but school pride and identity always seemed to prevail. Socializing was usually (in order)by form, flat and dorm. Athletic and extra-curricular participation expanded one's social network.