Addison’s journey through Collingwood, from junior kindergarten to graduation, is a masterclass in how a student can pursue their passions with purpose.

For some, a career path reveals itself through late-night personality tests or parental pressure, but for Addison, it started in the fourth grade with a turtle, a plastic straw, and a profound sense of injustice. Today, that spark has culminated in an unconditional offer to her top choice school, a direct-entry environmental law program at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. 

How it Started

Watching that viral video of marine rescue workers helping a distressed sea turtle didn’t just make Addison sad; it gave her a lifelong directive. Over the years, her immediate urge to clean up beaches and toss plastic straws transformed into a sophisticated ambition. Collingwood’s personalized approach to learning granted Addison the agency to shape her education, allowing her to explore a wide variety of pathways. Ultimately, she realized her best chance at saving our ocean would be through environmental law.

Addison, or Addy, as her friends call her, is the picture of a well-rounded student who thrives within the Collingwood experience, which prioritizes real-world learning over classroom content. She is a second-degree black belt in karate, a discipline requiring immense focus and grit. For the past decade, she has dedicated herself to singing lessons, utilizing vocal music as a vital creative outlet to decompress and recharge. Her commitment to community shines through her volunteer work organizing holiday hampers for the underprivileged, and her role as a leader for Encounter – Collingwood’s peer-led student retreat – guided classmates into an unexpected, judgement-free space.

Finding Her Focus 

Even though you’ll find her criss-crossing Collingwood’s Four Strands, Addison had a laser focus on environmental law from her very first meetings with her University Guidance counsellor.

Deciding early on what her focus would be helped Addison select the courses that most mattered to her, and to the university programs she’d soon be applying to. These were classes like Creative Writing, AP Human Geography, Law Studies, Environmental Science, and AP World History, to name a few. 

“Law 12 helped shape my passion for law as I was able to engage in legal issues that I hadn't been able to before, visit the law courts and see law in action, and participate in mock trials to get a feel for what being a lawyer would be like,” Addison says. She furthered her interest by joining the Law and Government Club and by spending a summer shadowing at a law firm, gaining invaluable hands-on experience.

Outside of class, Addison had the goal of nabbing the Sustainability Director role on the Student Executive Council. In her Grade 11 year, her peers voted her into the job.

“It was something I had been striving for and worked really hard for,” Addison says, noting it was her proudest achievement to date.

In the role, she regularly addressed the entire school during assemblies dedicated to environmental topics. She gained leadership experience and helped to corral the Senior School community into trying sustainable modes of transportation, taking part in beach clean ups, learning how to sew, and recycling chop sticks. Leading sustainable change in any organization can be daunting but the challenge inspired Addison to build the resilience needed to face the challenges of the world that awaits.

Finding Her Fit

The next step was narrowing down where she’d like to study, but that was easy. Having been exposed to a lot of international travel growing up, Addison knew she wanted to head overseas.

“I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to go to the United Kingdom for school because I’ve always wanted to get a new cultural experience through studying abroad,” Addison says, noting that the UK’s three-year, direct-entry law program made this a clear choice.

How University Guidance Supported Addison

Rather than steering her toward conventional choices, her University Guidance Counsellor, Ms. Adriaanse, focused on empowering her autonomy. She introduced her to specialized university fairs, highlighted institutions that specifically offered robust environmental law modules, and helped her organize her thoughts without adding unnecessary pressure. While Addison’s journey was unique, this tailored strategy is offered by Collingwood's University Guidance department to all students. 

What followed was incredible: Addison received offers from UK institutions like Birmingham, Leeds, and Liverpool, as well as top Canadian choices like Toronto and McGill. But it was her early, unconditional offer from the University of Exeter, and a trip to the UK to tour campuses, that sealed the deal. Standing on the University of Exeter campus, she could visualize her future perfectly.

Her ultimate goals are to help companies implement sustainable policies, learn the mechanics of international environmental law, and establish her own specialized law firm before she turns 30. Given the determination she’s shown since that formative moment in Grade 4, we’re sure her clear vision will take her to some extraordinary places.