4. a) Name of the secondary school you are now attending, or which you last
attended.
Bayridge Secondary School, Kingston, Ontario
b) Name(s) of universities or colleges that you have attended.
None!
5. List all other secondary schools where you completed courses from the
last year of school prior to entering university.
None!
6. a) Which final year (prior to entering university) courses have you repeated
or are you repeating? Give an explanation for why you repeated them. Give
the mark you received for repeated courses the first time that you took
them as well as your final, interim, or expected mark for the repeated
courses.
None! (This is getting repetitive. . .)
6. b) List all of the courses in chronological order that you will have completed
in the two years of school prior to entering university.
|
Course Name |
Check Type |
Semestered |
Completion Date |
Check Source | |||||||
|
OAC |
Grade 13 |
Other (specify) |
Yes |
No |
Month |
Year |
Day School |
Night School |
Summer School |
Corres-pondence | |
| ENG 4A0 - English | Gr. 12 | 01 | 93 | X | |||||||
| MAT 4AE - Mathematics | Gr. 12 | 01 | 93 | X | |||||||
| SBI 3A0 - Biology | Gr. 11 | 01 | 93 | X | |||||||
| SPH OAC - Physics | 01 | 93 | X | ||||||||
| ENG OAC - English | 06 | 93 | X | ||||||||
| MAG OAC - Algebra / Geo. | 06 | 93 | X | ||||||||
| MFN OAC - Finite | 06 | 93 | X | ||||||||
| SCH OAC - Chemistry | 06 | 93 | X | ||||||||
| EWC OAC - Writer's Craft | 01 | 94 | X | ||||||||
| FSF OAC - French 1 | 01 | 94 | X | ||||||||
| HLW OAC - Law | 01 | 94 | X | ||||||||
| MCA OAC - Calculus | 01 | 94 | X | ||||||||
| ADA OAC - Drama | 06 | 94 | X | ||||||||
| ELI OAC - Canadian Lit. | 06 | 94 | X | ||||||||
| FSG OAC - French 2 | 06 | 94 | X | ||||||||
| SBI OAC - Biology | 06 | 94 | X | ||||||||
c) If you took courses at other than day school what were your reasons.
Not Applicable
d) How many hours a week on average do you spend doing homework?
Well, I think this depends on how you define homework. My first guess would be about 12-15 hours a week, and usually in sporadic bursts (ie: none all week, and then nothing but homework on the weekend). However, if you count doing other people's homework, then the number should be up around 20-25 hours. I have my own phone line specifically because I get called at weird hours by people frantically trying to find the derivative of the specific heat capacity of tangent lines to DNA strands, and the legal and sociological basis for doing so. I've been known to go out at 11:00pm to tutor people in some totally unrelated subject when I have a major test the next day. I also have the strange habit of taking 3 hours to do a 15-minute assignment, because I can convince my computer to do all sorts of really neat things that would make my assignment much more fun. Basically, I try to enjoy doing homework, so that I don't mind it taking however long it does.
7. Do you plan on writing the Descartes contest on April 19, 1994?
YES!!!!!
B. Extracurricular Activities
8. List below your principal extracurricular activities for the last 2-3 years.
Sept. '91 to June '93 School Yearbook 2-15h / week Co-Editor, Computer Text, Layout
and Design
Nov. '92 to June '94 School Newspaper 2-3h / week Computer Layout, Writing,
Reporting
Feb '92 to June '94 School Reach Team 1h / week Trivia!!!!!
Sept. '91 to June '94 Tutoring 5-10h / week Informal help, but in very high
demand.
Sept '91 to June '94 Science Olympics 1-3h / week Head of Olympics team at school.
Attended York and Ottawa
Olympics, the K.C.V.I. local
Olympics, and was in charge of
hosting the Third and Fourth Annual
Science Olympics: Bayridge local
competition.
Sept. '91 to June '94 Programming 1-30h / week Extensive work in Pascal, now
branching into C, Assembler,
dBase, and Batch. Current
programs include window & menu
applications, 3-D rotating graphics,
a random-dot stereogram generator,
and miscellaneous utilities.
1979 to Present Reading 5-15h / week Everything and anything that I can
get my hands on.
9. List below your participation in athletics for the last 2-3 years.
Unless you count computer games, I really don't think there's anything I can put here. I do go
out bowling every now and then with a bunch of friends, and I haven't lost yet, and I can play a
reasonable game of pool, but no organized sports.
10. a) List below your employment, including any part-time or summer jobs for
the last 2-3 years. Indicate, with a check-mark, which part-time jobs were
held while attending school.
Feb. '91 to July '91 Computer Technician & Redwing Computers 6-8h / week
Salesperson
(Note: This job started as a Co-op placement for Grade 11 Computers. I ended up being the
only technician for a company that was easily selling thirty systems a week. I worked for them
for a month in the summer, but couldn't go back the next year because it would have interfered
with school.)
August '93 Engineer Northern Telecom: Kingston Works Division 40h / week
(Note: This job was set up through the Shad Valley program, as Northern Telecom sponsored
me for the '93 Shad Valley at Waterloo. I worked in the Engineering department, and my major
task was to redesign the wire jacketing system (where they put the plastic coating around the
electric cable). This included interfacing industrial mainframes, automatic inspection
equipment, outdated hardware, and stand-alone computers into an easy-to-use system for the
line operators. My final program is currently running on three separate lines, and, last I heard,
is slated to save the company $500,000 a year.)
Sept. '92 to June '94 Programmer Dale / Stewart Computing 1-30h / week
(Another Note: Yes, that is my last name in the title of the company. In the summer of '92, when
I moved away from home, a friend of mine and I set up a small computer business. I handled
the programming of various saleable utilities and advertising, while John Dale did the accounting
and hardware-oriented tasks like cleaning and maintenance. I think we're breaking even right
now (which is reasonable because we have just about zero overhead), and I will be separating
myself from the business in the summer, as I will be (hopefully) moving to Waterloo.)
b) If you held a part-time job within the last two years while attending
school, explain in a few words your reasons for holding a part-time job.
Well, I didn't. However, I did get a fair number of job offers, and didn't take them up because
they take up way too much time. I still do not understand how anyone can work and go to
school at the same time. I've seen a lot of my friends' school work suffer because of jobs, and
I refuse to do anything that will make me busier than I already am. Besides, I have no real need
for money because a) I don't spend much, and b) I have really nice parents that support me.
11. List below your summer activities other than above.
August '80, '84, '86, '90, '92: Moving
(Putting my mom through medical schoolmeant a lot of moving. . .)
July '93 Shad Valley: Waterloo
(Why do you think I'm applying to Waterloo?)
All summers in general Travelling all over Ontario and Nova Scotia visiting friends
and relatives, plus one or two trips to Florida.
C. Distinctions and Honours
12. Please list any academic honours or distinctions that you have won and
when they were won. Give some indication of the size of the field of
competition in each case.
Okay, here goes. . . deep breath. . .
Grade 9
Grade 10
Grade 11
Grade 12
OAC Year
13. Please list any non-academic honours or distinctions not already listed,
along with the dates when they were won. Give some indication of the size
of the field of competition in each case.
Um. . . well, er, . . . I don't think this list is going to be quite as long. The only thing I can think
of is a one-act play I wrote that was chosen to be performed for my school's entry in the
Kingston Sears Festival in April (and it looks like I might be directing it). I've also done a couple
articles for the local newspaper The Kingston Whig-Standard, including a joint article with
Rebekah Blok (who is applying for Chemical Engineering, by the way), which was the lead
article of an extensive United Way profile campaign. It examined the Kingston Sexual Assault
Crisis Centre, and was published Oct. 21, '92. Other than that. . . well, I have sold a Pascal
programming unit I wrote to both Bayridge Secondary School and to two local programmers,
and there's a huge waiting list of people who want it in C. . .
That's about all I can think of. School keeps me just a little bit busy. . .
D. General
14. List the three books, magazines, or journals that you have read during the
last twelve months that had the most impact on you. Indicate with an 'x'
those that were required reading in a school course. Use a paragraph for
each item to explain why and how it has influenced you. You may wish to
substitute plays, films, or other performances that you have recently seen.
The first thing I'll mention is my favourite book of all time. I've read it again and again, and it is
always incredible: Piers Anthony's Macroscope. Very few people have heard of it, as it is one
of his earlier ones, but it is just so. . . immense. The story takes science to its extremes and
beyond, with layer after layer of complexity and hugeness that always awes me. It is quite
simply a powerful, grandiose, far-reaching book, with a scope that is about as macro as you can
get. It is a story of infinite possibilities and looking ahead to an amazing future that has things
we can not even dream of right now. I think it has made me see not only the possibilities
science has to offer, but also the layer upon layer of positive and negative effects each leap of
technology creates. There are things in the book that you are sure are the most deadly and
destructive inventions possible, that suddenly turn out to be life savers. The reverse also
happens. I have always remembered that there's more than two sides to everything.
On a more depressing note, quite recently I went out to see the movie Schindler's List. Actually, I went out to see it the night before my final Calculus exam. Not a good plan. It would have been fine if I was writing Writer's Craft, but it didn't work out that way. It has got to be one of the most depressingly powerfully hopeful movies I have ever seen. I just don't know how to describe it. The Holocaust is something that I don't think I can ever comprehend. There's just nothing to compare it to. I remember coming out of the theatre, and the only thing running through my mind was the power and conflict between money and suffering. The Western World has enough money and resources to allow everyone in the world to be fed, have shelter, and be educated. However, I too, am guilty of putting aside the desperate cries of humanity because it doesn't directly affect me. All I know is that that movie forced me to think about people less fortunate than myself, who have to work harder than I ever have just to put food on the table.
Lastly, and even more recently, I went to see the play Serati. Now, the chances are you've never
heard of it, and the only reason I went was that my student teacher in Drama was acting in it.
The play was a collage of scenes, all related to completely contradicting the assumptions that
we make in our society. It took all the rules of acting and play-watching and turned them
completely upside-down. There were many scenes with audience interaction, forcing away the
"fourth wall" idea. They rehearsed scenes in front of us, and the director would stop them half-way through and make suggestions. They broke through the rules of "what-is-talked-about-and-what-isn't" by discussing homosexuality, abortion, AIDS, and abuse in blatant, solid terms. I
think it reinforced a goal I have always kept in mind: to not conform to the norm. I have always
tried to be a very unique individual, looking at things from a different perspective, and not simply
accepting what is "correct."
15. Please use the space below to discuss briefly the one or two academic
experiences (e.g. a project or paper you have done, or a specific course or
subject taken at school) that have meant the most to you during your
school years.
Well, the most important academic experience I've had is Shad Valley: Waterloo '93. However,
in keeping with good essay format, I shall save my most powerful point until the end. For my
second most meaningful experience in academia, I would have to pick my OAC Writer's Craft
class. Yes, I've had great fun and success in maths and sciences, but that Writer's Craft course
changed me the most. I have always enjoyed english (and am a staunch supporter of teaching
grammar in high school, by the way, which they seem to have stopped doing), but never really
had to do serious writing until that class. It was a class that forced me to open up and express
myself, and to be able to get ideas across to others. It was also further opened my eyes to the
incredible feeling of creation. When I write and create (be it literature, programs, or anything
else new), I get an incredible feeling of accomplishment. It's a rush that I love to experience
every time, knowing that I have added something to the world that has, and will always carry,
my imprint. If I really think about it, I guess it's a kind of immortality, and what could be more
important than that?
Anyway, on to Shad Valley. When I first heard about the program I simply knew I had to go.
Four weeks in residence at Waterloo, meeting professors, stimulating my mind, and meeting
people that were like me. . . I wouldn't have missed it for the world. It was a taste of university
life, of late nights and early mornings. It was mind-boggling conversations in the dead of night
that drifted from nuclear physics to programming to time travel to quantum mechanics to religion
to the meaning of life to anything we could dream of. It was discovering that yes, there are
people out there that think in some of the ways I do, maybe not exactly the same, but able to
appreciate my thoughts. It was learning that group work can be so much more than it is in high
school, where I do all the work and everyone else signs their name to it. It was actually getting
outside once in a while and actually playing sports for fun, which I had never dreamed I'd do.
It was seeing the process of designing and creating our Engineering & Entrepreneurship project
(which my team won, by the way). It was opening up my eyes to the possibilities the future has
in store, and making friends that will be helping to shape that future. I am a Shad now, and that
will always be with me. I learned so much that month, not just about math and engineering, but
about friendship and people. As I said, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
16. Please use the space below to discuss briefly the one or two
extracurricular, work, or community activities from the last 2-3 years that
have meant the most to you.
The main extracurricular activity that I have been involved in has been programming. In Grade
Ten I took the Grade 11 Programming course, and three weeks into it the teacher said I could
write the final exam. I opted to take the course independently, and wriggled my way into a Co-op at a local computer store (then Allpark Associates, now Redwing Computers). I managed
to get six credits that semester. Anyway, the reason I took to it so quickly, and the reason I can
create the things that I do now, is that I think like a computer. I have been around them since
I was six, and I can understand the logic behind them. There is an order to programming, an
elegant structure that is another form of creation. I combine my computing skills with other
classes, doing two science fairs and numerous presentations with my home-made 486-50. Just
this past weekend, I was given a Biology lab where we had to build a model of the phospholipid
bilayer of the cell membrane. I didn't want to build something physical, so I sat down and
designed a 3-D rotating model of the membrane in full colour, with approximately 550 separately
calculated three-dimensional entities and 36 solid planes to worry about. Written entirely in
Pascal (because I didn't have time for assembler), it actually runs at over three frames a second,
something which I have never, ever seen done. I have seen programs written in pure assembler
that are slower. It quite simply amazed me, and I got an incredible exhilaration from doing
something completely new. Besides, I know someone whose father works at McGill and is very
interested in using it as a learning aid. . . Looks like I get to re-write the routines for assembler.
Programming has kept me busy and creative for quite some time. I even formed a business
(Dale/Stewart Computing) with a friend of mine because we worked so well together
(Unfortunately, that fell through when my ex-girlfriend started going out with him, but that's
another story). I've written TSRs, graphing tools for Algebra & Geometry, menuing utilities, even
one program to create those random-dot stareograms that have suddenly become all the rage.
For me, programming is something I can do whenever I want, and it is always new and pushing
my limits. Basically, I just love creating.
17. Write a statement explaining your interest in Engineering and the program
to which you are applying, your short and long-term career goals, and what
you can contribute to the university in addition to what you hope to gain
from study at the University of Waterloo.
For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in mathematics. It probably comes from have two teachers as parents, but mathematics has become quite ingrained into my being. Last year, when it came time to start worrying about my university career, I took a look at all the programs that were out there to see what grabbed me the most. I knew it had to be science-oriented, and I knew it had to be challenging. At that point, all I knew is that I wanted a career that would stimulate me, challenge me, and give me the greatest number of options as to what to do with my life. The University of Waterloo attracted me immediately. I knew I wanted to stay in Canada, and preferably in Ontario, and Waterloo simply seemed like the best choice. For mathematics and engineering, it is simply the best in Canada, and easily in the top ten in North America. Also, I loved the idea of the Co-op program, as I had an incredible experience with the Co-op at my school.
I didn't decide on Systems Design Engineering as my first choice until Shad Valley. I was
completely amazed that the university was offering a specific course on exactly what I wanted.
Computer programming, mathematics, computer model creation, artificial intelligence, virtual
reality, everything I ever wanted to do with my life is a part of Systems. More importantly,
Systems Design Engineers have been defined as "superb generalists." That would be how I
would define myself. My course schedule covers almost every course available, and I am able
to apply my skills in almost everything I try. Specializing in generality leaves an incredible
number of doors open to me, which is incredibly important, given today's society. And besides,
I want to know everything, or at least a fair bit about everything.
As far as the long term goes, who knows what I'll be doing. It's perfectly possible that I'll
become a professional student. I could also find something that grabs me completely, and I
may focus my attention on that. I don't know. Anything can happen. The only thing I do know
is that I will always be doing something that I enjoy doing. I refuse to let myself get trapped into
a job I don't like. That is why I'm going into Systems. I want my doors to stay as wide open as
they can, and I want as many of them as I can.
I'm not yet sure what I will be contributing to the university. I'm not much of a political person,
so I doubt I will get into student politics. I know there's a couple theatres, and I would love to
continue acting or just being around the stage, but I don't know what sort of spare time I'll have.
I will, knowing me, be doing a lot of tutoring, simply because I always have. I tend to be very
lively in group discussions, but yet fairly rational. I'll probably just do everything I can, for if
there's one thing I've learned in high school, it's that you have to get involved. I have enjoyed
my high school career tremendously, specifically because I got involved with everything I found
even remotely interesting. Yes, I was extremely tired most of the time, but very happy. That is
what I want out of University. I want to enjoy life, and expand my horizons. I want to be able to
do what I want with my life, and perhaps create something that will be remembered long after
I'm gone.
18. What languages do you speak?
(Gee, talk about a topic switch. . .) As you can see from my course schedule, I've taken both
of the normal OAC French programs, but I really don't think I'd call myself bilingual. If I was
forced into a situation where I had to, then I could probably make myself understandable and
carry on some sort of conversation in french, but I'd much prefer to avoid that sort of thing. Other
than that, there's only english, which I love (anday igpay atinlay oesn'tday ountcay).
19. Because most of this form is structured, we have included this space to
enable you to tell us more about yourself as a person. We seek a response
that will help us to know you better.
Now here's a wide-open question. I don't really know what to say here. I've tried throughout this
form to show my personality, and I'm not sure how well it came out.
Anyway, to really understand me, you have to know a little history. My parents were both
teachers, and their families are all teachers, doctors, and engineers. At home I was always
encouraged to think about things, and to be different from mainstream society. My mother is
the only teacher-turned-medical doctor that believes in yoga, herbal tea, yogurt, chiropractors,
and regular doses of vitamins that I know of. I've been told that I carried on conversations about
the molecular theory of matter when I was three. Personally, I don't remember it, but it is
possible. My mother introduced me to puns at age four, and has regretted it ever since.
For most of my school life, I've been seen as "different." I've been known as the "teacher's pet"
way too many times for my taste, and considering I've been given the same label in all six
schools I've been to (putting my mom through medical school took a lot of moving), it must be
true. Somehow, however, I have managed to not make any enemies. I get along with everyone
I meet (within reason), which never ceases to amaze me. I guess I have slowly figured out the
secret of getting good marks without alienating people. What I do is play the game. I don't
know the best way to put this, but I am able to play the game and use it to my advantage.
Basically, if I have to do something, I do it, and I do it in a way that I enjoy it, and that is what I
find important. I see so many people with incredible potential who are simply incapable of
forcing themselves to play the game, to do the work, to not think of it as toil and drudgery. One
of my best friends is an incredible poet and author, but he cannot force himself to stick with
school. I am fortunate that I am able to make the journey the thing that is important, not
necessarily the goal.
As far as the social aspect of life goes, I am in an odd situation. First of all, in the summer of
'92, my parents decided to move to Moosonee. I went up with them, tried out the school
system, and realized it wasn't going to work. I moved away from home at the end of August,
just after my sixteenth birthday. This forced a lot of changes on me, and probably some forced
maturing as well. Another odd thing is that I have so many friends with differing perspectives
that I am often called in to mediate between factions. I can count three relationships that have
been through hard times, and both of the people involved in each one turned to me as someone
to talk to. I'm a very good listener, and even though my experience is perhaps less than theirs
(my first girlfriend dumped me for my best friend, and my second one was a year and a half
later, and I only asked her out eight days ago), I can give reasonable advice. Mostly, I just try
to be nice to everyone, because that is where I get a lot of my pleasure from.
I have known for a long time that I am here for a reason. I have been given so much in my life
that I know I am going to do something with it. I want to be someone special, to make a
difference, to be remembered. I don't know how, but I know I will make a difference
somewhere, and I am going to follow my dreams and reach higher and higher and see how high
I can go. I believe in breaking limits, and I want to break them all.
Thank-you for your time, and I apologize for the length, and I sincerely hope to be attending Waterloo in September.