Fayi (Edward) Liu
A Unique Intergrated Experience
This year is my first year studying at The York School. In York, the Integrated Canadian Experience (or ICE) is a big and important part of the curriculum. It is the combination of English, History, Geography, and Civics, and because of this, we have ICE for three fourths of a day, every other day. It is interesting to learn and connect all these subjects together in one course. We also have a lot of trips in this course, which is kind of a highlight. For a foreigner like me, the course taught me a lot about Canada as a whole.
One of the most memorable things we did this year was winter camping. As an introduction to the Canadian North unit, we spent five days up north at Camp Pine Crest, camping, and learning about world view and indigious culture. The camping part was not as simple as what people usually think, we had two prep days to just get us prepared. I used to go camping with my family during summers when I was little, so I would say I am somewhat familiar with what camping is like, but camping in the winter is a whole different experience just because of the cold itself. It’s pretty tough to stay outdoors for 48 hours in winter. It was especially uncomfortable when I discovered that there’s snow in my shoes, but thankfully, it was on the way back to camp. This trip taught me to not assume something when you have not experienced it yet. Link to original blog.
The most significant event that affects us all this year is of course, the pandemic. We have not returned to school since March Break, so we have to continue our learning back at home. Classes became a lot shorter than what they used to be, which may or may not be a good thing. On one hand, we have a lot of flexible time to ourselves, but on the other hand, we don’t spend nearly as much time with other people (or maybe it’s just me). I prefer to study in school, because I have more focus in a school environment. But that’s not possible right now, so I adapted to this new environment. And kept on learning as a student.
A part of the course is civics, and part of it was quite interesting to me. That part was the election and government structure. We were quite lucky this year for studying elections in Canada during a federal election. We got to look at events unfold in real time and watch the process itself. A fun thing for me to do was to discuss what I have learnt in school with my dad, comparing the government structure of Canada and my homeland China, and looking at the pros and cons.
In general, ICE is a unique experience in many different angles. Although it may be a little exhausting, it is a fun year as well.
Here's my Final Project about contact tracing in Canada, hope you enjoy.
Contact Tracing in Canada.mp4