Featured Member -- Neuchâtel Junior College

The Best Year of Their Lives Say Canadians
Studying in Switzerland for Pre-University Year

By Barbara Sutton

“It was the best year of my life!’ is the most often heard comment from graduates of Neuchâtel Junior College. Founded in 1956, NJC is a Canadian school based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. NJC is the only Canadian school anywhere to offer students an incredible year of experiential learning that includes residence with a French-speaking family in Switzerland, exposure to European history, art and traditions, travel guided by teachers to North Africa and Southeast Asia, and international volunteering experiences in developing countries with NGO partners like Free the Children and Habitat for Humanity.

Classes are taught in English and follow the Ontario Grade 12 curriculum, which enables NJC graduates to apply with confidence to top universities, knowing that they have the academic credentials, international exposure and volunteer experience that will serve them well as they pursue a post-secondary education.

Being in the heart of Europe brings the curriculum alive for NJC students. In the 2010 autumn semester, they learned about World War II from historian Robert Johnson, who presented a lecture about the rise of Nazism, preparing the students for their trips to Munich, Krakow and the Nazi Death Camps of Dachau and Auschwitz.  Then, a few days prior to Remembrance Day, acclaimed Canadian actor RH Thomson addressed the students, telling them about his VIGIL project, which commemorates the 68,000 Canadians who lost their lives in World War I by projecting their names on the wall of the church in Ypres, starting at sundown on November 4 and concluding at sunrise on November 11. Many schools across Canada participated via the web, but NJC was the only Canadian school that actually attended the Vigil in Ypres. Our students were profoundly moved and many said it was the first time they had fully understood the meaning of Remembrance Day.

Once students have a taste for travel, they are keen to explore independently of the College. Independent travel is a privilege that is earned. It inspires confidence, personal discovery, strong friendships, and maturity. When students have proven themselves academically and exhibit readiness and maturity, they are permitted to embark on independent weekend trips. These are limited to three weekends per semester. In small groups, they visit many of the world’s most interesting places, all within a few hours by train from Neuchâtel, including Vienna, Munich, Paris, Milan, St. Moritz, Brussels, and many more. The bonds that students make on these trips never fade. Likewise, exposure to different cultures, people, and locations gives NJC students a new respect for, and an advantage in, today’s growing global community.

There are just 90 places and nearly every year, more students apply than NJC can accommodate. Just to be considered, students must achieve more than a high grade point average. NJC takes time to assess the individual character, interests and talents of applicants, favoring students who respond constructively to new challenges and express international understanding and responsibility. The results are worth the effort, as NJC graduates are accepted to the world’s leading universities and many excel in careers that have earned them international acclaim.


The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, graduated from NJC in 1967. “It was one of the best years of my life. NJC opened my mind to different languages and cultures. I came to really respect and appreciate the values that exist in other cultures,” she says.

Other high profile graduates include internationally-acclaimed opera director Robert Carsen, Anthony Lacavera, founder of Globalive Communications Corporation, who was just recently named a CEO of the Year by Report on Business Magazine, and Marc Kielburger, Harvard graduate, Rhodes Scholar, Oxford graduate and co-founder of Free the Children, the international development and youth empowerment organization.

“You don’t fully realize the impact that NJC is having on your life until you leave this place,” said Kielburger, speaking to the Graduating Class of 2010, “but I can assure you the impact is profound, lifelong and lasting.” 

NJC alumni feel a strong, lifelong bond with Switzerland and each year, many return to Neuchâtel to celebrate the Homecoming Weekend, which coincides with the city’s annual Fête des Vendanges. “This year will be a particularly memorable Homecoming and Fête,” says Bill Boyer, Head of School, “because 2011 is the Millennium Anniversary of the founding of the city of Neuchâtel. Events are being held all year and will culminate with the Fête Weekend, so we are urging all of our alumni to return to Switzerland and join in the fun!”

NJC is interested in exploring sponsorship opportunities for this year’s Homecoming celebration. For more information about these opportunities, supporting our scholarship program or enrolling a student, please visit the website at www.njc.ch or contact Barbara Sutton, Director of Advancement, toll-free at 1-800-263-2923 ext. 223 or by email at advancement@neuchatel.org.