info-suisse December 2014 -January 2015
Education
Education
December 2014
Coming of Age in Switzerland
(Brenda Neil)
Neuchâtel Junior College is a Canadian Independent School located in the French speaking town of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Each year, a small group of English-speaking students, primarily from across Canada, step outside of their comfort zones to spend their Grade 12 or Gap year in Europe. It is the only school of its kind in the world.
Monday to Friday, students study Ontario Grade 12 and Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum in English, while living in a French-speaking town and boarding in local Swiss family homes. They live as Europeans do in one of the safest, most organized and idyllic countries on the planet. On the week-ends, being only four hours away by train from Milan, Munich and Paris enables NJC students to explore the great destinations of Europe while learning about the past, the present and themselves.
In choosing to go to NJC, students are forced to break out of their current bubbles. They leave all aspects of their current lives behind to step out into the world—not for a long vacation—but to try out a new way of living. It is through the stripping away of the influences of home (peers, family, familiar teachers, routine social events, the predictability of life in general) that they are able to understand and reveal who they truly are, what they appreciate, what they don’t, and what they want out of life. The cliché exists for a reason—it is true that you have to go away to find out who you really are. We cannot lead ourselves until we know who we are. We cannot know who we are until we give ourselves space to discover ourselves or until our values, ideals, goals, aspirations are tested and solidified.
It is also outside of one’s comfort zone that one learns to adapt, to be more confident and independent. Recent studies by Professors Maddux and Galinsky (2009) have even confirmed scientifically what NJC has witnessed year after year: that it is by living within a new culture, not just visiting it, that contributes to increased creativity and innovation in individuals.
For nearly 60 years, not only have NJC students gained admission to the finest universities; they have also evolved into self-assured, confident, independent, leadership-able people who are not afraid to live their lives in extraordinary ways. They seek out new opportunities to live, study and work abroad for the rest of their lives, amplifying their opportunities exponentially over a lifetime.
Every September, teenagers from across Canada choose to step outside of their comfort zones at NJC. While studying Canadian Grade 12 and AP curriculum from their new home in Switzerland, they explore a dozen countries, debate in the Model UN, pause in Flanders Fields, network at the Canada-Swiss Chamber of Commerce, ski the Alps, cycle through vineyards and play hockey at the base of the Matterhorn. Academic preparedness, international exposure and guidance expertise lead to acceptances from the fi nest universities across Canada and abroad. New independence within a small school community enables them to understand who they are and realize how their passions and talents will one day contribute on a global scale.
“Although life can be easy when you live in a bubble, easy is not what makes life interesting. Easy does not make change. It is your life, and you have to do what you want with it. NJC gave me not only the confidence to acknowledge it, but the power and motivation to do something about it.”
– Sara Szot, Class of 2014
“The computers and iPhones are always going to be there. They are always going to be sitting on our desks and in our pockets. Right now, however, the snow is melting, the sun is going down, the weather is getting colder, it’s getting darker, we’re getting older, we are changing…The most important thing this year has taught me is to get out into the world because it’s a big place and missing even just a little bit of it would be terrible.”
– Charlie Cornish NJC ’14
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”
– Neale Donald Walsch
Brenda Neil, Class of 1990
Director of Admission
Research annotation:Cultural Borders and Mental Barriers: The Relationship Between Living Abroad and Creativity. William W. Maddux (INSEAD) and Adam D. Galinsky (Northwestern University), Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2009.
Monday to Friday, students study Ontario Grade 12 and Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum in English, while living in a French-speaking town and boarding in local Swiss family homes. They live as Europeans do in one of the safest, most organized and idyllic countries on the planet. On the week-ends, being only four hours away by train from Milan, Munich and Paris enables NJC students to explore the great destinations of Europe while learning about the past, the present and themselves. In choosing to go to NJC, students are forced to break out of their current bubbles. They leave all aspects of their current lives behind to step out into the world—not for a long vacation—but to try out a new way of living. It is through the stripping away of the influences of home (peers, family, familiar teachers, routine social events, the predictability of life in general) that they are able to understand and reveal who they truly are, what they appreciate, what they don’t, and what they want out of life. The cliché exists for a reason—it is true that you have to go away to find out who you really are. We cannot lead ourselves until we know who we are. We cannot know who we are until we give ourselves space to discover ourselves or until our values, ideals, goals, aspirations are tested and solidified.
It is also outside of one’s comfort zone that one learns to adapt, to be more confident and independent. Recent studies by Professors Maddux and Galinsky (2009) have even confirmed scientifically what NJC has witnessed year after year: that it is by living within a new culture, not just visiting it, that contributes to increased creativity and innovation in individuals.
For nearly 60 years, not only have NJC students gained admission to the finest universities; they have also evolved into self-assured, confident, independent, leadership-able people who are not afraid to live their lives in extraordinary ways. They seek out new opportunities to live, study and work abroad for the rest of their lives, amplifying their opportunities exponentially over a lifetime.
Every September, teenagers from across Canada choose to step outside of their comfort zones at NJC. While studying Canadian Grade 12 and AP curriculum from their new home in Switzerland, they explore a dozen countries, debate in the Model UN, pause in Flanders Fields, network at the Canada-Swiss Chamber of Commerce, ski the Alps, cycle through vineyards and play hockey at the base of the Matterhorn. Academic preparedness, international exposure and guidance expertise lead to acceptances from the fi nest universities across Canada and abroad. New independence within a small school community enables them to understand who they are and realize how their passions and talents will one day contribute on a global scale.
“Although life can be easy when you live in a bubble, easy is not what makes life interesting. Easy does not make change. It is your life, and you have to do what you want with it. NJC gave me not only the confidence to acknowledge it, but the power and motivation to do something about it.”
– Sara Szot, Class of 2014
“The computers and iPhones are always going to be there. They are always going to be sitting on our desks and in our pockets. Right now, however, the snow is melting, the sun is going down, the weather is getting colder, it’s getting darker, we’re getting older, we are changing…The most important thing this year has taught me is to get out into the world because it’s a big place and missing even just a little bit of it would be terrible.”
– Charlie Cornish NJC ’14
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”
– Neale Donald Walsch
Brenda Neil, Class of 1990
Director of Admission
Research annotation:Cultural Borders and Mental Barriers: The Relationship Between Living Abroad and Creativity. William W. Maddux (INSEAD) and Adam D. Galinsky (Northwestern University), Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2009.
