Two CDS Students Bound for Oxford Next Fall

January 11th wasn’t an ordinary day for Trinity De Simone and Olivia Railton, Grade 12 students at The Country Day School. Both girls had had this date highlighted in their calendars for months. This was the day that all shortlisted candidates for Oxford University hear via email whether they had been accepted. By 7:00 a.m., both Trinity and Olivia were grinning from ear-to-ear.

The School’s university placement record has always been strong, but even the Oxford Office of Undergraduate Admissions reports that “it is very unusual for schools to have more than one offer holder.” Both students are passionate academic learners with a great depth of knowledge who were drawn to Oxford’s tutorial teaching style of learning (most classes are taught either one-on-one or one-on-two, not lecture style) early in their high school careers. Initially, they both viewed it as a long shot, but as the years passed, it seemed to become more attainable for each of them.

Trinity De Simone first dreamed of going to school in the UK while on a family trip to London in Grade 6. She has demonstrated her passion toward many things since arriving at CDS in Grade 7, including social justice and inclusivity, writing, reading and poetry, as well as drama and music. After Grade 10 she realized her academic average would allow her to be competitive and apply to universities outside of Canada. Meanwhile her thirst for knowledge and desire to explore topics in depth led her to establish a unique rapport with her philosophy teacher – the Director of Academics for Middle/Senior School, Mr. Dave Harvey.

“Our conversations have been central to why I got into Oxford. I needed someone to talk with me about the things that I was interested in. Mr. Harvey was able to provide that for me through weekly one-on-one conversations.” It wasn’t until a year into these in-depth conversations that Trinity realized how much they paralleled Oxford’s tutorial system.

According to Mr. Harvey, “Trinity is naturally compelled to explore philosophical and psychological issues – it is at her core. She is also very engaged by ideas and acts on her beliefs.” He has been recommending reading materials to her for the past two years.

In pursuit of an even greater intellectual challenge last summer, Trinity attended a three-week course at Cornell University called Genius and Madness in Literature. Similar to the interdisciplinary course she and Olivia took at CDS last year (On the Nature of Change), this university course was mostly literature based with some philosophy and psychology elements peppered throughout.

Students were assigned to read a text every day and a book every weekend. A pivotal moment for Trinity came after reading Kant’s views on aesthetics and listening to a guest lecturer speak about it the next day. “That was the moment for me when I knew I was going in the right direction in terms of philosophy and psychology – being able to use logic to explore concepts that are important and relevant to every day life.” In writing her personal statement, she endeavoured to convey how much she loved her subjects and hoped that this degree of passion would carry through and be noticed.

Olivia Railton first set her sights on attending Oxford at a Debating tournament at Queen’s University in Grade 9. A fellow debater from another CAIS school had just been accepted and Olivia immediately set about to learn more.

Her CDS debating coach, Kerstin Wyndham West, is an Oxford graduate and as a seasoned member of the CDS Debating and Public Speaking team for the past six years, Olivia has spent countless hours training with Ms. Wyndham-West and travelling to tournaments throughout Canada, parts of the U.S. and Hong Kong. She has achieved a great deal of success in her high school debating career, including a 2nd place finish at the World Championships last year in Pittsburgh, PA (fellow CDS debater and friend Natalie Ganzhorn ’16 captured 1st); 1st overall and top speaker for the second year in a row at the International Independent Schools’ Public Speaking Competition and numerous other accolades.

According to Ms. Wyndham-West, “Olivia has researched numerous current affairs and human rights topics during her years of debating. She has developed excellent critical thinking skills and the ability to articulate her ideas effectively in both written and verbal form using real-world examples to back up her points. Not only have these abilities contributed to her success on the global stage, but they are also phenomenally important life skills that will no doubt stand her in good stead in her Law studies at Oxford University.”

At the National Debating Championships held in Winnipeg in early February, Olivia qualified for the third time for the World Championships, which take place this April in Sydney, Australia. Debating at the Oxford Union has been her ultimate dream, as it is reportedly the most prestigious debate society in the world.
 
When applying to schools in the UK, similar to the U.S. system, one must write a personal statement and take a standardized test, depending on which school you’re applying to. Throughout the UK’s UCAS system, applicants may apply to up to five schools through one common application with an earlier deadline of October 15 for Oxford. Students then learn if they are shortlisted for an interview by the end of November. It is strongly advised that all applicants travel to take part in their personal interview in early December.

Olivia and Trinity both made the trip across the pond, but were scheduled a week apart. The interview process was extensive, Olivia had three interviews and Trinity had four. Trinity applied open, which means she was randomly assigned to the college of Lady Margaret Hall, which was then deemed her "first choice" and where she stayed during the interviews. She also got additional interviews at a randomly assigned "second-choice" college, Pembroke. Olivia applied to her first choice, Wadham College, for Law with European Law which will allow her to study in The Hague in the Netherlands – home of the U.N.’s International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court during her third year.

“British universities don’t put as much emphasis on extra-curricular involvement,” explains Olivia, who is especially excited about the opportunity to study Law in The Hague. While she admits that her debating skills were a tremendous help, she had to present a compelling argument as to why debating would help her become a good law student in constructing her personal essay.

According to Mr. Harvey, Olivia’s verbal reasoning skills are unparalleled. “As a world class debater, her verbal acuity is quite amazing. She also distinguished herself by pursuing an AP class in psychology on her own.”

Distinguishing herself comes naturally for Olivia, and she has done it continuously since arriving at CDS in Grade 2. Her background in public speaking and outgoing nature have contributed to her success as a Student Ambassador for Admissions, and she is a wonderful addition to the School’s Band and Coffee House evenings as a saxophonist, guitar player and singer; including doing duets with Trinity.

As one would expect, their interviews were intellectually rigorous. Trinity’s were all on the same day, and included in-depth dialogues following pre-readings that she was given 20-minutes in advance, and the question, “Can computers think?” in which she engaged in a 20-minute one-on-one discussion. Olivia’s interviews were spread out over three days and included writing applications of the Law, an interview with two Law professors seated across from her in an Oxford Board room, and a final one conducted entirely in French.

Through Olivia’s involvement in the international debating circuit, she has developed a global network of friends, which she added five more to (four Brits and a German) during her interview stay. On their last evening, they promised to contact each other on January 11, regardless of the outcome. And as luck and smarts would have it, all six will reunite at Wadham next fall.

“Both of these students are extremely passionate learners and have been known, supported and nurtured at CDS,” explains David Huckvale, the School’s Director of Admissions and University Placement. “When it comes to writing personal references, it is often a team effort, and there were many willing contributors for both students. Now the entire community gets to share in the rewards of their accomplishment.”

These students not only persevered, they triumphed. However, both girls realize the magnitude of this opportunity and have pledged not to let their guard down over the next two terms as they are expected to maintain their high marks.

Oxford University is always ranked in the top 10 among the world’s university rankings and is currently #1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The oldest university in the English speaking world (having developed rapidly since 1167), it has accepted an average of 10 Canadian students a year to its undergraduate studies in the last decade. CDS has produced at least two other Oxford graduates in its short history: Genevieve Laurier ’09 holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and is currently pursuing an MSc in Evidence Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation, and Brian Coulter ’04 holds both an MA and PhD in Economics as a Rhodes Scholar.

On that fateful Wednesday morning, Mr. Huckvale’s office was the girls’ first stop upon walking into school together. According to Olivia, “He gave us the confidence to apply and it was really nice that Trinity and I could make him proud.”

Mr. Huckvale has helped CDS graduates earn acceptance to top calibre colleges and universities across Canada, the U.S. and UK for the past eight years. While this is outstanding news to start off the acceptance season, he remains excited about what is still to come for the other members of the Class of 2017.
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CDS wishes to recognize and acknowledge the land on which the school operates. For thousands of years, these have been the traditional lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. We also recognize the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee peoples who also shared this land.  CDS respects the relationship with these lands and recognizes that our connection can be strengthened by our continued relationship with all First Nations, by acknowledging our shared responsibility to respect and care for these lands and waters for future generations.

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13415 Dufferin Street King, Ontario L7B 1K5 
(905) 833-1220 

communications@cds.on.ca
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Founded in 1972, The Country Day School is a co-educational private school offering programs in JK-12 and located on 100 acres north of Toronto in King.