McCallion
Quest
Hazel McCallion Senior Public School Reflection
By: Jordanna Lewis (8F)
My last year at Hazel McCallion, my last month and fast approaches my last day. Milestones in my school career that I felt could never come to soon, but now that they are here I wish they had come a little slower because I miss HMC already.
When I first entered the doors of Hazel McCallion, it was the doors of a portable in Mr. Burlock’s grade six class. I had been anticipating junior high for a long time and was anxious and a little frightened my first day at HMC. After a few weeks I felt like I belonged at HMC , I knew teacher’s names and when there was that weekly gossip, sometimes I actually knew who people were talking about. Belonging and content replaced the anxiousness and terror that I had felt my first couple of days. As the year progressed I was able to make the honour role all terms while staying active in extra-curricular activities in and out of school. As my grade six year concluded I felt older and more knowledgeable than any of my other previous years.
Re-entering HMC for grade seven brought along a lot of changes in my life, for example an entirely new group of friend and a more structured and demanding curriculum. With my new group of friends I was more sociable and relaxed at school, but when it came to school work it called for more responsibility and independence than what I had known in grade six. Grade seven also marked a very important first in my life, the first time I had made a school team. I had tried out for the soccer team in grade six but came up short and was cut, but in grade seven my soccer skills had matured and I made the team. This was a very happy moment in my HMC career and I remember running my finger down the list and seeing my name. Coached by Mr. Riddell the HMC girls soccer squad was able to bring the Girls Peel Soccer Championship home to Hazel McCallion! This was my proudest moment, the feeling of being a champion and knowing I contributed to such a great event in HMC history!
Grade eight , what can I say it has been a wild ride for me and the things that have happened this year I will never forget. My grade eight class was probably the best class I have had at HMC. The contrasts of personalities and characteristics paved the way for some unforgettable fiascos in our classroom. I remember our class was pretty out of control when it came to supply teachers, we would be joking around and not on task and continually talking back. This lead to an important lecture from Mr. Stone and some heart felt words from our core teacher Miss. Tolone causing our class to really smarten up. At this time our class came together as a unit and tried our best to shape things up and with determination we managed to change our ways. This was a great accomplishment for our class and something we are very proud of to this day. My last year at HMC I also made the girls basketball team and once again earned a spot on the soccer team, both teams bringing home gold. Although grade eight holds the best memories I have had at HMC, I have also learned things the hard way about myself. The main lesson that was taught to me this year was the way I present myself to people. I had been having altercations with a certain supply teacher and was sent to the office, after the incident Miss. Tolone spoke to me. She told me that I will always come across people I don’t like and that are hard to get along with, but I have to be the bigger person and show respect. After this I tried very hard to make a difference in the way I talk to people, students and teachers alike. As I go onto high school next year I will remember what Miss. Tolone told me and try my best to implement it when I come across people who I find difficult to get along with.
Of my three years at Hazel McCallion I know I will always have strong memories to look back on , from going to Boston and Quebec to making the soccer and basketball team for the first time to receiving the honour roll multiple times. Hazel McCallion will hold some of the best memories of my life this I am sure of. To go back and change any experience would lessen the individuality of the memories I have had at HMC. Honestly I would not want to change anything that has happened to me in my three years at HMC, Hazel McCallion has taught me a lot about myself. To change something good or bad that has happened I would end up changing an entire chapter in my life, which would take weeks to explain.
Graduation night, a night that I have been looking forward to since the sixth grade. As graduation approaches I am filled with mixed emotions, sometimes I have great anticipation for Grad and sometimes I dread it because it means I won’t see a lot of my friends again. Even so I anticipate seeing my friends dressed up and looking good and moving on to the next set of years in my life in high school. I also feel sad at times looking back over my HMC years and knowing it’s all going to end in a matter of days, I’d probably say this is one of the most emotional times in my life. Regardless of the negative feelings I have they pale in comparison to the happiness I feel that finally Grad has come and my friends and I have made it thus far. As I leave HMC there are many people I would like to thank, such as all of my teachers from grade six to eight. They have done their best to prepare me for probably the hardest years of my life, attending high school. I especially want to thank certain teachers for sometimes pilling on the work, even if I didn’t admit it then I know it will help me with time management in high school. I’d also like to thank the various coaches I had, they taught me skills that to this day I implement when I play any sports. Lastly I’d like to thank all the friends that I have, I know I sometimes would joke around and be annoying but my friends always laughed and played along. As graduation approaches I hope I will have the courage to say all that I have said in this paragraph to whom I am talking about because everyone I mentioned your contribution to me was greatly appreciated.
To say HMC is the best school I have attended so far in my life would be an understatement, HMC in some ways was more than a school for me it was a home away form home at times. I learned a lot form teachers and friends while still learning from my parents at home. The best way I could advocate to someone to attend HMC would be to say, it is named after the mayor so it must be the best! Regardless of the name HMC as a community of students, teachers and volunteers is the best middle school in all of Mississauga because you get that sense of unity between everyone in it.
Hazel McCallion Senior Public School was without a doubt a defining milestone in my life where I matured vastly and learned new things about myself. I have made friends and bonds here that I know I will have for many years to come and I have been taught things by teachers that no other teacher at another school could teach me. Before writing this reflection I took my HMC years for granted but now I realize just how precious they are and how much they will mean to me in the long run.