Developing compassi At Pickering College, our mission is to instil in each individual the ability and responsibility to make the world greater, better and more beautiful than they discovered it. Through the Global Leadership Program, course studies, Morning Meetings, clubs and co-curricular activities, students have the opportunity to explore their interests and pursue their passions in an environment that encourages thoughtful discussions. “I think we all have very different opinions, and there’s nothing wrong with having different opinions, but I do think that the most important thing is that we are able to have civilized discussions. I think there is no greater feature of a true democracy than the voice of the people being represented,” says Shyam Subramanyam, current Grade 11 student at Pickering College and this year’s Youth Action Organization (YAO) Chair. As a co-educational day and boarding school, Pickering College is comprised of students from across the globe.“When you bring all these different people from all these different walks of life, all these different countries and all these different life paths, you bring up this opportunity for great discussion,” says Shyam. “It’s almost like this intersection in the sense that it brings together—it [Pickering College] connects all these paths.” Specific to the Global Leadership Program, students delve into topics that are meaningful to them. “A lot of what goes on in society and a lot of our lives, doesn’t exactly deal with the tangible, it focuses more on the intangible and the stuff that you can’t control and the stuff that you learn with experience. The Global Leadership Program gives you that freedom of exploring the ideas or the changes you want to see,” says Shyam. SOCIAL JUSTICE THROUGH A YAO LENS Offering a variety of opportunities for students to explore work in advocacy, Pickering College’s Youth Action Organization (YAO) has been at the forefront of our student-led social justice initiatives. Students who join YAO are often interested in topics of social justice and enacting change.
“A guiding principle for democracy
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