Crystal, Year 12, shares how and why she came to study at Chigwell, and her favourite memories so far.
The Application Process
Before I came to Chigwell, I had studied in the UK for three years and after finishing my GCSEs, I was willing to change my environment and meet some new people so I decided to continue my sixth form studies in a new school. My guardian introduced Chigwell School to me and after actually visiting Chigwell and having an interview with the Head of Sixth Form, I made the choice to come. It was during our mock exam for GCSEs, so most of the application process was done with the help of my guardian and I was able to know more about application to other English schools by talking to my guardian.
Choosing Chigwell
I chose Chigwell because I had a very good impression when I came to the School for my interview and entrance exam. I really liked the environment - which is green and relaxing, and inside the School there are many woods and wildlife. I like the atmosphere, as when I talked to the Head of Sixth Form and one of the house parents, I had the feeling of them caring and paying attention to the students and how they would work hard to help the students. I talked a lot when I had a chat with them, which was something I would not do if I was not in a comfortable and open environment.
Arriving
Before I arrived I was contacted by a couple of students which I felt really grateful and they were all very welcoming and friendly. For my first day of school, my mentor met me during breakfast and as I was not familiar with various locations, I was guided by my mentor and students from my form and other forms. It was a tiring day but I thought it was heart-warming with all the support from the people I met and I had a good and quick settling in.
A Typical Day at Chigwell
My typical day in Chigwell is mainly lessons and studying as for A-levels there are quite a lot of materials to go through. But I also like to chat with my friends during morning and lunch breaks - sometimes we sit on the grass and enjoy the sunshine. After school, normally I return to my boarding house but sometimes I go to library to read for a while and then go back. Dinner is at 6 o’clock generally and between the time school finishing and dinner there is a 2 hour break, during which I usually relax for a bit or attend a school club or discussion group which is a great fun. After dinner, most students get on with their work in the boarding house and then have a rest from study for the remainder of the evening.
Favourite Memories
One of my favourite memories at Chigwell is Chinese New Year Eve. Me and another girl from our boarding house cooked a special meal and had it with our house parents while watching the annual big show on the very last day of Lunar calendar year. Due to Covid-19, it has been extremely difficult for Chinese students to go back home during the holidays and I was grateful to celebrate the new year with house parents who take a good care of me and I enjoyed our time together very much.
The Future
For now we have just finished our summer exam and are in a position to start preparing for university application. I am also working on an EPQ project on the topic of neuroscience and how we generate conceptual knowledge and I plan to complete most of my research in the next few weeks, by ways like reading relevant academic articles and online journals and discussing my topic with my supervisor and subject teachers. This is one of the opportunities offered in Chigwell which allows me to explore my interest in a greater depth and I am able to develop different skills like time management and planning. I want to study biology in university and would like to work in research science so completing an EPQ project helps me to get a sense of what research involves and confirm my aspirations.
Mandarin Translation
在奇格威尔学校的寄宿学习生活
在来到奇格威尔学校读书之前，我已经在英国读了将近三年的书。完成GCSEs之后，我想要改变一下现处的环境和去认识一些新的人，所以决定去一个新的学校继续我的高中学业。奇格威尔学校是由我的监护人介绍给我的，我做出来这个学校的决定是在现实来到这个学校参观和跟高中年级主任面试完之后。因为那段时间忙于准备中学的模拟考试，大部分的申请流程都是由我的监护人来完成的，我自己也是跟监护人聊过之后才对申请英国的其他学校有所了解。
我选择来奇格威尔学校读书是因为当时来学校面试和进行其他入学考试的时候，这里给我留下了相当深刻的印象。学校的环境十分优美，让人感到放松，校内有许多树木和野生动物。我也很喜欢这里的人的氛围。当我跟年级主任和这里的一个宿管聊天时，我觉得我能够感觉到他们对学生的关心和在意，感觉到他们会去努力工作帮助学生。那个时候我跟他们聊了很多，我想如果不是在一个让我感到舒适和开放的环境，我是不会这么做的。
在我抵达学校前几天，有好几个学生跟我联系，他们都十分的友好和热情，他们的欢迎也让我很感激。我上学的第一天，就在早餐的时候和我班级的一位同学碰面，因为我对学校的各种地方也不太熟悉，一整天都是由她和年级里其他的学生来引导我。第一天熟悉环境确实不容易，但是许多同学们都很热心，也让我能更加好地融入奇格威尔这个群体。
我在奇格威尔的一天主要还是上课和学习，高中的学业也比较繁忙。但除开学习之外也会在午休或者空闲的时候和朋友聊天，有时会在天气好的时候坐在草坪上，享受一会阳光。放学之后我一般会直接回宿舍，有时也会去图书馆读一会书再回去。晚饭在六点开始，在晚饭和放学后之间还有两个小时左右的空余，这个时候我会在房间里休息或者去参加学校里的社团或讨论活动。我很喜欢课外的讨论活动，参加的时候也很开心。晚饭后大部分人会用这个时间完成作业，然后晚上余下的时间会好好休息，为明天做准备。
我在奇格威尔已经度过一年，有许多很好的回忆，其中之一是在中国新年的时候我和我们宿舍的一个女生一起准备了年夜饭，然后和平时和我们一起住、照顾我们的老师一起庆祝。年夜饭的时候我们还一起看了春晚，过的很开心。因为疫情，今年春节我没办法回家和家人一起过节，能和同学和一直照顾我的老师们一起吃年夜饭和度过这个特殊的时节让我很高兴，我很享受和他们在一起的时间。
现在是六月底，我们刚考完这一年的期末考，接下来是准备大学的申请。这几个星期我也在完成一个课外的EPQ项目，大致的题目是神经科学，关于人的大脑如何产生概念知识。为完成这个项目我会在网上翻阅一些有关的学术论文和杂志，也会和负责项目指导的老师和有关专业的老师讨论我学到的东西和项目已完成的部分。EPQ项目是奇格威尔学校所提供的课外学术机会的其中之一，通过这个项目学生可以更加地了解和探究自己所感兴趣的学术领域和锻炼许多学习技巧像是时间管理和学习计划。对于我来说，我想要在大学里学习生物，将来想要在研究科学的领域里就业，所以在高中的时候能借这个机会去学习更多我感兴趣的东西和粗略了解做研究和写论文是怎样的过程，我觉得去完成这个项目能给我很多的帮助和锻炼。