By Maria Tretiakova
Shirley Yu came to Collingwood in Grade 8. Outgoing, ambitious and kind, Shirley is a perfect example of what you call a “well rounded” student. She is really into the arts and is involved in almost every area of art you can think of, from music to visual art to debate. Outside of art, she enjoys a variety of subjects as well as playing basketball.
Shirley loves to try new things, and she finds a way to do this — even in things she has been doing for a long time. For example, Shirley has been playing the piano for “as long as she can remember,” but explored many different instruments as well. She also played in band with Mr. Smith, trying out the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band. Shirley has been involved in visual art since Grade 4. She started out with pastel and then moved to oil painting. A style she really enjoys is watercolour painting.
In addition to music and visual art, Shirley loves public speaking and debate. Although she was more nervous at the beginning when she started debate in Grade 8, by putting herself out there, she grew her confidence on stage to become an experienced debater. She took part in debate competitions such as the British Parliament debate, and even went to Nationals after passing the preliminaries! In terms of debate topics, she enjoys a mix of both factual ones such as politics, as well as more conceptual ones, such as: “Are children’s fairy tales harmful?” She also enjoys impromptu debates. Shirley described debate as “fun because you get to explore things you never really thought about before the question is asked.”
Some things that inspire Shirley are powerful speeches and past historical leaders. After all, they were all great public speakers and debaters because they could persuade people to follow them. Shirley is also excited each time public speaking day rolls around. In her Grade 8 year, she made a TED Tale about the importance of indigenous music. In Grade 9, she created a TED Talk about object permanence and treasuring each moment we have. In Grade 10, she put together a dramatic monologue about a person that follows the ten steps to succeed in an interview, but gets it all wrong and implements it in a totally mistaken way. Her message here is not to follow the exact rules someone else tells you, but to go with the flow and think on the spot because life never fully goes as planned.
Art is an important part of Shirley’s life now. She loves art in all forms, using it to express herself and free herself from the stress of daily life. She isn’t certain whether her future career will relate to art or not, but she is sure that she won’t ever move away from art, which has become an integral part of her. Shirley believes that “there are so many art forms that if one doesn’t work for a person, another will definitely work.” You can truly be inspired by a student like Shirley, to immerse yourself deeply in as many realms as possible, and soon enough at least one of them will turn into a passion you cannot live without.
Shirley Yu came to Collingwood in Grade 8. Outgoing, ambitious and kind, Shirley is a perfect example of what you call a “well rounded” student. She is really into the arts and is involved in almost every area of art you can think of, from music to visual art to debate. Outside of art, she enjoys a variety of subjects as well as playing basketball.
Shirley loves to try new things, and she finds a way to do this — even in things she has been doing for a long time. For example, Shirley has been playing the piano for “as long as she can remember,” but explored many different instruments as well. She also played in band with Mr. Smith, trying out the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band. Shirley has been involved in visual art since Grade 4. She started out with pastel and then moved to oil painting. A style she really enjoys is watercolour painting.
In addition to music and visual art, Shirley loves public speaking and debate. Although she was more nervous at the beginning when she started debate in Grade 8, by putting herself out there, she grew her confidence on stage to become an experienced debater. She took part in debate competitions such as the British Parliament debate, and even went to Nationals after passing the preliminaries! In terms of debate topics, she enjoys a mix of both factual ones such as politics, as well as more conceptual ones, such as: “Are children’s fairy tales harmful?” She also enjoys impromptu debates. Shirley described debate as “fun because you get to explore things you never really thought about before the question is asked.”
Some things that inspire Shirley are powerful speeches and past historical leaders. After all, they were all great public speakers and debaters because they could persuade people to follow them. Shirley is also excited each time public speaking day rolls around. In her Grade 8 year, she made a TED Tale about the importance of indigenous music. In Grade 9, she created a TED Talk about object permanence and treasuring each moment we have. In Grade 10, she put together a dramatic monologue about a person that follows the ten steps to succeed in an interview, but gets it all wrong and implements it in a totally mistaken way. Her message here is not to follow the exact rules someone else tells you, but to go with the flow and think on the spot because life never fully goes as planned.
Art is an important part of Shirley’s life now. She loves art in all forms, using it to express herself and free herself from the stress of daily life. She isn’t certain whether her future career will relate to art or not, but she is sure that she won’t ever move away from art, which has become an integral part of her. Shirley believes that “there are so many art forms that if one doesn’t work for a person, another will definitely work.” You can truly be inspired by a student like Shirley, to immerse yourself deeply in as many realms as possible, and soon enough at least one of them will turn into a passion you cannot live without.
