come, and it was very hard to leave. This was a highlight of my Scotch career, and I would highly recommend any students contemplating applying for this or any other exchange.
George Watson’ s College, Scotland – Lachie Gall( Year 11)
My exchange to George Watson’ s College, Edinburgh, was my first immersive experience in Scotland. Three wonderful weeks away gave me opportunities to stay with a wonderful host family, meet interesting people, explore a culturally rich city and see parts of the beautiful Scottish Highlands.
The exchange program offered by Scotch and kindly sponsored by Don Mercer is one of the best things I have done in my 11 years of school.
During my first weekend away, my host family took to me to a Glasgow rugby game between Glasgow Warriors and Munster, which gave me a real insight into the sporting life of Scotland. The passion shown by the crowd through their singing and chanting compared very favourably to our AFL crowds.
My first impression of George Watson’ s College was through our meeting with the Principal, Mr Roffe, who highlighted the deep connection between the academic standards of the school and its history. My first rugby game in the maroon and white hoop jersey, against Herriots, was fabulous, where I felt part of the pride and passion of this renowned rugby school. A significant aspect of George Watson’ s was the assemblies held every Tuesday morning, where the audience was an essential part of the conversation, and encouraged to participate in questions and mind games.
Sightseeing trips included visits to the magnificent Edinburgh Castle, which dominates the city skyline with its position on Castle Rock. The impressive historic churches we saw included St Giles’ Cathedral, Holyrood Abbey, St Mary’ s Cathedral, and venturing through Old Town and New Town. From the 1000-year-old chapel in Edinburgh Castle to the trendy new stores along Princess Street, Edinburgh is truly a city that has everything.
During my final weekend, we travelled from Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands where we went mountain bike riding and white water rafting, to Ayrshire where we tracked down my ancestry to the Galls who farmed here before they left on a boat for Australia in 1839. One
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND.
of the most memorable experiences of the trip was visiting Loch Lomond, and having a haggis and an iron brew on the shoreline. As Loch Lomond is one of the most popular school songs for us at Scotch, it was fitting that my first immersion into traditional Scottish food was there.
Roxbury Latin School, Boston – Hrithik Chaubal-Menon( Year 11)
Boston, Massachusetts: a vibrant, culturally diverse hub which boasts some of the world’ s finest educational institutions. To be given the opportunity to live and study there was truly a privilege. The Roxbury Latin School is one of the USA’ s oldest high schools, having been founded in 1645. However this does not reflect the state of the school in present times. With enormous playing fields, state-of-the-art facilities and a broad range of subjects to choose from, Roxbury is very comparable to Scotch. Charles Strong and I were introduced to a cohort of 50 lads, culturally very similar to us. Roxbury students take their academic studies seriously, and manage to fit in seven periods in one day, with only 20 minutes for lunch. However, Charles and I were able to pick which classes we chose to attend,
and were thus able to complete our school homework during spare periods.
The relationship between teachers and students was distinguished by its friendly nature. This in part was due to the fact that class sizes were very small – they could range from four to 17 students, depending on the subject. Charles and I chose to undertake a variety of subjects, ranging from Economics to Biology, to Ancient Greek.
Charles and I also had the opportunity to explore the city of Boston. A must-see was the revered Harvard University and MIT complex in Cambridge, across the gleaming teal expanse of the Charles River. The north of Boston is famous for its Italian district, and so we were able to indulge in delights ranging from wood-fired pizzas to fresh cannoli and truffle. The majority of the students had strong political views, and we enjoyed many engaging debates. This exchange was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and an experience that I will cherish in the years to come.
www. scotch. vic. edu. au Great Scot 39