Forty-six high school students were recently on campus for the Shad Valley Program. The intense and informative learning program has been offered at Queen's for the past 10 years.

Forty-six high school students including Ike Zhang and Laurie Jacques have returned home after an intense and informative month of learning and living at Queen’s University. The students were attending the 2011 Shad Valley Program – a four week enrichment experience for students entering Grade 11 or 12.

“I loved it,” says Mr. Zhang, a Grade 12 student from Toronto. “The program was rich academically, but had lots of practical applications.”

Mr. Zhang was not only enthusiastic about the program, but also about Queen’s itself. “I love the campus,” he says. “It is beautiful, small and so close to downtown Kingston. I also love being near the lake.”

The Shad students, once accepted to the program, had the option to study at one of 10 campuses across the country. Ms Jacques chose Queen’s largely based on the school’s reputation for excellence and innovation. “Being from Quebec, I wanted to travel and I knew that Kingston was beautiful and that Queen’s was a great school.”

Both Mr. Zhang and Ms Jacques say they will miss the friends that they made during their month here, but both hope to be back. They plan to apply to Queen’s for their undergraduate degrees. “Queen’s has an environment of achievement,” says Ms Jacques. “There is a community of learning here that I want to be a part of.”

More information on the Shad Valley Program can be found online.