Rhya Merrell is graduating from BCSS next month but we weren’t able to connect for her grad transitions exit interview.
So BCSS Career Counsellor Pam Storie sent her a printed copy of the session. She now splits her time between Fort Langley and Westbridge, where she and her folks had moved when she was 11 years old. Her sister, eight and a half years older, didn’t move to the Boundary with them because she had already left the nest.
For the last year she’s been doing her school work at home. She has a teacher to whom she physically hands her work in to for one of her classes; the rest are online or work experience courses.
Rhya’s main interests are horses, health, and writing. “I have been riding horses since I was five and writing poems and songs since I could write. My father is in the health line of work, which has lead me to have a major interest in it as well.”
She was member of the BCSS Spirit Club and, during her early high school years, on the soccer team.
“But sadly, I couldn’t continue because there was a lack of time and a long commute issue,” Rhya said in her email.
She claims a strong a strong understanding of the benefits of maintaining a healthy body.
“Whenever I can I like to stay active by going to the gym, the pool, doing yoga, running, mountain biking and riding horses.”
She often enjoys writing and she likes work with her guitar to try to put music to words.
Her summer plans include working, training her horses, looking for an apartment, writing ‘as much as possible’ and preparing for university in the fall. She plans to attend Kwantlen Polytechnic University this fall to study creative writing. She will study nutrition at another institution too.
She credits the Pony Club for helping her develop leadership skills. “There were many times with horses and people where I had to take the lead and help people achieve their goals. Pony Club really strengthened me as a person in many ways like, leadership, maturity, fitness, working well with others, memorization, and ‘keeping one’s cool’ on a pretty constant basis.”
Rhya considers conversations about random subjects with teachers as amoung her most memorable moments of BCSS. “To me that was the most fun. It didn’t happen too often but when it did it was special because it made me feel more comfortable with my teacher and opened my views.”