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News > School News > School Meeting: Head Girl - Jacqueline Wong

School Meeting: Head Girl - Jacqueline Wong

Jacqueline reflects on her family's long association with Badminton and the influences on her time at the School.
24 Jun 2020
School News
The first time I felt a connection to Badminton was when I visited the campus ten years ago, aged seven and wearing my very unfashionable Hello Kitty dress. As we toured around the school, my mum, who is an Old Badmintonian, got all excited and pointed out her old dorms and classrooms. She reminisced over how she and her roommates talked until two am or how she and her sisters would sneak in Chinese takeaway once a week. The taxi driver, whom they had somehow become close friends with, would secretly pass the takeaway to them through a bush like a business transaction. While my friends and I aren’t quite as professional as my mum and aunts, I would say that sneaking in takeaway still requires a lot of talent which we pride ourselves on. Even my mum’s memories of having tea and biscuits every day in the dining hall, something that seems completely normal to me now, was so fascinating for a kid from Hong Kong who loved reading books by Enid Blyton. Though England then was a foreign country to me, seeing the joy from my mum’s face as she recalled her life as a student here made me want to experience the same journey. I immediately felt that personal connection to Badminton and was eager to make my own memories, and I am happy to say that I have created countless ones.
 
 
One of the things I have valued the most about my life at Badminton are the cultural connections I’ve made. Having come from a pretty diverse family, I’ve always appreciated the opportunities I was given to immerse myself in different cultures whilst living in an international city. Ever since I’ve become a member of the community, I have been able to develop this further. My A-level subjects have enabled me to assimilate with broad-ranging topics that continue to fascinate me. As I move from class to class each day, my mind goes on a little tour around the world. From studying A Doll’s House by Norwegian playwright Ibsen in my English class, or appreciating the Sharia Law in Religious Studies, to understanding the development of the American Revolution in History, learning about these things has made me realise that there is an infinite amount of knowledge out there to help connect myself to different stories, values and ideas.
 
 
Building connections with people who have a completely different lifestyle and culture to mine has changed my perspective on life and has encouraged me to view problems and issues maturely from all different angles. I’ve developed this by being a member of the debating society at school as well as the Model United Nations team where we discuss issues from the Israel-Palestine Conflict to women’s rights. Participating in these activities has helped shape me into a more thoughtful and global being. All of this has become one of the main reasons why I am interested in pursuing a degree in political and social sciences.

Whilst we are more connected than ever thanks to the rapid developments in technology, the world has also been extremely divided as shown in news headlines of the ongoing tensions and conflict between or even within countries. The cultural connections that Badminton has gifted me has taught me the value of understanding and respecting different cultures no matter how different they are from your own, as well as the importance of always finding a middle ground.
 
 
Despite the occasional poor connection and the fuzzy screens on Facetime or Microsoft Teams, I would say that my connections with my friends remain stronger than ever. You would think that being thousands of miles away from each other would perhaps affect us, however nothing can stop us. Before our online exams, my friends and I would root for each other and send “good luck” messages, things we would normally do had we been on campus. Because of time differences, I would wake up to a good morning message from my roommate from last term and I would reply with a good night text. We create Whatsapp group chats so that we can help each other out with homework and send memes for a good laugh, or plan ahead for our next ice-cream trip once we all get back to Badminton safely.
 
 
My classmates and I have only got a little more than a year left at Badminton, but I know that the friendships we have cultivated and the lessons we have learned along the way will stick with us  for a long, long time. Soon we will carve and embark on our own new journeys which will help us discover ourselves even more, but no matter how far we go or how different our paths are, I know that our connection to Badminton will always bring us back together.
 
Jacqueline Wong Head Girl 2020-2021

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