Meet Chisom Okorie | A Rosedale Global High School alum reflects on her transformation into an academically strong and capable university student
Chisom Okorie graduated from Rosedale Global High School partner Meadowlands Canadian School, located in Nigeria, in 2020. She is currently in her final year studying an Honours Double Major—Major in Sociology, and Major in Art History and Studio Art—from King’s University College at Western University—a program for which she received an International Academic Excellence Award and Entrance Scholarship.
Chisom has always explored her love of art, but she wasn’t sure how to build that into her academic future. Her previous studies in the Nigerian public school system were fragmented and focused only on specific skillsets, it wasn’t until she transferred into Rosedale Global High School’s Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) that she realized how transformative and personalized her learning could be.
“Rosedale’s OSSD allowed me to take charge of my learning, it allowed me to grow academically and to be more interested in my academics. It was different from what I was used to and I was more aware of how I was doing and how I can improve,” says Chisom. “It allowed me to grow tremendously and prepared me for university life and studies.”
It was during Rosedale’s OSSD program that Chisom was first introduced to global citizenship education and the cultural awareness required to understand diverse perspectives on complex issues. To further develop these skills, Chisom was able to select specific courses curated to her unique strengths and interests and build her pathway toward opportunities in global elite universities.
Chisom received university offers from Brock University, King’s University College at Western University, McMaster University, the University of Guelph and Wilfrid Laurier University. While thrilled with her success through the university admissions process, the choice to move to Canada and enroll in sociology and arts programs was easy. Chisom was excited about the opportunity to combine her two greatest interests, build on her applicable skills, and further develop her competencies and capacities to be responsive to the economic and societal challenges of a global society.
“I can really see how the Rosedale OSSD prepared me for university; it was so much easier for me to tackle all the challenges of this new learning environment because of how much I had already been exposed to. I was able to see the impact—the positive impact—that these challenges had on me,” says Chisom. “Rosedale opened opportunities that I didn’t even know I could ever qualify for, so I’m really grateful for that.”
Her time at King’s University College at Western University has been rewarding; she continues to thrive in her programs, find opportunities to engage with her colleagues in extracurricular activities, grow as an individual and an academic, and build toward a future for which she feels ready and capable. Chisom never imagined she could set expansive goals for herself and have confidence in her ability to achieve them—and Rosedale’s differentiated instruction provided a broader understanding of learning and its diverse evaluation exposed Chisom to multiple ways of demonstrating her knowledge and skill. Now, in her final year of undergraduate studies, Chisom believes in herself and in her ability to learn, grow, create and achieve.
“I get to be more than just a potential; I get to be the reality of my potentials. And that, to me, is huge,” says Chisom. “Rosedale taught me to always remember that I am capable, to not limit myself and to dream big.”
