Exchange at Wrekin College
Mcebo Ntombela
 

I am very grateful to Hilton for giving me the opportunity to go on exchange and indulge in new and exciting experiences.

On exchange I went to Wrekin College, “the school in the garden”. It is located in the midlands of England in the luscious and green county of Shropshire. The town Wellington was a typical small English town where everybody knows your name. It is a co-educational day and boarding school of a relatively small size with about 400 pupils starting from Grade 6.

My first morning at Wrekin reminded me a lot of my first day at Hilton in Form 1 where I knew nobody and every face I saw was a new one. The people at Wrekin were extremely friendly and that made the settling in process a lot easier and painless. This was also assisted by the fact that I had a fellow Hilton companion, Mark Barocas, to share those experiences with. The following day I was part of the furniture. At the school there are six houses: three boys houses, two girls houses and a junior house. I was fortunate enough to be place in York House which was a proud and patriotic house with amazingly wonderful people.

One of the many new experiences which were new to me was attending school with girls. I have to say this was definitely a different experience but pleasant. Wrekin was predominately a day school consisting only of a few boarders. Even so I felt as if the regulations and conducts within the boarding system were very similar to those of Hilton.

Whilst at Wrekin I participated in rugby and football and enjoyed playing in the wet English conditions. However the approach to school sport was rather slack and emphasis on it was minimal as it was not compulsory. The average attendances for a 1st XV game were the bench players and the coaches. If it was a big game then maybe some parent would consider coming down and maybe a few pupils from the school would take some time off their busy schedules to come and catch a glimpse of the game. This did not mean however that the school had lost all its spirit because for 2 days of the term time itself stops. This is when inter-house rugby is played and spirits are high. The build up to this event is phenomenal and it is the talking point on everybody’s lips during the term. Once you get on that field it is not just a friendly game between friends because on the field there are no friends. This is the single most important event in the school’s calendar year and I was fortunate enough to be involved in the only game which the whole school comes down to watch and that was the inter-house final between two old rivals, Tudor and York. For the boys this was the equivalent of playing in the Hilton/Michaelhouse. The great thing is that my house came out on top and we won the inter-house final!

Emphasis on sport was not great but like Hilton, academics were imperative. The working schedule at Wrekin was not too bad because I was in lower 6th which is the equivalent of Form 4 and this marks the beginning of A-levels where you are only required to take a minimum of 3 subjects and this meant that you had a lot of free time during the day. I decided to do subjects I wouldn’t do at Hilton so I took Business Studies, Politics and Psychology. Pupils were given a lot of freedom and the aim of this was for pupils to gain independence and take responsibility of their own lives. By the time you are in 6th form the teachers don’t enforce as much discipline but instead let you practice self-discipline and self-reliance so that once you are out of school and you are not bound by any school rules, you still take it upon yourself to do the work and not go off the rails. I think that is the important lesson I learnt, I must take responsibility myself and not do something just because I’m obliged to do it but because I know it is what is good for me and it is what will grow me independently. Wrekin promote a lot of this individuality and this in turn teaches people to be more tolerant.

During my trip to England I got to see many wonderful places and had memorable moments. The most wonderful place I have ever seen and had the privilege to visit was Liverpool. I don’t mean the docks of the River Mersey or those timeless old Victorian buildings or even the beautifully built
cathedrals. This place has always had a special place in my heart and going there was a dream come true. This is Anfield, the home of Liverpool FC. It is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life and those moments I shared with my newfound friends which will always leave a lasting impression on me.

The exchange program is one of the opportunities given to you and is an opportunity that every Hilton boy should aim to succeed in because it is one of the ways that you can achieve personal growth. I had a fantastic time overseas and I have made new friendships and grand memories which will last me a lifetime.