James Ruse !
I'm probably the only person from my cohort here on the forum right now. I guess all ruse kids have a love hate relationship with the school. We would get defensive whenever someone would say something bad about our school due to a generalization/a gap in knowledge since people are quite commonly quick to judge and assume when it comes to my school.
Although, if anybody does say a lot of ... nicer things about our school, we would most likely become very modest .
The teachers are admirable. I like all of my teachers because they actually genuinely care for your studies and they're responsible for public teachers. My maths teacher is brilliant since she teaches so well and acts like a second mother to us.
The James Ruse community is ... well it's crazy to say the least. To be honest here, if I was to be placed in a local comprehensive high school I would most likely be not as socially active as I am in ruse, and would probably be one of those typical asian nerds who has their nose in a book all day but at ruse, it's so different. I guess it's because we all care about our academic achievements and it's considered honourable when a high mark is achieved, we encourage each other and the support networks are just amazing.
I have a lot of friends who go to NSG, NSB, SG, SB, Baulko etc, and from what I hear and know, they actually seem more competitive than we are. Like, we share study notes and essays and other things and we're not so picky about helping friends. We alll help each other to get better marks and from what I hear (from a friend in NSG), they sell their notes and essays and tend to be really protective about it...
I love ruse, I really wouldn't have it any other way however the sometimes the homework load is insane. On those days, we have exams, multiple assignments are due, and on top of that, we have to work in class. I know it doesn't sound like much and I'm pretty sure you've all had those days but for me, those days are insane.
I know you probably don't believe me when I say this but ruse kids do go out and socialize with friends from other schools like from yg (youth group), primary school, random people from extra curriculars and what not. We're not complete geeks, a lot of us, including me would like to think that I am some what a normal 15 year old girl.
anyhow, I don't want to bash on any other school but ruse is really just the best school out there for secondary education in Australia. the academic success is one thing, but the entire community and how supportive my classmates are, would never cease to amaze me.