TASSS student to study in India
Kaia Douglas, a local activist and Grade 11 Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School student, has been accepted into the leadership program at Mahindra United World College in India.
“I think what sealed the deal for India was … I love Indian food so much. I was like, well India just keeps looking better and better for me,” Douglas explained.
Mahindra College is part of a United World Colleges, a group of 17 schools world wide committed to making education united among a diverse group of people around the world—committed to change.
About 600 applicants apply each year and this year 55 students were chosen from Canada – six were from Ontario, including Douglas.
“In Grade 10, I was not having a good year and so my parents and I were looking for exchanges or international possibilities that would get me out of the Ontario school system,” Douglas said. “It was kind of dragging me down so my mom actually mentioned UWC to me.”
Instead, Douglas applied in November and passed the online application that was comprised of online questions and a sample of a creative piece. The next step was the interview in Toronto in February.
“There were 11 to 13 Ontario students at the interview. When it was my turn, I went into the interview room and there were six Interviewees,” Douglas said. “They asked me a lot about current issues going around on in the world today and what my opinion was.”
Douglas did not get chosen for this opportunity by random. Ever since she was a young girl she fell in love with social justice, human rights and environmental sustainability.
As she got older and travelled more, she was able to better understand the world around her.
The refugee crisis, she said, was what fired her passion about human rights and social justice.
“Peterborough was a big hot spot for refugees. Our mosque was firebombed and that was devastating for me,” Douglas said. “I grew up here and Peterborough has always been so welcoming and an accepting place, so for this to happen—it was not the Peterborough I know.”
The event occurred when Douglas was a Grade 9 at TASSS and so her and her friends made a banner for the school saying, “hand-in-hand our school embraces Islam.” And then the girls got a bunch of students to paint their hands and put their print on the banner.
Douglas started being a leader at only 12 when she spoke at city council in 2013 speaking out against a possible Parkway. In 2013 she also wrote a letter to the editor discussing the need for more bike lanes and paths.
In October 2016 Douglas took the city councillors to join her on a bike tour in the city them what works and what doesn’t work. In June 2017, councillors decided to decline the request to add a bike lane on Charlotte St. downtown. A meeting was held and Douglas was a leader of many who were urging the councillors to change their thoughts.