Fresh Starts and New Beginnings

6 September 2012Lindsay B.E.

Decisions shape us. As we grow older, we inevitably make choices that guide us down new paths. Every day, we make inconsequential choices with little impact on our lives. But every once in a while, we come across a metaphorical crossroads, and we know that the outcome has the potential to change everything we know.

Deciding to come to Brentwood is a choice like this.

To do so is momentous. The prospect of leaving everything behind is daunting, and something that we generally tend to shy away from; we humans, as a whole, crave routine and familiarity. To journey into the unknown can be terrifying. Yet the promise of fresh starts and new beginnings is tantalizing bait. Moreover, the ship seeking new adventures is full of people in the same boat, well acquainted with jittery anticipation.

I’d always known that I wanted to come to Brentwood, yet, even with such confidence, in the weeks leading up to my departure from home three years ago, it was not without twinges of doubt. The pangs of nervous apprehension expressed themselves as clenched iron fists in my stomach that rarely slackened their grip. When I look back, the only regret I have is that I didn’t come sooner. It was nothing short of the best decision of my 16 years of life.

Upon my arrival as an Orientation Assistant this year, I greeted old friends and new faces. To my delightful surprise, I reunited with a group of last year’s wide-eyed Grade 9s, all of whom had grown literally and figuratively. In just one short year, they have already acquired a new confidence and poise, becoming integral parts of life in the Brentwood Bubble.

I say, with conviction, that the new students will follow suit in due time.

The aging of peers was not the only exciting change that welcomed me: along with our new Head of School, Mr. Patel, who I had the huge pleasure to meet, come several new faculty and resident assistants, a more pedestrian-friendly campus, Campbell Common, and of course, the new Centre For Art and Humanities. All of these changes make not only a new campus, but add an exciting twist to a familiar routine for all returning students.

Any second-guessing that I may have felt on that very first day was quelled the moment that I set foot on campus. Everyone was so welcoming, and it was astonishingly clear to me that all the Orientation Assistants, and the faculty truly loved their school. The passion with which they spoke illuminated their faces and shone through their actions, painting vivid images of daily life at Brentwood. This excitement sparked within me an eagerness I seldom felt, and a voracious desire to entwine myself within the community.

I hope to pass that feeling on for generations to come.

And isn’t that exactly what De Manu In Manum is all about? To pass the torch of inspiration, education and passion from one hand to the next so that all may prosper?

Brentwood does as it says. It creates global leaders and trailblazers. All of that starts here. It starts now, as the leaves changes colour and the last vestiges of summer heat meet the first hints of autumn winds. It starts now, as the trees whisper their secrets, while far below, the new arrivals and the Brentwood veterans settle into new Houses and old routines.

To the new students, I say welcome, and to the returning students, I say welcome back. To the parents worried about their children – relax; they’re in good hands.

Lindsay B.E., Grade 11