Brentwood: Where the World Comes to School

21 November 2012Mollie G, Mackenzie ‘13

I’m dreaming of a place that is worldly. A place where there are a hundred countries at once, a place that is bilingual, trilingual, and maybe even quadrilingual.  A place that is cosmopolitan, diverse, happy and integrated. Welcome to Brentwood College.  

Who knew that on the gorgeous coast of humble Mill Bay, BC there could be such an extravagant mingling of everything, of everybody.

A couple of Sundays ago a national rugby team practiced on the damp fields of the school. They were from Argentina. Later that day, as I sipped steaming hot chocolate with close friends in attempt at avoiding the damp, a couple of the Argentinean players sat down to join us.

“Is the weather always like this?” they asked us. We laughed and confirmed that Vancouver Island has its rainy season. One of the players did not speak a word of English, but it hardly mattered. The other player translated and filled a gap of language that seemed to thin out as the conversation went on. They continued to ask us many questions about the boarding school lifestyle, which they were rather unfamiliar with, and then offered us Jaguar pins, a symbol of their team and country, before jetting off back to their team lunch.   

I’m no rugby enthusiast, but even I was eager to sign up to watch Argentina play Canada in the America’s Rugby Championships that coming Saturday. It was just so fascinating to have a group of people from a country that differs so much from ours.

They even have their seasons reversed! 😉

Lucky for us, this kind of thing happens all the time at Brentwood.

Let’s be honest here, not everybody can be the best of friends and the relation between teachers and students can have its difficult moments, but the cool thing about Brentwood is that often your teachers are also your house parent, advisor, sports coaches or fine arts instructors and they are most definitely people that can be easily approachable for a friendly chat.

For example, on a sunny sports afternoon, the tennis kids were warming up their strokes while Mrs. McLean gently reminded everyone to GET THOSE FEET MOVING. That day, we had a special guest on the courts. Mr. Garvey, an Assistant Head of the school and my Pre-calculus 12 teacher joined us for a few hits and a little friendly competition. It was awesome! It’s the coolest thing when teachers get involved around the school for a little fun out of the classroom.  

At Brentwood we’ve got kids from all over the world and teams that travel from Vancouver, Seattle and even Argentina just to visit our school.

I play tennis with my teachers and eat breakfast next to people who are speaking French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese and Mandarin.

My teachers are from England, Scotland, and Canada; my friends are from Australia, Hong Kong, and Duncan.

I meet people from all over the place, all the time.

We’re pretty lucky.

Mollie G, Mackenzie ‘13