In The Beginning

31 August 2011Cherrie K

Marco Polo opened the door to Asia, Columbus roamed the New World, Neil Armstrong claimed mankind’s first step on the Moon – and beginning September 5th, you, and one hundred and sixty nine others, will step forth to journey into a land few are fortunate enough to inhabit: Brentwood College School, Mill Bay, BC.

Intimidating? Captivating? Nerve-wracking?

For some of you, this journey crosses international waters, for others it’s a two minute drive—but distance is of little concern, because no matter where you are from, you will wake to a new horizon.

Aside from suggesting that you to peruse Brentwood’s Handbook, there is nothing more that can be said other than to impress upon you that the year ahead will be one of the most memorable of your life – in every sense of the word.

What should be understood is that Brentwood is a meaningful experience. While immersed in the tripartite gardens of academics, arts and athletics, you will harness skills and strengths you never knew that you had; you will meet like-minded souls in your classes. Brentwood’s spectrum of courses will interest – and hopefully – inspire you.

Of course, it will take time and patience to adjust to such an immense change. For me, ‘getting used to it’ certainly did not crystallize overnight. Much will initially be unfamiliar, and the pace of this campus is rarely glacial. But anxious parents need not worry – every single one of you will belong to one of the eight Houses on campus (Alex, Allard, Hope or Mackenzie for girls; Ellis, Privett, Rogers, or Whittall for boys), and their respective House Parents, along with the Grade 12 Prefects, will soothe your anxiety by illuminating Brentwood’s structured routine, step by step. There will be those who have been here for three years and counting; there will be those just as nervous and jittery as you are.

Through the good days and the tough days, your House, and the people within it, will shelter you. By the end of the year, your family will have expanded to include the brothers or sisters that live in your ‘home away from home’ – and these bonds woven within the Brentwood sphere have the strength to stretch beyond graduation.

Dances, performances, and competitions will pack your weekends; strolling along the docks or the Millennium Trail will not fail to thrill you. By the end of September, you will be swathed in the folds of the Brentwood culture, whether it is through the pursuit of academic, artistic, or athletic excellence, partaking in traditions belonging to Brentwood’s history, or embracing the spirit of Interhouse competition.

It is worth remembering, however, that how wide you are willing to open your mind is how wide your experience here will be. How deep you are willing to venture, is how deep your memory of this experience will be – and how many opportunities you are willing to grasp, is how much you will eventually take away.

You will arrive as a stranger. You shall leave a Brentonian.