50p
Welcoming Ms. Watson
New staff and faculty are always welcome on the Brentwood campus. Chemists, potters, rugby coaches and many more accumulate on our water front campus, but before you can take the steps to becoming a master of your field, you need a first job.
Brentwood offers a one year internship program where recent university graduates come and live on campus and assist the full time teachers, instructors and coaches. Ms. Mercedes Watson, a 23 year old Ontario native, is one of these.
Ms. Watson spent her high school life in schools similar to Brentwood. From 8th to 10th grade, Ms. Watson attended Nichol’s School in Buffalo, New York. She learned how to skate and play hockey, and she was extremely immersed in her studies. When Ms. Watson hit 11th grade, she and her family moved back to Canada, and she attended a Catholic school in Ottawa called All Saints. Upon her graduation, she enrolled into the University of Ottawa where she earned her Bachelor of Sciences in human kinetics.
Ms. Watson transferred to UBC when she completed her degree, and she now has her Masters in Kinesiology. Human kinetics is the study of human movement. Ms. Watson, along with Mr. Healy and Mrs. Scheck, is applying her knowledge of the human body to further the progress and strength of athletes in the Varsity Training program that takes place on arts days in all four blocks On sports days she also assists Mr. Lawrence with the hockey program.
Ms. Watson began playing hockey at the age of 13. Her first time on the ice, she was given the formidable challenge of learning the game and all its tricks, along with learning how to skate, but she loved every minute of it, and dedicated more and more of her time to the sport in an effort to get even the smallest bit better. After a few years on Nichol’s hockey team, she began to acquire skills and a taste for the sport; however, when she moved back to Canada she had to try out for a representative female hockey team. Unaccustomed to playing competitive sports outside of school, Ms. Watson ended up on the very lowest ranked team, but that didn’t stop her from playing.
“My dad told me that he was surprised I kept playing after my first ice time” she said, laughing. “He told me I’d been the worst player on the ice - by far- but I always wanted to go back so he always took me.”
This kind of perseverance would become Ms. Watson’s hallmark in hockey. As she continued playing on her bottom set team, she kept working. She worked so hard, that by the end of the season she found herself on the best team, a “AAAA” hockey team. She had not just earned a spot on the roster, she found herself sitting on the top line with two extremely talented linemates. By the end of her year, her team had earned a 6th place finish at the Ontario provincials. Her hockey career stopped for a while when she entered university to focus on studies, but it quickly picked back up again at UBC when she decided to try her hand at coaching.
In her free time, Ms. Watson can be found socializing in Crooks Hall with students and faculty alike, or in her residence in the Health Center, preparing for another Brentwood day.
Wishing her the best of luck in her new Brentonian life, we forward to seeing Ms. Watson around campus, in the varsity gym, and on the Kerry Park ice this year.
Sam D, ‘13
Brentwood offers a one year internship program where recent university graduates come and live on campus and assist the full time teachers, instructors and coaches. Ms. Mercedes Watson, a 23 year old Ontario native, is one of these.
Ms. Watson spent her high school life in schools similar to Brentwood. From 8th to 10th grade, Ms. Watson attended Nichol’s School in Buffalo, New York. She learned how to skate and play hockey, and she was extremely immersed in her studies. When Ms. Watson hit 11th grade, she and her family moved back to Canada, and she attended a Catholic school in Ottawa called All Saints. Upon her graduation, she enrolled into the University of Ottawa where she earned her Bachelor of Sciences in human kinetics.
Ms. Watson transferred to UBC when she completed her degree, and she now has her Masters in Kinesiology. Human kinetics is the study of human movement. Ms. Watson, along with Mr. Healy and Mrs. Scheck, is applying her knowledge of the human body to further the progress and strength of athletes in the Varsity Training program that takes place on arts days in all four blocks On sports days she also assists Mr. Lawrence with the hockey program.
Ms. Watson began playing hockey at the age of 13. Her first time on the ice, she was given the formidable challenge of learning the game and all its tricks, along with learning how to skate, but she loved every minute of it, and dedicated more and more of her time to the sport in an effort to get even the smallest bit better. After a few years on Nichol’s hockey team, she began to acquire skills and a taste for the sport; however, when she moved back to Canada she had to try out for a representative female hockey team. Unaccustomed to playing competitive sports outside of school, Ms. Watson ended up on the very lowest ranked team, but that didn’t stop her from playing.
“My dad told me that he was surprised I kept playing after my first ice time” she said, laughing. “He told me I’d been the worst player on the ice - by far- but I always wanted to go back so he always took me.”
This kind of perseverance would become Ms. Watson’s hallmark in hockey. As she continued playing on her bottom set team, she kept working. She worked so hard, that by the end of the season she found herself on the best team, a “AAAA” hockey team. She had not just earned a spot on the roster, she found herself sitting on the top line with two extremely talented linemates. By the end of her year, her team had earned a 6th place finish at the Ontario provincials. Her hockey career stopped for a while when she entered university to focus on studies, but it quickly picked back up again at UBC when she decided to try her hand at coaching.
In her free time, Ms. Watson can be found socializing in Crooks Hall with students and faculty alike, or in her residence in the Health Center, preparing for another Brentwood day.
Wishing her the best of luck in her new Brentonian life, we forward to seeing Ms. Watson around campus, in the varsity gym, and on the Kerry Park ice this year.
Sam D, ‘13
75p
