Roger Mills’89
“I honestly have too many to list, but there were two very memorable moments that were bookends to my time at HGS. On my first day in school, Mr. Peter Montgomery (the principal at the time) walked me into the class and called over a young man named Andrew Oland. I had no idea who Andrew was but just knew that this place was so different from anything I had known, and I felt so self-aware, awkward. Andrew was to be my chaperone for the first week or so. He was simple, soft-spoken, understanding and patient. He never made me feel like a burden, which I’m sure I was. For the first month of school, Andrew took me around and even drove me to a nearby McDonalds for my first ever Big Mac. He helped with my transition to a new country in ways words cannot do justice. Later, I came to find out that Andrew came from a very well-known, influential family in Halifax. But to me, this new kid from the Caribbean, he never let on. He treated me like I was a long-time classmate, not a newcomer. It was a remarkable way to welcome someone from the outside. I learned later that it speaks much of the Canadian way in general.
The second memorable moment came at the end of my time there, the tradition of the canoe trip to a lake in the middle of the province. I don’t remember the name, but I do remember camping for a number of days, building bonfires, sleeping in tents, hanging out with my classmates and the teachers with us. It seemed such an unusual way to send off a graduating class."
Roman Burgess’11
"At the grad dinner in Grade 12, I was part of a group of students that put together a video to commemorate our time at Grammar. The video itself wasn’t technologically impressive with cool graphics or anything like that (I’m sure kids today could make a far better video in far less time!), but it included a bunch of photos from prep school all the way to senior school. Reflecting on all those happy memories with such a tightly-knit group of classmates, teachers, and administrators – and realizing that it was all nearing an end – was really bittersweet. But then you realize those friendships continue long after the school’s over (a group of us had a mini-reunion at one of my close classmate’s wedding this past June as an example!)."
Comments