Brentwood School - Brentwoodian 2020

84 Hough House So the story goes, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in a villa in Italy during a violent thunderstorm. It was a terrible holiday for weather and she later described it as “the year without a summer.” Looking back at last year, as one does when writing the entry for The Brentwoodian , I have a similar feeling to Shelley, except it was a year (almost) without boarders. I certainly do not want to dwell and focus on the ‘C-word’ but suffice to say, the boarders arrived on 4th September and by 28th March the House was empty. It was strange wandering around after they had all gone, it reminded me of the haunting account of the Mary Celeste , the ship en route from New York found completely abandoned, yet everything was left intact including “a six month supply of food and not a soul left to consume it.” That is exactly how Hough House looked, less the food. Boys eat non- stop, there is never a surplus of food here – everything goes! It was as if they were all about to come back: there were lamps left on in some rooms, there was a chess set frozen mid-game, laundry still waiting to be collected and a sudden silence which was quite unnerving. I have said this before; the boys’ Boarding House is an amazing place to live and work, and there is always something happening and in the words of Madness “it is usually quite loud.” So this year, what to write? I could write about the fun we all had rehearsing the House Music Unison song Is This the Way to Amarillo? We came last again but we ripped the roof off Courage Hall with enthusiasm and volume! I could write about our wonderful Christmas Supper being entertained by some of the talented musicians from the House. I could write about the Sunday morning we spent Go-Karting and watching Ran Lin who I am sure (when he is old enough) will give Lewis Hamilton a run for his money. I could write about the night we all celebrated Chinese New Year, listening to the amazing voice of Kelvin Yang who sang the most beautiful song. What I want to do is write about our leavers. Why? Normally at the end of the Trinity term, on a nice summer evening, we all get together in the Quad, have food, hand out Memory Books (which all the boys sign) and leaving gifts. Everyone gets to say a few words and it is an emotional but lovely way to say goodbye and send them on to the next part of their lives. This year we couldn’t do that. This year we assumed they would all be back. This year we didn’t get to say goodbye. So, if you will forgive my indulgence, I would like to take this opportunity to do it now. Nikita Artimenko, the Romeo of the House; he often waxes lyrical about his aged cat of twenty-three whom he plans to take to university with him! Naum Chornyy, an incredibly polite young man from Russia who is quiet, calm and a very loyal and true friend. Gustav Döffinger, a larger than life character who has a wonderful sense of humour and a Cheshire cat grin. There are always boarders who you know will stay in the memory for a long time and Leonardo Li is one such example. Chinese by birth and who taught himself to read and speak Japanese - incredible. It is for his resilience and bravery in the face of adversity that he will remain in my thoughts. He is on an interesting journey of discovery and I hope he finds what he is looking for. Another boarder who has amazing resilience is Yegor Vyshnevskyy – I have no idea what he will end up doing but this is someone with so much drive, determination and creativity that he will make it big one day, I just know it! Zheng Li, Figo Wang and Kevin Shum: the extreme gamers of the House; Zheng is also an incredible pianist and Kevin a sublime basketball player. Kelvin Yang always dresses immaculately; he is Supreme personified. Kelvin has a vast array of after-shave and body creams and always smells so nice. He is kind, thoughtful and one of the nicest boarders we have ever had. He may have left, but he leaves an olfactory fingerprint on the House. I started Teaching Andy Zhang when he was in the Fourth Year and the following year became his Housemaster. I watched him grow from a quiet boy who could speak very little English into a confident, hardworking and focused Sixth Former.