Category: Introductions

Hi, my name is Ely, short for Elyana. I enjoy shopping, taking pictures, cooking and listening to music. My favourite TV shows are Friends, Modern family, Brooklyn 99, and a kids show named Hannah Montana. I like these shows because they all feel very homey and comforting and when my home or friendships don’t feel stable; I rely on these to make myself feel better. My favourite shops are Pandora, Aritzia, and any Thrift/second hand store. I was born in Singapore and lived there until I was 12 years old then moved to Canada for better education. Only this year have I moved to the dorms. And since I have I’ve met a lot of great people that I probably would’ve have talked to if I was still just a day student. Some are Barbara, Roberta my roommate, Emma, Olivia, Lisa and Maria. I think they are all such nice people and I am very grateful to have met them. Anyways that’s all I could think of right now so.

Good morning/evening, everyone.

My name is Eva, and I am from Honduras and have been studying at Brookes for 2 years while living in Victoria for almost 5 years. Having already made friends with lot’s of you, I am very excited to go through this year with you and grow academically along side you.

A few things about me are that I have two puppies, Lola and Charlie, and a fancy bearded dragon named Mushu. I play volleyball on the seniors team but don’t make a big effort to play during PE. I have a best friend named Isla who goes to Royal Bay, which I often talk about a lot as she keeps me updated at her school. I have three younger siblings, making me the oldest. One of them actually attending the school currently, the other two too young to join just yet. my family owns a daycare company, so if your parents are looking for childcare, look for Hello Friends. I am also a part of the SCL, Student Welfare!

My interest include video games, such as Roblox, Roblox is a vibrant universe where creativity knows no bounds, inviting players to explore, create, and connect in endless imaginative adventures. It’s more than just a game; it’s a thriving community that empowers individuals to express themselves and collaborate. In Roblox, every experience is a celebration of innovation and friendship, making it a truly remarkable platform for all ages! But anyways, I also like shopping and designing room layouts, and organizing. And collecting CD/Vinyl albums.

Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to sharing this finishing this school year with you!

Hi, my name is Emma Hanek! I joined Brookes this summer as an exchange student and I’ll be staying until next June. I’m from Zurich, Switzerland, where I was born and have been living ever since. Both of my parents are originally from Czech Republic but moved to Switzerland 20 years ago due to work. So even though I’m 100% Czech, I feel very connected to Switzerland and consider myself Swiss. I also have a younger brother who I love and miss very much.

I love living in Switzerland, the nature is stunning! Me and my friends love to go hiking together or go swimming in the Zurich lake after school during summer.  Zurich also has a very vibrant food and art scene, so I visit a lot of galleries and museums during my free time.

Otherwise I do kickboxing three times a week, take piano lessons twice a week, singing lessons and when I have some spare time left I love to go on runs! I fell in love with running two years ago and have improved so much since then! I ran my first half marathon this April in Prague with both of my parents and I loved it. Even though I mostly run on the streets of Zurich, I enjoy trail running much more. Running in the mountains is such an indescribable feeling! After climbing several hundred meters in altitude, you are always rewarded with running back to the valley and sometimes when the trail is very steep and you’ve lost all control over your legs because you’re running so fast, it feels like you’re flying!

Otherwise I also enjoy baking, cooking, reading, watching movies and hanging out with my friends. During winter, me and my family spend every weekend in our cabin in the Alps and we go skiing, snowboarding and cross-country skiing, it’s my favourite time of the year. I’m looking forward to going snowboarding here in Canada!

Doing an exchange year has been my dream since I was 7 and being here is still such a surreal feeling to me. The past few weeks have been the craziest mixture of happiness, nervousness, excitement and a lot of bittersweet homesickness. But I’m extremely grateful to be here at Brookes and I’m very excited to spend this year on Vancouver Island!

xx Emma H.

Hi my name is Olivia McIntosh and this is my second year at Brookes Westshore. I am 15 years old, and I enjoy reading, volleyball, Jujitsju, painting and lastly I like spending time with my family. I live somewhat close to the school so I don’t have to drive very far to come to the school. Since I have been attending Brookes Westshore I have enjoyed it a lot. My favourite part of the school is the experiences you get by getting to know new people from around the world. Last year the school planned a 2 week trip to the UK, which in my opinion was very fun, we got to visit London and the small towns and attend the Brookes School in the UK. Im very eager to learn and try new things. I live here in Victoria, BC with my younger brother, Evan, who is in grade 8 and mom and dad. Most of my extended family from both my mom and dad side live in the Vancouver area. Over the summer break or other breaks we try to visit them. I love to travel, and hope to travel quite a bit when I am older. Every year for Christmas my family and I try travel to some where tropical which I always enjoy. Another thing about me is that I have a job working for my mom and her business, on the weekends from 10am to 3pm I create gift boxes for my moms clients and send them out. Also this summer I have been tasked with writing 800 Christmas cards and sending them out to my moms clients. I hope this post gave you a little bit of information to my life, and I hope to learn more about you all as well.

 

 

Hi, I’m Tina! I moved from Ontario to BC in August. This is my first year at Brookes. I like movies, going to the gym, drawing, listening to music, manga, anime, reading, volleyball, and rugby. My favorite band is ‘The Smiths’ and my favorite movie is ‘Little Miss Sunshine.’  I have one younger brother and my first language is Russian.

My name is Gurjas Kaur Randhawa. This is my first year in Brookes. I am excited to see where this journey leads me. This is my 9th school and I’m in grade 10. I move quite often, but who knows, maybe this time I’ll stay longer!

I was born in Surrey, BC, on the 10th of July 2009, but I lived in Duncan, BC for the longest period of my life. I really miss Duncan. I’ve known that place for as long as I can remember. For the last 3 years of my life (grade 7-9), I’ve been living without my parents. I’ve been living with my cousins, grandmother, aunts, and uncles. Which meant a lot of ferry trips! I’ve been going alone on the ferry since I was 12 years old (when you’re considered an ‘adult’ for the ferry and are able to). I’ll be honest, it wasn’t all up hill. At first, I was having a hard time adjusting. The year before (grade 6) I was a very overconfident kid. I believed I was the smartest, coolest, funniest person out there. That I was the chosen one or something (we all went through that phase). Let’s just say that I was humbled. I learnt to not act so high and mighty today, for tomorrow I might fall on my face. That’s a bit of my background. My experience there has really shaped me into the person I am.

I have two pet rabbits. I recently got them last year (they turned a year old on September 1st). I can especially relate to one of them because he too is afraid of my mother. Growing up I had a lot of pets. I used to have two dogs, two cats, baby chicks, parrots, and two peacocks (my biggest flex) all around the same time. I also love sports (even if I’m not very good at them), especially soccer and swimming. I used to do a lot more before covid, but soon had to quit. So, I can officially say that I hate volleyball and field hockey (the two sports most people I know love). Ball hockey is pretty fun, though. I also used to be very good at it until I hit a girl on the face with my stick (by accident) by being too aggressive and nearly broke her nose… It’s safe to say that she never talked to me again after that and I never again held that hockey stick again during P.E.

I am the oldest of two siblings. I have two brothers, Arpan (two year age gap) and Gurditt (we call him Gavi. Six year age gap). I’m also the second oldest cousin (and the best at taking care of kids) so I always ended up being everyone’s babysitter (till this day). I’d say I am doing a pretty great job. No one died or has any brain injuries (that I know of) so I am doing a pretty great job.

I also love gaming. I don’t have much time anymore to game much, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like gaming anymore. Another thing I love are animations. On youtube I can usually be found watching animation channels because I find them painfully relatable and I really want to learn animating myself. Whenever I watch animated movies or shows, I always pay close attention to the background, what colours/shades they used, how well they lip sync the characters, etc. I have tried to animate, but it never ends right. One thing I do really love is painting. I know how I should blend the colours, what steps to take, and how I want it to turn out. I’m not good at drawing (in my opinion), but with colours I can be pretty creative.

I hope this post summarizes what kind of person I am; I’m excited to get to know everyone!!!

Hello, my name is João Pedro I am from São Paulo, Brazil and i lived most part of my life there. There i livid in an apartment were I had many friends and fun, I studied in a good close by school named Dante Alighieri that had a very traditional way of teaching that was really hard to follow, anyway for me it was fun because I had some really close friends there it being with them was so cool, but although the life there was amazing the most part of my mother family lived in a “small city” two hours across from  São Paulo, the city is named São Jose dos Campos and we visited my grandparents there frequently and it was very fun because I had many cousins that i liked much, for me going there was fun and it was very good for my mom that missed her parents a lot and she loved going there, even my dad liked to be there a lot because he loved to be with my uncles and aunts.

At one time my dad stopped working and retired himself making my mom the only one that needs to be in São Paulo, but them the pandemic hit and me and my family got to live at the house that my father build at the countryside that is right next to a house that my grandparents own, what was incredible for me and my family, mostly for my dad that loved the place and being close with my mom part of the family was always good for him.

After the pandemic my parents realized that staying close to my mom parents so they decided that we should move out to the city my grandparents lived, so we moved out I got to study in the school that my favorite cousin studied and there I started to make new friends and build up a life that i really loved close to my family with new friends and never losing contact with my friends that lived in São Paulo. And now I am here aiming for new experiences and memories that will build up my self.

Welcome to Ryan’s World of wonders and imagination. I am from here, Victoria, and I am a returning student from Brookes and this is my 4th year, going on 5th. To get to know me, some things I really enjoy are TV, watching shows more on the side of murder, like Dexter which portrays the main character as a serial killer that is a part of Miami Metro Homicide, I highly recommend watching this. I also enjoy going on walks out in the sun or just walk in general. Night walks are good too but I’m usually quite tired. Up at my mom’s though there is a dirt pile/construction site and I love to go up there, get drenched in sand and climb some construction vehicles. I also enjoy doing Tennis with my parents late at night around 8:00pm. My all time favorite thing to do though is video games, yes I’m one of those people haha. I have both a VR (Quest 3) and a PC, my preferred genre of game is fighting, action and adventure. Sadness and deep cuts are also a must for the games.  Now onto the writing tasks on here, here’s my stunning opinion, ‘Personal Writing’ on the blog is the best because I can talk about whatever I’d like, and someone has the chance of coming across it and reading it, same as you are! I also love to listen to music, if you hadn’t noticed haha. I do everything with my headphones or background music, my music taste I admit, is very limited since I’m weird and I loop songs. A lot. My favorite bands that I consistently listen to multiple music from, would be Coldplay and Red Hot Chili Peppers!! I’m gonna bring this up because I love it but I have really high hopes for the Tofino trip in April (my birth month!) and I hope everyone, or most of our class goes because me personally that trip was the BEST. My patience is running very thin with the long wait. And to Blake and Sydney, let’s recreate the breakfast hazard… I hope to learn some random facts about you all and I hope new students here enjoy their time and maybe come back next year.

 

 

Hello everyone, my name is Blake. Welcome to the eventful blog that I’ll be continually updating with super long and drawn out stories or things that I find interesting when I need to post here. Currently, I am residing in Victoria, BC, although a portion of my time is spent in Northern British Columbia in a small town known as Smithers, BC, 1200km north of Vancouver. A large part of my family is made up from members in Smithers as well as the surrounding areas in the Bulkley-Nechako. As for school, this is now my fifth year attending Brookes Westshore. Time flies! I remember making this exact post at this time during the start of MYP4. Some of my interests include fishing, hiking, hunting, exploring, and skiing, essentially anything that has to do with being outdoors and enjoying myself. Fortunately, I happen to live in a place where all of this is possible which is so awesome to have as opportunities. During the winter I ski up at Mount Washington and travel up north, during the summer I fish and play in Smithers and at Horne Lake, during the spring I’m finding new trails and majestic lookouts, and during the fall I’m hunting around for grouse, seeing the leaves change colour, and dreaming about ski season. Canada rocks, man.

Most of my adventures happen among the island, but some also happen up north too. I’ll never pass up the opportunity to go on an adventure, whether it’s just going on a bike ride into town or going on a weekend ski trip into the mountains. They always prove to be memorable, no matter how small the adventure may be, they all hold a place in the things that I love doing. Everyone who is around me knows that I’m always talking about the experiences we’ve had, as well as new exciting ideas too, and it is a distinct characteristic about me that’s always there. The little things bring me joy, like listening to a new song I’ve found, seeing a pretty sunset, or catching my first sockeye on the lake with my Grandpa at Babine. I can’t wait to share more about my experiences in the future.

No, I’m not a showgirl.

I do like dancing, though, and music.

And art. And probably other things… like sleeping.

I’ve been here for 4 years, going on five if you count grade 10.

I hope you know I’m hitting over 500 words with this introduction. Begin.

My name is Lola (obviously), and I like drawing. Well, I love drawing. I taught myself how to draw, I became obsessed, and then I wouldn’t stop. For a while, in all my schools, I was the best at art in my class. I hope it stays that way. I used to draw many things, plants, animals, and I was always so bad at drawing people. Then, teachers started to get annoyed  at the fact I was drawing and doodling all over my paperwork, both during studying and instead of studying. Time after time, I was told to stop drawing on my assignments, and many wouldn’t see this as a problem, but if you love art you might see where I am getting at already. Over time I had lost my motivation for art, and had lost a piece of me, along with my motivation for many other things.

You see, for me, in order to stay motivated, I have to draw. You may wonder why I have to draw to stay motivated, and to be fair, I don’t know either, that’s just how it works for me. I know it wasn’t anybody’s fault, but maybe the whole “school kills artists” thing was right… actually, it definitely is. It’s right, but not in the sense that it doesn’t literally kill off an artists skill or makes them bad, it is  right in the sense that it kills off artist’s motivation, it burns them out, and I fear that is a conversation the world isn’t ready for.

I am aware that it helps increase skill, but it comes at the cost of wanting/bringing yourself to do so. I will not pin it on anybody, on anything. There will be no blame.

At the end of the day, imbalance is what humanity is best at.

I had lost motivation for years. Every time I had picked up a pen, or a pencil, or anything at all, I felt as if my hand was held down by the strength of a million souls. If I had any ounce of motivation beforehand, then it was as if the pencil was suddenly as eraser, and my mind would lay bare on my fingertips to disappear at the slightest touch.

I can’t even do work without blanking anymore.

And that goes for everything, honestly.

I guess, as of late I have improved in my loss of motivation. I’ve been drawing a bit more, nothing complicated or detailed, just some simple sketches. I think grade 10 is a big step up for me, but I’m willing to get through it.

I guess I should introduce some other things about me.

I like a lot of music, but I mostly play it in my head. Honestly, I don’t mind the genre, as long as I like it. I also like acting, and, well… multiple forms of art! I also like reading and gaming. I think maybe, my personal favourite book is “House Of Leaves”, and my favourite game is “Undertale”.

But, I would like to talk more. However, I don’t know the word limit.

I think I will be stopping here… word count: 567.

Hello, my name is Iaroslav (majorly known as Serg), and I am a Ukrainian who Migrated to Canada in 2013, a couple of months prior to the Maidan (21st November 2013), and the Hybrid war Between Russia and Ukraine (began 20th February, 2014). My parents guessed that something negative and major was about to occur, so we decided to move out. I have moved around the country for a bit, until eventually coming to British Columbia, a beautiful, and life-full province. I am a competitive Water polo Player, as well as a Royal Canadian Sea Cadet; these two after school activities have shaped me into becoming a better, more endurable, respectful, and responsible person. I also used to play a musical instrument: the trumpet, which I used in both the School and Cadet Bands. This year I set a goal for myself to try a new musical instrument, for example, the Accordion, as it is not only challenging, but also ties in with my culture a lot, as even my grandma used to play one and still owns hers’ from a long time ago. I hope this post gave you a little bit of context to my life, and I hope I will also learn about you all as well.

Hello, my name is Amelia. I am 14 years old and have been going to Brookes since grade 6. I was born here in Victoria, BC but my family was all born in England, UK. Despite being an only child, I have a very large family in England where I travel to often, and as you may have noticed, I have a bit of a British accent. I love the outdoors, hiking, and especially birding, which is mine – and my parents’ – biggest passion. I have seen almost 1,200 different species of birds in the world. I love travelling the world to see new birds and experience new things. I enjoy being active and playing sports. I’m looking forward to joining the school track and field team in the summer, and I am currently participating in the school’s cross-country team. Outside of school, I enjoy participating in martial arts, and playing my violin.

Hi everyone, my name is Roberta and im currently 15 years old.

I was born and lived all my life in Guadalajara (México). I live with my Parents, my older brother and my dog. My brother and I have a five year age gap but we still get along pretty well. My dog’s name is Wera, which means blonde in spanish. We rescued her about 6 years ago when she was in the streets, since then she has been my most loyal friend.

Since I was little I’ve always been into sports. I’m currently on the school’s volleyball team but back home I used to play soccer, tennis and did motocross. When I have free time what I most enjoy to do is watch a movie or series on Netflix, read, listen to music or just be with friends.

I came here to improve my English but I also hope to make many friends from all over the world. I really look forward on getting to know my classmates and I hope this small post helped you to know me!

 

My name is Sydney and I have ADHD, I was born here, in Victoria and I am a returning student to Brookes Westshore. I have been going to Brookes Westshore since last year. Currently, I am 14 years old and I will be turning 15 in October. I have 2 cats at home; who are both abyssinian, and I have had them for almost as long as I have been alive. My parents got them when I was 6 months old.

At home; I enjoy playing video games, mainly racing games. And I use a wheel with pedals. My favourite games are Iracing & Beamng Drive. Recently I built a scale replica of a car cockpit out of wood, which I play racing games with. It is completed; but I made a few changes recently, and I am going to add an adjustable seat to it. I also have plans to build a cabinet as well, as I want to improve my woodworking skills. At home; sometimes I will go on walks. Sometimes during the day I will go up and walk along the E&N railway; which is an abandoned railway that is connected to my neighborhood. It goes on for 289 Kilometers; but I have only walked around 5 Kilometers.

I enjoy music in general, one of the things I do is create music; which I have been doing for 4 years. The programs I have been using have not been the best; but recently I bought FL studio, which is the best music software that you can buy. Although it was very expensive, it was worth it as the quality the music I produce is now better. I also enjoy art. Personally I do not practice art very much at home. but for some reason I am good at it. My mom’s side of the family is very good with art, so it is probably a genetics thing. I enjoy drawing with graphite whenever I do artwork, but sometimes I will do painting. My painting skill is nowhere near as good as my skill with graphite though. I am terrible at drawing any body related artwork; and I could only do it with a photograph. Usually whenever I draw I usually have a photo nearby, because I find it difficult to draw stuff from my imagination.

Overall; that is my introduction. And I hope that this year at Brookes Westshore is very interesting; and better than last year.

Hello, everyone. My name is Lisa Pomina. I’m sixteen years old and was born in a small city in northern Italy called Savona. However, I’ve lived in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for the past ten years. Moving to Mexico has allowed me to experience new cultures, and I quickly fell in love with the ocean and the amazing outdoor lifestyle.

I’ve always been passionate about staying active and enjoy playing sports like volleyball and surfing. These activities not only help me stay fit but also allow me to challenge myself and have fun with friends.

In addition to sports, I’m deeply interested in fitness and well-being, and I am always exploring new ways to stay healthy physically and mentally. When I’m not in school or playing sports, you can always find me hiking or practicing yoga.

My favorite hobby has always been traveling. I’ve been exploring the world and discovering different cultures since I was a kid. It has been my dream to visit every country in the world and experience the beauty of the ethereal places that our world offers. I am grateful for every opportunity to explore new destinations and create beautiful memories.

I am genuinely thrilled to live every new experience that Brookes has to offer me.

 

hello I am Oliver and I love math.

I come from Montreal.

My name is Cristian, and this is my first year being a Brookes student, I’m 16 years old, I like hearing music, going to the gym, draw, manga, anime, Superhero stuff, read, playing video game and chess, Basketball, Football. I’m from México, Guanajuato. I’m really interested in learning other languages or how to play a instrument, generally I’m really open to new experiences.

Hi, MYP5 class of 2024-2025 my name is Polina Ulanova and I’ve been at this school since I was 13 years old. Coming to this school at first was very scary for me especially because having been only in public schools my entire life even going as far as when I still lived in St. Petersburg Russia, I felt very out of place. However, as I have spent more and more time at this school, I have grown to very much love almost everything about it even the parts I hated at first. Knowing this and remembering how I felt myself first stepping foot into this school, I have tried to be as friendly as I possibly can to any new or returning students. If you have any questions at all about any clubs, sports, or anything else including just questions about things you can do on the island I will always be here to help! I myself am a part of the girl’s volleyball team, the girl’s soccer team here at Brookes Westshore as well as I am a part of one of the island’s very small competitive swimming teams. Not only do I love to play different sports, but I also love painting, cooking, and most of all baking. From time to time you might see me bring in different baked goods or special goodies for the people I love most, my friends! I love my friends very much including such friends as Lilly, Eva, and Ely just to name a few.

Something that many people do not know about me nonetheless, is that I live all the way out in Sooke. Living in Sooke has been something I think not many people can relate to at this school because of how far away it is. Usually by car, it can take up to forty minutes each way just to get to school. Having said that, by bus the way that I always take to get to school, it can take up to over an hour on non-traffic packed days! This of course can make me very tired some days, so if ever you see me tired or not my usual self just remember that small fact about me, and that I would never try to be purposely rude to anyone. Finally, to end this off those are just some small facts about me and my daily life!

Hey everyone in this class,

My name is Olivia Lucas and I’m half French, half German and live in Berlin. Even though I wasn’t  born there, I´ve lived most of my life in and outside of Berlin, benefiting from the urban city life and countryside at the same time. I´m an only child and love spending my time doing different sports such as karate, running and swimming, as well as reading and spending quality time with my friends.  I also have the world’s two greatest cats that I adore and miss dearly.

This is my second time in Canada but first in BC, and I´m more than satisfied with my choice, as I believe I could not have chosen a more beautiful city in Canada. I came to Brookes to make new experiences and meet new people, and I´ve done nothing less since I came here almost three weeks ago.

The school and boarding life is nothing like I expected it to be, but I love it and am grateful to study and live here at the same time, something I have always wanted to do.  I look forward to all the memories that I will bring back home with me and I am exited for the next few months at this school.

 

 

Hello everyone my name is Barbara, I come from Mexico, I was born in the us. I’m very exited to here and learn a lot in this class. I Have 2 siblings 1 older sister and 1 little brother, I also have two cats. My favorite colors are red and blue, I like to read, hangout with friends, cook, and watch tv shows, I like flowers and I love animals.