50p
An Ellis Lifer
Tomorrow will mark three weeks until we leave. Three weeks to say goodbye to Ellis, the school, and you all. Three weeks to comb through your memories and keep close your friends. For many of you, this will be the last time seeing me or any other speaker tonight. For that matter, your houseparents! Your teachers! You might never see them again - for better - or most likely for worse. For me, these last three weeks will be about late night chats and group dinners, all in the hopes of strengthening friendships for the years to come.
Looking back on my years in Ellis, it’s been incredible. Joining the house as a ratty, unlikeable kid along with nine other boys in the same situation was hard at times, but the great memories shared by us all make up for it. My roommate at the time, Erik Long, looked like a toddler. True to form, however, he kept on beating me at indoor soccer. Ishan Varma and I would always stay up well past bedtime playing Minecraft or watching TV. Liam MacNeill consistently got in trouble for doing the same. He and I also wore a unicorn mascot to the fun and games event that year. The day students - Jack Napier-Ganley and Callum MacAllister - would always spend hours in our room playing some online games together. Wade Southern got a nickname from us - “Pickleboy”. He had a habit of running around with a pickle. Despite being interhouse prefect this year, I have not seen Jack smile - until, of course, he met Olivia. David Lee was never really around, being focused on school. Though he did get a double concussion once. Shaw came halfway through grade 9, yet he has made a large impact on the basketball team. These are just some of the memories that gave us drive to move on.
It would be remiss not to mention our Houseparents, Assistant Houseparents, and RFAs. As many of you know, Mr Sullivan was our houseparent in grade 9. We all distinctly remember his firm style, yet kind demeanour. His height would not stand the test of time, however, considering that all of us are taller than he is. Mr Wismer, on the other hand, is very tall - and fertile. He’s got baby #5 on the way, too - he’s on par with the Smiths. Mr Barrett, our Assistant Houseparent since grade 10, is always fun to be around. He does stick around with the soccer players a little too much, however. Mr. D'Orazio, our grade 9 RFA, consistently fell asleep during his duties. We would get to stay up a bit late on his duty nights. Mr Rodriguez, our RFA from 10th-11th grades, was amazing. He played board games, jazz, and guitar on his duty nights. Mr Ward, new this year, can be heard playing Valorant well into the evening. Some say he’s louder than Charles Zhang. I’m not too sure.
The duty staff deserve a mention, too. Skardal, or “Megamind”, is always willing to get into an hour-long conversation with you. Mr Luna, despite his dodgy success rate, would play game chess game upon game with me. Mrs Simon kindly brought us doughnuts every duty night. Mr. Cowie told us his classic jokes every Monday. That was the most exciting part of the house meeting.
Our years in Ellis will be some of the most memorable of our lives, and I’d like to thank everyone who gave us these moments. Despite setbacks like bad grades, Charles Zhang’s guitar, and the lack of breaks this year, I’m happy to say our final year has been deserving of our 12th. Cheers!
McCoy Allan Fleming, Ellis ‘21
Looking back on my years in Ellis, it’s been incredible. Joining the house as a ratty, unlikeable kid along with nine other boys in the same situation was hard at times, but the great memories shared by us all make up for it. My roommate at the time, Erik Long, looked like a toddler. True to form, however, he kept on beating me at indoor soccer. Ishan Varma and I would always stay up well past bedtime playing Minecraft or watching TV. Liam MacNeill consistently got in trouble for doing the same. He and I also wore a unicorn mascot to the fun and games event that year. The day students - Jack Napier-Ganley and Callum MacAllister - would always spend hours in our room playing some online games together. Wade Southern got a nickname from us - “Pickleboy”. He had a habit of running around with a pickle. Despite being interhouse prefect this year, I have not seen Jack smile - until, of course, he met Olivia. David Lee was never really around, being focused on school. Though he did get a double concussion once. Shaw came halfway through grade 9, yet he has made a large impact on the basketball team. These are just some of the memories that gave us drive to move on.
It would be remiss not to mention our Houseparents, Assistant Houseparents, and RFAs. As many of you know, Mr Sullivan was our houseparent in grade 9. We all distinctly remember his firm style, yet kind demeanour. His height would not stand the test of time, however, considering that all of us are taller than he is. Mr Wismer, on the other hand, is very tall - and fertile. He’s got baby #5 on the way, too - he’s on par with the Smiths. Mr Barrett, our Assistant Houseparent since grade 10, is always fun to be around. He does stick around with the soccer players a little too much, however. Mr. D'Orazio, our grade 9 RFA, consistently fell asleep during his duties. We would get to stay up a bit late on his duty nights. Mr Rodriguez, our RFA from 10th-11th grades, was amazing. He played board games, jazz, and guitar on his duty nights. Mr Ward, new this year, can be heard playing Valorant well into the evening. Some say he’s louder than Charles Zhang. I’m not too sure.
The duty staff deserve a mention, too. Skardal, or “Megamind”, is always willing to get into an hour-long conversation with you. Mr Luna, despite his dodgy success rate, would play game chess game upon game with me. Mrs Simon kindly brought us doughnuts every duty night. Mr. Cowie told us his classic jokes every Monday. That was the most exciting part of the house meeting.
Our years in Ellis will be some of the most memorable of our lives, and I’d like to thank everyone who gave us these moments. Despite setbacks like bad grades, Charles Zhang’s guitar, and the lack of breaks this year, I’m happy to say our final year has been deserving of our 12th. Cheers!
McCoy Allan Fleming, Ellis ‘21