My QMS Story from the past
BY JULIUS KOENITZ
This story is about me: Julius, also known as Mr. K or Coach K., from Germany. I was a Gapper (gap student) at QMS from August 2019 to June 2020.
“QMS and the Cowichan Valley around are my second home in my heart today. It’s my dream to come back one day (ASAP), maybe forever. ”
I started my placement as a school assistant at Queen Margaret’s School at the end of August 2019, right before the new school year started. I helped in Intermediate classroom lessons like French and especially in the gym with PE. We had so much fun there!
I was attending the Model UN with highly motivated students; for sport events I went to almost every school in the Cowichan Valley with the best athletes and coaches in the Cowichan Valley. I had the chance to travel around the Island to Camp Thunderbird and the Strathcona Park Lodge. Not to forget: I lived at the school in the Residence. Sometimes really crazy but that’s how a big family lives together.
The time before COVID was amazing and I made so many good experiences. However, with COVID the life which I knew from before at QMS changed quickly in a bad way and I almost had to leave without saying goodbye. Fortunately everything went good and that shaped my QMS-Story in a meaningful way…
I was on my spring break Hawaii trip when the COVID-19 situation unfolded. I had to leave my trip early so that I could re-enter Canada. It was a close call, but I made it back. Because I had been travelling, I went into two weeks of self-isolation at QMS. It was so nice that the
school, in person of the former Head of Residence, Celina Mason, gave me the chance to spend these two weeks there. Furthermore the residence staff took care of me the whole time.
After spring break 2020 QMS unfortunately could not re-open. When I had finished my self-isolation, I found new ways to keep busy. I helped the school maintenance team through April and May. I painted all the white fences around the campus most of the time. So if you see them you can think about me in a white overall painting them ;)
In addition, I helped in some remote learning programs. I will never forget Royals Rock Talks with Araba Ali, Pepper Brooks, Bootcamp Bains and Horst the German. However working with fences is not the same as working with students in person. It was different but I was happy to work again and find a way to support the school in some way. After isolating for two weeks, I couldn’t sit longer in my room; I wanted to give something back. In addition, I could be distracted from what was happening in the world at that time and I got some new maintenance work experiences.
Fortunately, the school reopened partially for the last 4 weeks of school in June. It was a hybrid model, today it’s a daily routine but back then it was new for everybody. As a staff member, I was lucky that I had students there to work with every day. In general all students and staff were happy to be back somehow. For this reason, I finished my work for the maintenance team and focused again on the students.
When school came back it was quite different. There was a big reopening-plan, we had to keep our physical distance and, especially in PE, we had to clean all the equipment. This was a lot of work but it was worth it! It was amazing to come in (distanced) contact with a lot of staff and students again. To see the students running around again and to be a part of giving them some normal life back was one of the best moments of my whole gap year. Though the last weeks of the school year were socially distanced, they were full of joy and a big gift for everyone in the community. I appreciated every school day more than ever before. You could see me sitting on the bench in front of the TLC almost every afternoon. I tried to absorb as much (normal) school life as possible.
Looking back my two weeks of self-isolation were very impactful on my overall gap year. Coming back to Canada from my spring break trip to Hawaii was done in a big rush and it was quite stressful. After getting through my run on adrenaline, I realized that this sitting in self-isolation could be the end of my gap year if I chose to. But it gave me time to reflect and I felt sad to think about leaving without any goodbye or closure of my year. I already heard stories from Gappers, close and far from me, how they had to or wanted to leave. They all were so sad and I didn’t want to feel the same pain. I compared the health situation in Germany and the rest of Europe to where I was on Vancouver Island and realized I was in a good place to stay. After eight months in this place it had become home for me so I felt really safe here.
I have had lots of contact with and support from both QMS and my volunteer organization Lattitude through it all. They were both in touch with me while I was on Hawaii on what was happening and talked me through what I would have to do.
For the named reasons above, I talked with QMS and Lattitude about my stay in Canada. After the school made the decision to keep running the residence with a small group of 20 students, QMS was so generous to keep me too. Not only in the spring also in the summer.
My credo to get me through the beginning of the big crisis was: “I can’t leave like this." I focused on my one goal, sometimes maybe too hard, but in the end, it worked out. I got all the energy from that. In addition, I always had QMS, Lattitude, and my family and friends from Germany backing me with big support. Of course we were and are in fast changing times but QMS as my placement and the Cowichan Valley as my environment I lived in were my rock which gave me so much security to go through this time.
In the end the biggest gift was my stay in Canada at QMS. Of course there were highs and lows. It was not easy to be so far away from my German home when a pandemic is going on and with the school I was volunteering at closed for some time. BUT there were always options to keep my spirits up. The students, staff and the whole community around were a big support.
Because of all these stories I’ve gone through, this place felt and feels so strong and home for me now. That’s why I wanted to stay there for another year and there were thoughts beyond. Queen Margaret’s School gave me the chance to do that but then another door opened in Germany. For this reason I had to make the hard decision to leave the school and the Island. It was everything but easy.
QMS is an international boarding school. People are coming from around the world to this beautiful place. However, in the beginning it’s not easy to leave home, for sure, but I’m happy that I did that! It was worth it. I found myself making another home away from home. Life is there to explore. You can sit your whole life at home if you choose, but taking time to do something different can change so much for you. It did for me.
Times are never easy but especially now it’s really difficult for some people. However let nobody stop you with what makes you happy. Don’t plan too much; try to live in the moment. And, most importantly, enjoy and appreciate every moment with the people you meet along the way. The Queen Margaret’s School in the Cowichan Valley is an amazing place to do that and supports everyone incredibly. I’m so thankful that I could have been a part of that.
I want to say a huge THANK YOU for everything to everyone* who made this whole (gap year) experience and beyond possible. It was not a year of my life; it was a life in one year. I will never forget that!
So Happy Birthday Queen Margaret’s School to 100 years, unbelievable!
I would rather be at the school to celebrate with you guys but unfortunately it's still not possible to travel. That hurts! However, I hope you’re doing well and that you had and have a great party. KEEP GOING WITH WHAT YOU DO. IT'S AMAZING. I'm looking forward to see you all again and until then: QMS is in my heart and Mr. K is always with you. Cheers!
*Special thanks to: Laura Wood, Marlene Donaldson, Kirstin Bains, Isaac MacLeod, Kim Phillips, Tilly Lorence, Dom Smith, Susan Cruikshank, Kim Stinka, Celina Mason, Rachel Devlin, John Lewis, Sarah Day, Mavis Weatherbee, Natalia Stewart, Tracey McDill, Jennifer Shelley, boys at residence 2019-2020, Grade 7 2019-2020
“How my time at QMS is positively impacting my path as a trailblazer:
It gave me the chance to reflect on my life. It made me into a person who is appreciating an international and strong community even more now. I would like to establish more of such places around the world. We are all in this together so let’s make something good out of it. ”
