As per tradition, on the first Wednesday evening of the school year the boarders filed into the dining hall for the first Bruce House Formal Dinner of the year. Boarders were joined by Director of Boarding (Acting) Mrs Bridget Anitelea, Mr Anitelea, duty staff member Jonathan Batchelar and special guest College Principal, Mr Damon Emtage. After a prayer of gratitude for the delicious food, a hearty roast beef dinner and meringue dessert was enjoyed by all.

Following the meal, Mr Emtage addressed the Bruce House boarders. Boarding holds a special place in Mr Emtage’s heart as he has previously been a Learning in Residence Director at a College in Australia. He understands first-hand the joys and challenges of boarding and through his own experience shared some advice about the significance of relationships with fellow boarders.

Director of Boarding (Acting) Mrs Bridget Anitelea then shared a sentiment on one of the key pillars of Bruce House, gratitude. Her message was particularly pertinent given the situation Auckland has recently found itself with the floods and extreme weather conditions. Mrs Anitelea shared how people all too often compare themselves with those who have more than them. She encouraged boarders to turn this notion on its head and suggested that if they must measure themselves against others, measure themselves against those who have less than them as this will ultimately allow for tremendous gratitude and appreciation for the life they do have. Mrs Anitelea went further to suggest that this way of looking at things would also hopefully encourage them to give back, pay it forward and offer service to others.

Bruce House Prefect badges were then presented to the Prefect team for 2023. Congratulations to the following students:

Bruce House Head Boy             Zae Mangu

Bruce House Head Girl             Jacqueline Masamba-Hunter

Bruce House Deputy Boy          Hwiseong Chang

Bruce House Deputy Girl          Rebecca Clements

Bruce House Prefect                 Oliver Jewell

To conclude formal dinner, the 23 new boarders to the House were presented with their Bruce House badges that they can wear with pride on their blazers.

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