Speaking From Experience
On Saturday, in chapel, a grade 12 student from Strathcona School House had a few words for new students:
I bet you’ve received a wonderful reception already from your House Director, Prefects and teachers so far, but I promise this is a welcome of another kind. Here’s a little message, not from someone who’s told to make the school sound good, or someone who can gain anything from it; only someone with a bit of experience here. This school is what you want it to be. You can rant and rave about life here all you want, or you can take advantage of what it has to offer.
There is so much opportunity in this place. Things you might never have a chance to experience again are sitting waiting for you to try. These are the years in your life when it’s easy to discover and explore, when you don’t have any set path—so go for it! You could learn how to make a shirt or a table, the rules of squash, or how to schedule voice lessons between graphic design and dinner with your roommates. Some things I’ve learned: How to make a bowl. I figured I’d get tired of pottery after a week, but I made more bowls than you can imagine, and despite what I thought, I loved it.
On the athletic side, People that know me can tell you I’m not a born runner, in fact, I am passed by power walkers and children—often. After joining cross country last minute, I surprised myself: I was running, and for some reason, I no longer thought of ways to fake a heart attack so I could stop (I still do that when I erg, though).
These are just some things I learned when I branched out of my usual niche: I promise that if you hold back, if you don’t capitalize on all these resources in front of you, you’ll regret it. Don’t think that you’re in this alone, either. You have so many people that will support you if you decide you want to try ballet or if you can’t figure out a math problem. Believe it or not, the people in this room are going to be beside you for this entire year, and some for the years ahead. You will make friends with them—some of the closest you’ve had—and you’ll grow together within these gates. They will be there when you need them, when you don’t need them, probably even when you don’t want them. It’s not going to be hunky dory all the time, it never is, There will be rainy days, fights and bad meals, but I swear to you, when you try to make the best of it, you will live out days and nights that you’ll remember for the rest of your life.
Like I said, this isn’t coming from authority or power, it just coming from a little experience.