A message from our Head Girl
What are we?
Are we the moments we remember, the choices we make or the path that we follow?
Are we the reputations we uphold, the grades we attained, the winning goals we scored or simply the badges on a blazer and nothing else?
It is a heavy question. Our entire existence questioned in just 3 syllables.
What are we?
The answer cannot be confined to choices, achievements and accolades. Our stories, our legacies, are so much more than that. We are so much more than that.
Typically, a story begins with Chapter 1 and gradually develops into a tale worth telling. This is proof that while our past does not solely define us, we cannot move forward without understanding our beginning.
The past is often misunderstood. It is associated with the grief, the pain and the mistakes that we wish to forget so that we may become someone new. Someone better. But avoiding it does not lead to renewal.
Suppressing the past is erasing a chapter that has allowed our current selves to come into existence. Your prologue. It may be uncomfortable, even flawed, but we will embrace it. Learn from it. Improve it. Because progression — not perfection — is the true purpose of any story.
This has shaped even my own story. I was not always the matric you see today. I was once a grade 11, a grade 10, a grade 9 and a grade 8. During all that time, I have been adrift, I lost friendships, I missed more than a couple of hockey balls and received plenty of disappointing grades. But without those wrong turns, I would have learnt a lot less and I would not have an interesting story to tell.
Our pasts are the first few pages of our stories, the first few pages in defining what we are.
But hold on… for no story is bound to its first page. Our story progresses into our present. Into your potential. Into Your possibility.
Right now, is the only moment where we have a choice. It might not feel so important, for it is not a moment decorated with parades and applause. Even then, a moment seems to be the equivalent of only a single word in your story. But what is a story if not a collection of words, of actions, of choices?
A meaningful choice is choosing to pick up that litter, even though no one is watching. Choosing to stand with what is right, even if it is unpopular. This is where a story thrives. Small words, small choices, form empowered individuals who create wondrous stories and shape an empowered community.
We can be more than just reputations, achievements and badges. All it takes is one choice, one choice to decide what we are.
The future is an interesting place. It always seems so far away and yet every page we turn provides a chance to change it. Infinite potential. That is what these next 11 months offer you. You will achieve that mark, you score that goal. That is what makes our tomorrow so exhilarating, the possibility to excel further, to be better.
Of course, it's human nature to fear the unknown. It becomes overwhelming for the best of us. When it happens to me, I find comfort in the people around me: my teachers, friends, parents, and community. We are all facing the same challenge as we strive to build our brightest future. It’s never easy, but always remember you are not alone. This year, we won't let fear define us because you are in charge of your story, not your doubts, not your regrets… You. And when it feels like you're falling apart, we are here to lift you up.
Your resilience and your courage inspire others to persevere. Your dreams and your kindness are what encourage others to develop character. So, your legacy does not end with your story alone. Your strong individuality is an essential part of our long-standing library called St Mary’s DSG.
#My story, our legacy.
This legacy, our legacy is nothing but our progression.
What you were, what you are now, and what you will be is a journey of becoming. See yourself on this path of becoming because in you, I see determination and In us, I see purpose. These characteristics do not come from badges on a blazer. (Whole blazer-taking-off thing)
As we stand here without the badges, without the achievements, we are who we are. My value, our value, remains constant.
So, to answer the question, what are we?
We are stories that are constantly being written. With all our choices, achievements and even our mistakes, we are tales worth telling.
St Mary's DSG,
2026 is here; it is only waiting for us.
So let's write a story that we will never forget.
