Great Scot December 2019 Great Scot 158_December_ONLINE | Page 50

BOARDING
LEFT TO RIGHT:
BOARDERS
LINCOLN POON,
BENJAMIN
BEISCHER,
LUCA NEERHUT,
HEMANT SMART,
MARCUS
CHENG, DARCY
EDGERTON,
HARRY PALMER,
HARRY BAHR
WELL PREPARED AS THEY
FAREWELL LIFE ON THE HILL
The end of our boarders’ schooldays also means the end of their
time on the Hill. Throughout their adolescent years, the Hill has been a
welcoming refuge to which boarders have ponderously strolled at the
end of the school day. It is where they have broken bread with friends
from distant lands and roomed with boys of a similar age. They have
shared dreams and fears, and have been supported on this journey
by committed and dedicated staff. Boarders have lived their school
life in close proximity to one another and have shared the trials and
tribulations of their adolescent journey with their Hill family.
As they leave the dining hall after their last meal, they will no
longer be responding to the bell for dinner, or the morning wake-up,
or the pleas from Matron to tidy their room. They will no longer have
to submit a ‘boarding leave request’ to head up the street, be gently
prodded to focus on their schoolwork, reminded to put their laundry
in, or answer questions from duty staff about where they are going,
who they are with, and what time they will return.
They will no longer have their days punctuated by institutionalised
meal times, or House meetings of 50 people, or communal sheet-
changing days, or the dreaded kitchen duty. They will no longer have
a School Chaplain to talk to about stress and grief, amazing grounds
to run and play on, public transport on their doorstep, tutors on tap
and mates on hand. They will no longer have closed weekends where
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Great Scot Issue 158 – December 2019
they wrangle younger boys to get involved, where they have to design
and build their infamous House billycarts, or where they strive for Hill
glory in the Wedderburn Cup competition. They will no longer call the
Hill home.
As our graduates of 2019 leave and travel back to their place of
origin, many boys will face some very real and confronting challenges.
Those from the regions are encountering the omnipresent impact of
drought on their farms and towns. Our overseas boys, flying back to
megacities such as Hong Kong, will be confronted by protest and
dissent. And our local boarders returning to Kew or Glen Waverley
may be engaged in questions about the masculine toxicity that is
possibly evident in independent boys’ schools.
Challenges abound, and the simplicity and surety of a routine of
study – eat – play – study – sleep, will, possibly, be looked back on
with a fond nostalgia. Nevertheless, the boys from the Hill, who have
rubbed shoulders with boys from all corners of the globe in their time
here, have developed the resilience, tolerance and empathy to thrive
in the world beyond the school gates. Through sharing others' life
experiences, an appreciation of diversity and adaptation to change is
developed, as is fortitude and grit – all traits useful in the times ahead.
They are well prepared.
TIM BYRNES – DEAN OF BOARDING