Great Scot May 2020 Great Scot 159_MAY 2020_ONLINE_V3 | Page 26

SCHOOL CAPTAIN
CHISEL OUT YOUR
OWN SCOTCH
IDENTITY
This is an edited extract of School Captain William
Dixon’s address at Assembly early in Term 1
In the final days of last year, I asked
myself what the beginning of the new
decade would hold. Looking back at the
past 10 years, a lot has obviously changed.
Technology has continued to change the
way we live, Brexit happened (sort of),
terrorism in all forms wreaked havoc across
the world, climate change has increasingly
become a serious threat, and the host of a
reality TV show became President of the
United States. I think it’s pretty safe to say
that anything could happen in the new
decade.
Certainly the many unknowns of
the future can be daunting. I know in
my experience, leaving Scotch for what I
thought was the last time was exciting but
equally overwhelming – will the choices I
make be good ones? Will I enter a course
I enjoy? Will the friends I have had for six
years be the same next year?
And yet, returning to the School I love
for Year 13, I know there are many things
which will not change simply because the
calendar has ticked over. Each of us enters
the new decade older, and I hope wiser, than
we’ve been before; each with new challenges
to overcome and new ambitions to fulfil.
For every single one of you, whatever
2020 holds for you will be completely
different from the person sitting next to
you. You are all unique, setting a different
path to navigate in your time at Scotch,
however rocky or smooth that may be.
Without the diversity and energy that
each of you brings to this place, Scotch
would not exist as we know it. The boys
bring the spark that allows the Scotch
flame to burn strongly. Not all of you will
play in every first team, neither will you
all achieve top marks in every subject you
take – I certainly didn’t. There is no Scotch
26
Great Scot Issue 159 – May 2020
mould, no bronze sculpture of the ideal
Scotch boy – instead it is up to each of you
to embrace as many opportunities as you
can in your time at this School, and leave
this place feeling as if you have chiselled
out your own Scotch identity.
However, despite all our individual
quirks and differences, we share a great
deal. We are all incredibly fortunate to
be students at this School, with vast and
varied opportunities and resources at
our disposal. We all have hopes, fears
and dreams for the future; and most
importantly I would like to think that
Scotch is a place where every single
one of us feels comfortable, and knows
that whatever happens there will be a
supportive community for us to fall back
on, to be completely open with, and most
importantly one in which every person
looks out for each other in the normal ups
and downs of growing up.
We are all part of a strong, vibrant
community: we look out for each other,
study together, run together, play together,
row together, sing together – we do things
together, which gives us our strength.
But we are just a small community
within a much broader one, and we
do need to look beyond ourselves and
the Monash Gates to understand and
contribute to the wider world. Whether
that involves constantly questioning the
injustices, inequalities and stigmas of our
society or proactively helping those in
need, we have an important role in helping
to shape the next decade, not only at
Scotch but also in our broader society.
Embrace all the time you have at
Scotch, and whatever 2020 may hold,
I hope it is a stimulating, healthy and
exciting year for you all.
TOP: SENIOR SCHOOL CAPTAIN WILLIAM
DIXON AND JUNIOR SCHOOL CAPTAIN
NICK HOWITT SHARE A LAUGH. BOTTOM:
LEFT TO RIGHT: VICE CAPTAIN DARREN
TAN, SCHOOL CAPTAIN WILLIAM DIXON
AND CAPTAIN OF THE HILL TOM CAINE