Head Boy’s Valedictory
Time Grateful
And now I’ve got less than ten minutes all to
myself on this stage, which is hardly enough
time to explain. But time’s like that. You
breathe in and you live and you love and you
fight and fight hard to live and love as much
as you can in the time you’ve got—then you
breathe out. So we all stand up here and fight
to make a scratch or a mark deep enough that
it can’t be ignored in the hope that someday
someone will see it and say, “Man, I’m glad he
came along.”
It is all I can do not to laugh when I think of
how much and how little time I have, how I’ll
probably have just as much as Da Vinci or
Picasso, and how I’ll never feel as though I’ve
done enough, fought hard enough, dug deep
enough for History to remember all the time I
spent here at St Bernard’s College.
I guess what I’m trying to say is…
Make the most of the time you
have here at SBC. I challenge
you all to step up, make your
mark, your scratch or your hole
and fill it up, so that you can be
proud to know that you have done
something worthwhile. In saying
this, I want you also to be proud of
what you have and what you are given at St
Bernard’s, for no one, no other student outside
of this college gets to experience the brotherhood, the love, the family spirit, the wonderful,
the annoying and the proud unforgettable
moments that you get to experience here in
your 5 or 7 years at St Bernard’s college.
Although I feel like I never made the most of
my time here, didn’t feel as though I worked
hard enough, fought hard enough, dug deep
enough, and as a Head Boy, I never felt as
though I’d done enough, I have realised that
this was because time held me back. But time
always runs out. I have realised, writing this
valedictory, that this is actually a good feeling.
Because, I now know that although learning is
a lifelong journey, so is self-fulfilment.
Potential, sacrifice, hard-work, success,
were the four main focuses of our leader led
assemblies this year. I realised that every
single person in this room has the potential to
become or do great. He must make sacrifices
in order to be able to put in the hard-work
which will lead him to success. Realise that this
is a journey. But realise that it takes time and
I encourage you all, even if it’s the only thing
St Bernard’s College 2013
you remember me say, every single man who
attends St Bernard’s college, has the potential
to be great. Therefore I have helped you with
your first part of your journey. I quote: “The
potential of the average person is like a huge
ocean unsailed, a new continent unexplored,
a world of possibilities waiting to be released
and channelled toward some great good.” Give
it time, sail that ocean, and explore that new
continent for when you feel success, be proud.
To Mr Fava, I would