Year 7 Pastoral Guardian

Small Things can Make the Biggest Impacts- Just Ask the Coronavirus!

We are living in unprecedented times.  Daily, our resolve as individuals, as communities, and as a nation is being tested, in ways we have not seen nor many of us experienced before in our lifetimes.  The challenges of loss, change, adaptation, and transition, and the thought processes surrounding these, have become our new normal. 

So what is our new normal?  What do we feel we have lost?  Is it loss of connection?  Not being able to see friends and family freely, of being separated by distance, by illness or the need to protect?  Is it loss of routine?  Of how it used to be, when life seemed to have order and direction and a certain amount of reassuring predictability?  Is it the loss of this year’s rites of passage (particularly significant to our Years 7 and 12 students)?  Or is it having to change the way we interact -  unable to hug or to hold those whom we love, celebrate, and mourn. 

For many, loss and the inevitable changes are a culmination of all of these.  Children and adults alike currently yearn for the way things were.  2020 has been a tumultuous, dynamic year for our college community.  Ebbing and flowing with, firstly, certainty of a brand-new year and then uncertainty as COVID-19 became an ever-present cloud over our lives. 

A nurse I know recently described 2020 and the pandemic as "like reading a book, where you have almost reached the end, think you have worked out the story, and then the author adds a new chapter!"

In this analogy, what do you do?  Would you put the book down in disgust?  Or continue to plough through to that longed-for happy ending?  We, at Mount Alvernia will plough on, of course. 

The experiences of this year need not be viewed entirely as negatives.  There are positives to be gained.  By adapting and embracing change we grow stronger and more resilient.  By supporting those we love and care about, we will continue to adapt to what is, and transition through this period in our lives to be more respectful, kinder, and considerate human beings.  In today’s world respect, kindness, and consideration are often overlooked as small and insignificant gestures.  But, just like the less than microscopic molecule that is a virus, that replicates by implanting itself in the good cells of a living body, these small acts of humanity can bury themselves in us and multiply - thus producing individuals that are stronger, resilient, and more pure of heart and deed. 

Art Exhibition

Today we had a special lunch time exhibition for Year 7 Art.  These floral sculptures were created in Semester 1 by Learning Groups 1, 3, and 5.  Using materials they could easily access, such as cardboard and paper, students communicated stories through the use of floral symbols, as inspired by the gardens of La Foresta. 

 Conversation Starters

• How do you remain positive when faced with loss?
• What strategies did you use when you experienced loss?
• Do you feel stronger for the 2020 experience?
• How do you manage things that are beyond your control?

Michael Butterworth