Principal 

A highlight for me this week, amidst a busy start-of-year calendar, was the Senior School Scholars’ Assembly, which was held on Monday. Named for College Scholars – those students who receive an ATAR over 95 – the assembly publicly recognises students who have achieved strong academic results in the previous year. There is also the tradition of the College inviting a guest speaker to address the assembly. This year, our speaker was Dr Nina Wootton (OC 2012). Nina is a marine ecologist and post-doctoral researcher in the Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories at Adelaide University. Nina completed her PhD in 2021, where she researched the presence and impacts of microplastics and plastic pollution on the seafood industry. 

Nina’s speech to the assembly outlined seven life lessons that the sea has taught her. All were excellent and relevant, but I’ll cherry-pick and quote here what I thought were two really pertinent ones:

“1. You cannot control the ocean. The ocean is a wild place. It’s vast, it’s powerful, and it’s largely beyond our control. The ocean moves constantly, driven by tides, wind, and massive currents. And life is the same. You cannot always control: the exact marks you might get; the footy score on the weekend; what people might think of you; or every opportunity that comes your way. What you can do is control the controllables, like preparation, effort, having a back-up plan when things don’t go as you envisioned them.

2. Tides will change. Even when the ocean looks calm, it is constantly moving. Coastlines are breathing in and out twice a day. Low tide does not last forever. High tide does not last forever either. The same is to be said about life. There will be tides in your life: a tide where you feel confident and capable, tides where you doubt yourself, or tides when you feel bored or stagnant. None of them are permanent. If you’re in a low tide moment - try your hardest to keep moving. If you’re in a high tide moment - stay grounded. Everything will, eventually, shift.”

Through this structural metaphor of the ocean, Nina’s speech carried some exceptionally good advice for students. Control the controllable; be prepared for ebbs and flows. She also reflected more generally and encapsulated what I think is so wonderful about College: 

“We are all incredibly lucky to grow up in a place where success was and is encouraged in many different ways - academically, creatively, socially - all while living in the country.”

What a great message and reminder to begin the academic year with. 

📸 Congratulations to the 2025 year level Duces in the photo above.