FAREWELL, ST MARY MACKILLOP COLLEGE

It is my final year at St Mary MacKillop College and it is a bittersweet departure. While there is excitement and challenge ahead, I am leaving with an appreciation of the gift of my experiences here in this community. My deep gratitude to Michelle Haeusler who has been a colleague, a friend and a mentor and without whose steady support, wise counsel and encouragement, I would not be about to leap into a wonderful new adventure. 

Our last ‘big’ adventure began 22 years ago. My memory of arriving in Swan Hill is very clear. We were moving here sight unseen from Launceston and all its hills and greenery. I think we were coming up around Lake Boga, station wagon filled to the brim,  two of our three children on board and it was as dry as a bone. Having lived in Launceston for nine years I certainly wasn’t accustomed to the 40 degree heat. Everything around us seemed brittle with drought, there were dead animals on the side of the road and those dried up plant whirly things crossing our path as we drove. It was at that moment that I said to myself “what have we done?”. Little did I know then how rich our life in Swan Hill would be. How much we would enjoy the freedom, safety and comfort of a small community, how quickly we would become used to seeing someone we knew every single time we left the house and what a blessing it would be to be part of the St Mary MacKillop College community. 

In our school, I have had 19 years of joy, of challenge, of friendships and of wonder. I have held my breath during the Big Splash at the Swimming Carnival, I have watched students fill sandbags in the heat, I have dressed up as a cat for online lessons during COVID and I have brought 19 new dresses for 19 Presentation nights, I’ve sat with students who are struggling and tried to reassure them, I have waved to parents at the crossing on yard duty, I have practiced yoga before school with lovely yoginis and my eyes have welled with tears when I have witnessed the generosity of our families at Hearts and Hands Mass. 

We have something extraordinary here, and now, as we prepare to leave this community, it is in sharp focus. I will be forever grateful for the support, encouragement, challenge and sense of community here. It has been an honour to work alongside such generous, kind and dedicated colleagues, who have held me in my leadership.

What a privilege it has been to be involved in the school life of so many students who without fail greet me with a smile, who are open hearted and generous and who take me for a joyride in a plane at Christmas, bring me hot chips in the afternoon, make lolly salads in class, who book dubious accommodation in Cambodia, who after they leave school proudly introduce me to their partners, who tell me about their football injuries and show me their deb photos. I appreciate the trust of our parents and the opportunity I have had to support them and to have their support. Sometimes in hard times but very often in good times too.

There is something so special about our school that can only be attributed to the people and I am so grateful for all of you. I love my job here. I have worked hard to do my best to serve the school. I have always strived to act with professionalism and dignity, with fairness, compassion and care. Strangely enough, I think that is part of the reason why I am leaving. I have had the opportunity here to grow both personally and professionally. The time feels right for me to do what I can to serve a different community in a different way. I'm excited about the journey ahead but it is a strange feeling to be leaving something I love so much.

I am not really much of a camper, possibly a source of disappointment to my husband! My younger brother started off as an Outdoor Ed teacher and he would lecture us continually about camping, reminding us to never leave anything behind but our footprints, to carry everything in and always, always carry everything out. I know that I will carry with me so much from my time here - friendships, skills, memories, lessons. My hope though is that I do leave something behind - footprints that have made a mark in a tangible way because they have been made with absolute love for the people of this community and commitment to this school.

I arrived in Swan Hill expecting drought and am leaving having experienced abundance. 

My heartfelt gratitude to our community, may God continue to bless you and keep you safe.