Deputy Head of College News

The dreaded time has come for me to write my final newsletter for Marist College Ashgrove; but trying to find the words to put on paper is proving very difficult.  So difficult in fact that I have even googled “how to say goodbye when you don’t want to”.

And unfortunately, google has let me down in this instance, because google has no idea what it is like to have been part of a place like Marist College Ashgrove; no idea what it is like to slowly fall in love with a place and its people; and no idea what it is like to have made a home away from home in the place that you work.

That is what MCA has been for me – a home, a happy place, a sanctuary.

Don’t get me wrong! It has also been a scary place, a maddening place and even at times, a nightmare. But, as Luke McMahon said to the Year 12s last Friday, it is really those times that have reminded me how much Marist College Ashgrove means to me.

So, as I prepare to leave this home, I think what I really want to say is how grateful I am for the 10 years I have been blessed to work at MCA, not because of the buildings or the ovals or the amazing resources, but because of the people whom I have met: the students I have taught – particularly those I have annoyed and those who have annoyed me (we know who we are!); the parents and teachers I have argued with and laughed with; the school officers and services staff who make us all look good, all of the time; and the friends I have made, many of whom I would not be friends with should it not have been for this school and the effect it has on people.

Finally, I am grateful for the Marist charism that envelopes this place entirely.  How fortunate are we to be part of a school that so proudly boasts its Christian message in a time when this is not always seen as popular or even proper?  With this in mind, I think it only appropriate that I conclude with my prayer for Marist College Ashgrove, using the words of Marcellin himself: