Academic Excellence
Writing competition finale
And that’s a wrap! After a busy and exciting year, the Academic Excellence Program students have completed their final project for the year. The students competed against each other in the St Norbert College Writing Competition. The students had just 30-minutes to write a short story or poem on the topic, “Why does helping others lead to the greatest success?”. Their results were amazing, thoughtful and well-written pieces, especially in the short time the students had. So much so that I have awarded two winners, one for the best poem and one for the best short story. The winners have given permission to publish their work here for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!
That Someone
By Sharie Fernandez
She sat within her own world of darkness
The weight a burden on her shoulders
As heavy as a tonne of bricks
She had a dream that she wanted to chase
But the clouds above her were too dark
Grey, lifeless, dull
Going to school was never joy
It was painful, filled with stress
Her position was in the corner of her classroom
Nobody tried to talk, nobody ever realised, nobody ever noticed
At least that’s what she thought
Continuing on with her day she felt people stare
She felt people judge but at the same time they didn’t seem to care
She missed the days when everyone talked to her
She missed the days before she was sick
Now she was an outcast, she didn’t belong
Once more noticing, her life as heavy as a brick
She cried raindrops before going to sleep
Her family didn’t notice a thing
She hid from them
She didn’t want them to worry
A miracle happened one day
Someone came and someone spoke
That someone seemed to be worried about her
The tornado inside of her seemed to still
Calming, stopping, slowly
Someone talked, someone realised, someone noticed
That someone knew
Her eyes were opened for the first time in forever
And she realised that there was more than one person that cared too
The grey clouds became bright
The darkness within her was filled with light
The dream that she wanted to chase became clear again
But this time it was a different dream
She wanted to help others just like that someone
That someone that helped her
She realised that being successful wasn’t just about being well known
But within herself being successful was making the smallest gesture
Which would make the biggest difference in that someone’s life
She was thankful
And hoped one day others would be thankful too
Helping others Leads to greatest success
by Chanelle Min
If you think about the greatest successes people have ever achieved what do you think about. Do you think about Steve Jobs or Bill Gates maybe even your favourite pop star? Do they really have the greatest successes? The answer is no. The greatest success doesn’t come from money or how popular you are, they come from the people like you and me. Sure, not everyone knows your name or you might not be the most popular person but you could or have been the person to change someone’s life, to take them from near death to alive. How you might ask well, through the small action of kindness, through helping that old lady cross the road or from even asking your friend how they are. This leads to the greatest success you can have called kindness.
Happiness is the new rich; inner peace is the new success; health is the new wealth and kindness is the new cool. This quote lets us reflect on the most important things in life. With this we can prove that the greatest successes come from inner happiness and most important kindness. Going back to the kindness point, when we help someone through a small act of kindness, what do we feel? We feel happy with ourselves, we gain confidence and pride. We are one with the person inside us and we bring out the that person. Now that is the greatest success. Kindness that leads to self-peace and self-love.
Some people who are reading this are probably thinking how do I do that or what if I’m not confident enough to ask a stranger if they need help. Well you can achieve this success by starting off with the small things such as helping your mum and dad, sisters and brothers, or teachers and friends. It could be as little as picking something up from the floor or making sure your younger siblings are ok. There is one thing though. You can’t do it for a reward. If you were to do it for an award you would not be able to achieve success because it is simply just going to make you greedier and ruin your inner happiness. All it takes is a few simple steps and you can achieve the greatest of successes.
Congratualtions Sharie Fernandez and Chanelle Min
Academic Excellence Program 2020
Expression of Interest letters have been sent to our current Year 7 & 8 students for the Semester One Academic Excellence Program 2020. If your child is in Year 7 – 9 in 2020 and wishes to participate in the Academic Excellence Program, please have the EOI form in to me by Wednesday, 16 December. There are no pre-requesites for joining in Semester One. Come and see what the Academic Excellence Program is all about, have some fun and be your most EXCELLENT self.
Mrs L Cardenia (Academic Excellence Coordinator)