Deputy Principal

First Comes Courage!

On Tuesday of our first academic week, all students who have been appointed a captain position or a member of our Consiglio attended our first leadership seminar for 2026. Titled ‘First Comes Courage’, the College invited Sonia McDonald who is the Founder and CEO of LeadershipHQ to present and workshop with our girls.  Sonia is a globally recognised voice on courageous, human-centred and future-focused leadership.  She blends neuroscience with practical strategies to create leaders who are more confident, connected and courageous.

Sonia McDonald has published three books and we centred our seminar on ‘First Comes Courage’. Highly appropriate in our Franciscan year of courage! This incredible book showed our student leaders that leadership truly starts from within. Her ‘Courage Compass’ gave our students a direction to move towards to achieve their goals. The traditional north, south, east and west have been replaced with kindness, impact, purpose and resilience and Sonia believes they are truly courageous behaviours. We do too!

What impressed me most about Sonia is that much of the seminar was about encouraging our girls to back themselves and each other. We practised ‘power poses’; celebrating wins; accepting compliments; honouring our strengths; and knowing our worth. It was a joy to watch the girls engage with each other and, with members of Consiglio from Years 8 to 11 in attendance, this workshop has made an impact across five of our six cohorts. I thank the older students for bringing our younger students under their wing. This is true servant leadership.

‘Use the power of courage and kindness, of resilience and grit to ultimately deliver with purpose and with impact, and pull yourself and those around you through to reach calmer times and brighter days. 

You can be strong as a leader and be kind.

You can be courageous as a leader and be fearful.

You can be a leader without the title. But first comes courage.’

Sonia McDonald

The etymology of the word courage is from the Latin root ‘cor’ meaning heart. It links bravery directly to the heart as the basis of emotion, spirit and inner strength, rather than just the absence of fear.

In our 70th year honouring our Franciscan value of Courage, our Mount Alvernia girls lead from the heart! Go well, Student Leaders, in 2026.

Every blessing,

Michelle Licina

Deputy Principal - Student Development and Wellbeing