Chaplain's Corner

From our College Captains

Our VCE journey has been like nothing any of us predicted or imagined. These last two years have thrown many challenges to what normal final years would bring, but we have grown, persevered and adjusted. This is not to say that it has been easy, but it demonstrated how proud we are to witness such a resilient cohort, the Class of 2021, who have taken it in their stride and tried to make the most of our situation. 

We learned as a year level, not to take the little things for granted. Coming to school, seeing our friends, has made us realise how important it is to value the times of being physically in the company of each other. Seeing a face and receiving a smile provides such a boost for your day (or smiling with your eyes while wearing a mask), or saying hello to a teacher or student in the hallway… seeing people incidentally is something that we missed during our lockdown, but we will not take it for granted again. We want to congratulate not only the Class of 2021, but every staff member, student and parent who has contributed to supporting our year level and the school community.

At the beginning of the year, we strove to recognise that God remains sovereign through any trial that we may face and to put our sole trust in Him. Even though we were miles away from one another, our goal was to see the school community’s trust in each other, and in God, grow as we continued to face many challenges. From the start of 2021, we all had to learn to trust many people, such as our school, our State leaders, strangers, but most importantly we learnt to place our sole trust in God. 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Through this verse we recognise that we need to trust now more than ever, that we belong to Him, and that He is walking with us. 

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 20:7 

After completing our final year of schooling, the opportunities and adventures to come can be both exciting and daunting, but we know that there is great comfort in knowing that there is a God who is sovereign and in who we can trust through any challenge we may face in the future.

Our artwork this year describes our VCE journey, where we have been physically separated from one another by lockdowns, masks, social distancing and the like. But even as we have been drawn apart physically, represented by the distance between the hands, we have had to reach out to one another in trust and love and have learned to connect in a myriad of different ways. Through the past years we have had to support one another as a cohort and have learned to cultivate strong friendships that remain despite the challenges. 

And let us consider how we can spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you can see the day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25

Thank you to our families who have continued supporting us through our studies, helping us stay focused and feeding us! We are grateful for all the moments you were there to encourage us when we had a bad day, dealing with our ever-changing moods or being a shoulder to cry on when situations became overwhelming. Thank you for caring and loving us through a difficult two years, we could not have done it without you! 

We would also like to show our love and appreciation for all of our teachers. This year has been tremendously hard, for both students and teachers, but your constant support, dedication and encouragement is what has brought us through this challenging year. We want to say a huge thank you on behalf of every student in this school, but especially from the Year 12s. You have been amazing in helping us navigate through this year and we feel truly blessed to have such incredible, supportive teachers here at Oxley Christian College.

God bless,

Imogen Gellert and Hannah Jansen

2021 College Captains