Assembly 20 September

SRC President Address

I know what you’re thinking. "Here we go again. Kate guilt tripping us again to bring gold coins, so that it can be donated to a good cause".

 I assure you that this time, that’s not entirely true. This year it was decided that the SRC President would also give a speech instead of just our College Captains, which is why I’m up here now. I was secretly hoping that throughout the year they would forget that I had to do this.  But, no.  Issy remembered and here we are.

After a quick panic over having to write a speech, make it funny and intertwine my usual SRC Report; I decided that I should be grateful for this opportunity to talk to you all today. Yup, you may have guessed already, that gratitude is the theme of my speech today.

After finding out about the speech the first thing I did was go home and pull out the cute Gratitude Book I bought my mum from Kikki K. That book told me the fun fact of the day – that writing what you’re grateful for every day can increase wellbeing by 10%.

Yup, a whole 10%. I was shocked. Because Year 11s and under won’t understand yet, but Year 12s NEED that 10%. So, I sat with a notebook and pen and started to think of what I was grateful for, cause I need that 10%. My cute dog Ella was the first thing that came to mind, then the usual - my girls up in the stands, my mum, my dad and my big sis. I’m grateful that Year 12s only have three weeks of schools left, and that by the end of today we will have finished all our SACs. That I finally payed off my schoolies trip. That Romy, Cat and Alisha all got kicked off The Bachelor in one night. That last Friday we raised $733. And that so many people got involved in the face painting and footy competitions - see how I slipped that in there  ... but I would be more grateful if we raised $1000.

We have one and a half days left until we are on school holidays. We should all be using this time to relax, unwind, and think about the things we are grateful for. Except for the Year 12s.  Sorry we don’t get to unwind. But we do get to push forward and make our final weeks count. So be grateful that this is the first and the last time that we have to knuckle down, and sacrifice our social lives, exercise, eating, sleeping, breathing.

Next, I tried to think of how you can show gratitude, and my brain jumped back to Year 10 Camp. I’m sure most of you who have been remember that session after a tiring day of leaping and flying and crawling through a pitch, black wombat hole of mud, that we sat and wrote a letter to someone we were grateful for. Two minutes into the activity, it was silent, except for sniffling noses and tears. I know, this speech just took a sad turn. I hope that those of you who have been on this camp, remember feeling emotionally exhausted from crying. And also happy. That is because for some reason, gratitude does something to your brain to make you be appreciative and happy.

Then Lara Jean came to mind, and I thought we could all take some inspiration from her. No I’m not suggesting we all write love letters to the Peter Kavinskies in our lives, but maybe write a letter to someone or something that you are grateful for. Or, if you are lazy and prefer a Netflix date with Peter Kavinsky, like me, I’ve got a simpler idea for you girls. Just start saying 'thank you'. Say thank you to the people who have your back, and to yourself. You should always be grateful for things that money can’t buy.

When I got stuck on writing this speech, I googled gratitude speeches and watched some YouTube clips for inspiration. I just want to quote you something that was said on one of these videos.

Get grateful for the two gifts you have called eyes, many aren’t so lucky. Get grateful for the ears that can hear the music. Get grateful for the person in your life that’s made a difference. Get grateful for your tough times, because they helped develop your strength and spirit.

Wow, I just got real deep then didn’t I?

So, my reminder to you all, look around and actually appreciate what you have, be grateful for what you have now, and you will soon be grateful for more. And the most important reminder of all, our next casual dress day is week two term 4 the 19th of October so don’t forget your gold coins!

Thank you.

Kate McMahon

SRC President