Sophie's Farewell Message

Good evening everyone, I would like to thank you all for being here tonight. As I begin, I would firstly like to acknowledge all those who assisted us throughout this final year. To Mrs McGlynn, who offered an unfaltering ray of sunshine in the senior corridor, to Mrs Holt and Mr Rodway, who walked alongside the leadership group in our attempts to guide the graduating class, to the homeroom teachers who led us individually, and to the parents who supported us through the stress of both assessments and exams. Finally, to Mr Clohesy and Mrs McGennisken, whose sustained personal involvement in our educational journeys was incredible considering the roles they each play in the college. On behalf of the class of 2022, I thank you for everything which you have given us in the past twelve months. 

To my fellow graduates, I wish to leave you with a final note of gratitude. At the beginning of this year, I read a novel by Mitch Albom titled, ‘The Five People You Meet In Heaven’. It describes the life and death of Eddie, an elderly man working at an amusement park – killed on his 83rd birthday while trying to save a young girl. He then finds himself in the afterlife which, as Albom describes, is not a utopian Garden of Eden, but a dreamlike landscape wherein the complexities of your earthly life are explained to you by five people who took part in its unravelling. They demonstrate to him the ways in which our lives intersect with those around us; how our individual actions create a ripple effect which blurs the line between the events of our own lives and the lives of others; how a single decision can interrupt an entire course. While these effects can be either positive or negative, the notion itself prompted me to consider the lasting influence even of those who we interact with only for a second.

In relation to our class, I can conclude ultimately that each of you had a direct impact on me personally in one way or another – whether small or much larger than you could imagine. My dad reminds me that each of us is a product of the people we surround ourselves with, and I hope each of you can realise the truth of this in that the kindness which you reflect onto others is more powerful than you believe. We have all contributed to the shaping of one another, an influence which will sustain for much longer than the detailed memories of this year.  

On a graphic pinned in my own homeroom – that which was introduced to us by Mr Rodway – a Buddhist quote reads, “Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases from being shared.” The willingness with which you dedicate yourself to the sculpting of others within the compassion and kindness of your actions will not diminish that of your own. In helping to shape one another across the past five years, the flames we each represent have grown brighter together. 

As Albom writes on the opening page of his reflection, “It might seem strange to start a story with an ending. But all endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time.” This is the end of our journey together, but only the beginning of a much bigger one for each of us. I only hope that within these, as you discover all that life has to offer every one of you; that the flame with which we have brightened each other continues to light your way. 

Thank you.