From the Deputy Principal

It's decision making season; our Year Tens are choosing pathways for Years Eleven and Twelve and our Year Twelves are working towards post-school pathways.  Recently I've had conversations with a number of students about what they might do when they have finished school.

At their age, people often ask them what they want to do later in life, or what they want to be when they grow up, all of which suggests they start being someone or doing something later in life.  I suggest this to students: you start being the person you want to be and doing the things you want to do, right now, in order to start becoming that person. Your life will be what you make it, and I suggest making the following:

1. Make mistakes, because this is how we learn. I often tell a story of how, as a young teacher, I moved to Kellerberrin and after being invited to a BBQ and told to bring dessert, decided to impress the locals with my culinary prowess.  Which was a mistake.  Unfortunately, the meringue topping for a lemon meringue pie ended up all over me and the walls of my kitchen at high speed by virtue of a rotary beater (you know, the old fashioned kind, that takes time to turn by hand) and an ingenious idea to attach the rotary beater to a cordless drill to speed the process up (you know, the kind that is not supposed to be attached to a rotary beater).  Needless to say, my plan to impress the locals was slightly less spectacular than I’d hoped…and I learned a thing or two in the process.
2. Make friends and connections.  I’ve been lucky enough to move house (a LOT) and country and it has meant I’ve got good at making new friends and maintaining connections.  It’s meant I’ve had to be vulnerable and start from scratch a few times, all of which makes me a bit more resilient and means I have friends to stay with when I can travel again!

Make the most of the opportunities you have, and make a difference to others.  Like lots of people, I’ve seen friends and family face incredible challenges and overcome them, reminding me a little more closely and frequently than I’d like to take advantage of my own good fortune. 

Good luck to all our students making big (and little decisions) for their future pathways.

Mrs Emma Franklin | Deputy Principal