Celebrating Excellence

Congratulations to our award recipients for 2020, and to all students on your participation in and dedication to the life of Mount Alvernia this year. In a year that has called on us all to adapt and learn new ways, it was wonderful to be able to witness the continued excellence across the community.

As I reflect on our Celebration of Excellence Ceremony held on Monday afternoon, I reflect on the meaning of success. Our ceremony was an opportunity to acknowledge students who have excelled in the various areas of college life. These students are to be commended on their achievements and, even more importantly, acknowledged for the hard work, determination, persistence, and commitment that brought this reward. Success, of course, is the ultimate reward but it is in the strive and in the journey, with all its hurdles and hiccups, where we learn and grow. I share below the Academic Address from our 2020 Curriculum Captain, Sophia Fasone, focusing on this journey to success. I thank Sophia for her leadership and commitment to inspiring students to strive for academic excellence in 2020.

Like many events in 2020, our Monday ceremony took on a new form and, although our families and special guests were not able to be with us, the opportunity of all students to be present to acknowledge the excellence of their peers was a significant and valuable opportunity for our student community. It was wonderful to, despite restrictions, connect to nearly 400 families via live streaming, particularly as it was the occasion of our first formal farewell to our College Principal, Dr Kerrie Tuite, who is retiring at the end of 2020 after twelve years of exceptional leadership of the Mt A community. For those who were unable to attend the ceremony on Monday, I invite you to view the ceremony and farewell to Dr Tuite via the Celebration of Excellence recording that continues to be available to the community via the event link - Mount Alvernia College Celebration of Excellence 2020.

Again, congratulations to our award recipients and to all students on striving for success in 2020.

Kerry Jell

Academic Address – Sophia Fasone

Good afternoon, staff and students, today we gather to celebrate academic excellence and to acknowledge students for their hard work and dedication throughout the year. To start us off, in the style of the one and only Dr Tuite, I would like to begin with a short story.

Once a man was passing through a forest when he noticed a butterfly’s cocoon on a tree branch. He decided to sit down and watch the butterfly’s transformation. He watched the butterfly for hours as it tried to force itself out of a small hole. After a few hours, the butterfly suddenly stopped moving as it became stuck.

The man felt bad for the butterfly and decided to help it out. He took a knife and cut the cocoon carefully so as not to hurt the butterfly. Though the butterfly emerged, it looked weak. Its body looked swollen and its wings shrivelled.

He sat there waiting for the butterfly to grow wings and start flying. No matter what the butterfly did, the wings wouldn’t grow, and he was stuck there unable to fly with his swollen body and weak wings.

The man was confused because he thought he was helping the butterfly by removing its struggles, but what he didn’t know was that his very action made the butterfly weak and disabled. The butterfly needed to struggle through the cocoon because that was the only way the fluid from its body would reach its wings which would help it fly. Since its struggle was cut short, the butterfly could never fully develop and gain strength and now had to lead its life crawling around.

The moral of this story is that we have to endure struggle to achieve success. Without struggle we do not have the opportunity to learn, grow, and adapt. Drawing upon this, 2020 can be considered a year of struggle, brought by the unpredicted impacts of COVID-19. For the first time in hundreds of years, the globe had to change and adapt to this new world filled with sanitising on the regular, elbow shakes, social distancing, limited numbers at venues - the list goes. Such restrictions brought online learning, a new way of life, all from the comfort of our own homes. Whilst the everyday sleep-ins were great, not the mention the kitchen being nearby at all times, online learning brought several challenges to many. With the absence of physical teaching and communication, it was much easier to be distracted, not understand concepts or topics as well, and experience a lack of motivation to complete the work at hand.

However, despite the struggle, we made it through, returning to back to school in a few weeks. On behalf of all students, I would like to thank the staff and teachers for guiding us through this tough year and doing all you can to aid your student’s needs. Online learning was an experience from which we all grew, teaching us all different things. For me, it reminded me of the power of communication, and how essential it is to maintain relationships through social media platforms when we are not able to physically meet with our friends or family. I would just like to congratulate everyone for making it through this time; it was certainly not easy, and I truly commend you for fighting your battles and succeeding tremendously. This success is portrayed throughout this celebration, seen within the plethora of achievements and awards across academia, cultural, sport, and more.

However, what does success mean? The Oxford Dictionary defines success as “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose”. The main words that I take from this definition are “of an aim or purpose”; success is different for everyone because everyone has a different aim in life. Similarly, academic success is personal - it is dependent on you; what you aspire to achieve; what your passion is; what you are working for. Whilst academic excellence is put on show today, no one sees behind the scenes. Success is built from doing that extra 30 minutes of study when you want to go to bed; it's declining that party to get that assignment done; it's keeping yourself attentive in class when you feel like dosing off; it's pushing yourself harder when you are close to giving up. Success is not an overnight thing - it requires persistence, hard work, and late nights and amongst the effort, failures, doubts, and rejections. However, without these struggles, we would not learn from our mistakes, we would not grow, and we would be in the same position as the butterfly in the story. Yet all of us are here, strong, resilient, and able to fly.

At the first academic assembly, I read a quote that I believe best reflects the importance of learning and that is, “Learning is a journey, not a destination”. Throughout this year, we have all moved forward in our journeys, travelling through both calm and rough seas, and we will continue to travel, broadening our horizons along the way. You truly never stop learning. Education does not stop when you finish school or university. It is a continuous journey that is self-paced, self-directed, and invaluable. So, when I leave Mount Alvernia College for the last time, I know that my learning journey has only begun, and so has it for all of you.

I would like to thank you for providing me with the honour of fulfilling the role of Curriculum Captain for 2020. It was an experience that I struggle to put into words, but one I will carry with me as I pass into the next chapter. I wish Samantha Maguire, 2021 Curriculum Captain, all the very best for the upcoming year.

Finally, I would like to finish where I began; don’t be afraid to endure struggle because, once you do, you too like a butterfly will flourish in success.

From the Futures Hub