If you knew 2020 was going to happen, just how much pasta and toilet paper would you have bought? Maybe you’d have bought stocks in Pfizer? Maybe you’d have just made a few better choices in general. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing!
The good news is that we’re into a fresh new year. A new year psychologically brings with it a sense of excitement and promise of new things to come; of hopefulness and optimism. That’s how I feel when each new school year starts – hopeful and optimistic!
And then we went into lockdown! You know, I still feel really optimistic – I know we will be back at school shortly and I can see the big picture of some short-term inconvenience. And as we welcome back our students (many who will seem to have grown a foot over the break) I always love that first day when people are so excited to see each other and to see what has happened around the school whilst they were gone.
You may have noticed a couple of things missing as you’ve driven past us – Blocks 1 and 2, one toilet block and the pavilion. Quickly demolished in December, our site has been a hive of activity as the builders have started putting in the foundational infrastructure of the new STEAM Centre. And we’ve made quite a sand pit as we aim to improve our facilities and opportunities for students, and to create something truly inspirational.
This is a great metaphor for growth. Sometimes we need to demolish old habits and rebuild them if we’re to create something new, something better or something beautiful.
The most important part of building a physical structure is its foundation. If the foundation is not strong and healthy, everything else will become vulnerable. It’s the same with us: if we base our life and approach on something that is flawed or weak, in the end we’re looking pretty shakey, and without integrity.
We should think of ourselves as builders, and our lives as our construction. Each day we e.g. place a board, hammer in a nail or put up a wall. And that means we have to build with real intention, wisdom and care. It’s the only life we will ever build. It’s like the metaphorical story of the man who built on sand vs. the man who built on solid rock – one was sound and strong, the other was vulnerable when trouble came.
Our lives today are the result of our attitudes and choices in our past. Our lives tomorrow will be the result of our attitudes and the choices we make today. As we watch our wonderful STEAM Centre being constructed during 2021, let’s similarly construct our own lives with real intentionality, with only good materials and with a real sense of the end goal – a beautiful structure of a flourishing life.
Change is important, even if it is a bit messy along the way. We may have a lock down, but over the bigger picture it will soon become a good story for our students Graduation in the years to come. But, like our STEAM centre, in the end the journey will be well worth it.
Tracy Holmes
Principal – Senior School
