Principal’s Address
Monday 11 August 2025
Today we gather to celebrate Semester 1, 2025. It is always good to reflect on the challenges, joys, achievements and mistakes experienced and made half-way through a calendar year. I encourage you to take time to reflect on the half year lived and to set new goals for Semester 2.
I am proud of how all at Merici have worked to find moments of joy so far this year… and so experience one of the fruits of spirit-filled lives. I trust that you have found that searching for and finding the great values of humanity, the transcendentals: truth, goodness and beauty, gives rise to moments of lasting joy and thus can heal any moment. As C.S. Lewis says, joy is the serious business of heaven.
Today we take the time to recognise the successes, strength, resilience and passion exhibited by our young women thus far in 2025. So much has been achieved, both academically and more broadly, by our students who have had the courage to chase their dreams. You have worked with your heads, hearts and hands in order to find direction whilst anchored in love and forgiveness. You are responding to God’s call to be open to new things, goodness, the truth of our beliefs and, of course, beauty in all that we encounter and in the everyday.
Many of you are finding that joy is your birthright, more fundamental than happiness which can be so dependent on external things. We have experienced joy when seeking to do good for others, that UBUNTU, or “I am because we are” is true. The more we turn towards others, the more joy we experience, and the more joy we experience, the more joy we can bring to others. Joy is contagious and we see it today, a day where we overtly seek to uplift, encourage and express pride in the achievements of so many. It is a day where we look to encourage all to continue to grow and chase our aspirations through habits and actions that engender joy.
On behalf of all our community, we would like to thank alumni member Gabrielle (Gabby) Gregoire for attending our ceremony today and sharing her life experiences since graduating from Merici College.
Gabby is an award-winning filmmaker, artist, and proud Merici College graduate (Class of 2018).
Gabrielle’s passion is to build bridges between people and culture through the art of film and storytelling, to ultimately create a more connected, understanding and loving world.
After graduating, Gabrielle’s filmmaking journey began with early recognition at the age of 18, winning an internationally recognised film award at FlickerFest in Sydney, for her film “La Torta.” This marked the start of a series of accolades and opportunities in film and theatre across the world.
We wish Gabby a world of happiness and success and look forward to staying in touch with her.
Congratulations to all our students on their exceptional achievement achievements!
Anna Masters
Principal
