2024 – a leap year, an Olympic year and a year that represents spiritual growth. And one thing is for sure – it will be a FABULOUS year at Merici.
Welcome Merici students, parents and staff to our new 2024 College year! We are Sofia and Lily, your 2024 College Captains and we are so excited to lead the school community to greatness this year! We would especially like to welcome the Year 7s, new students and staff members. You are all joining a wonderful community, and we know that you will adjust to this new environment smoothly. We are a caring and considerate community, so please don’t be afraid to ask for help! We hope to be approachable, caring and listen to your voice to create a community that connects us. We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be your big sisters and supporters for the next twelve months and are so blessed to have a strong leadership team for 2024. We are very confident that we can make 2024 a great year.
This year is particularly important since we are celebrating the College’s 65th Anniversary. This is a very special time for the Merici community where we celebrate the College’s journey from Canberra Catholic Girls’ High School way back in 1959 to the Merici College that we know and love today. Merici College was named in honour of St. Angela Merici, an educator of women during the Italian renaissance. She was the founder of the Ursulines, one of the six original orders of nuns in the College. During this anniversary year, we will also be acknowledging the importance of St. Angela Merici and her love, community service and vision for education that is a constant beacon of inspiration to all.
Our 2024 College theme is Spes, which is the Latin word for ‘hope.’ We are living in a time of global conflicts, natural disasters, and political polarisation. We as high school students have additional pressures balancing school, extra-curriculars and relationships, all while trying to navigate the complexities of growing up. As a result, it can often be difficult to maintain an optimistic outlook on the future. At Merici, we are always reassured that we are powerful women that can achieve anything we set our minds to, and we can hope that the future will turn out just fine.
In this upcoming year, we would love to uphold the wonderful work of the 2023 Leadership Team and maintain the spirit of Merici connection that they have created. We encourage you to become involved in the school by signing up to new co-curricular activities and clubs, talking to students from other year groups through our Pastoral Care big sister groups, and participating in school events. In particular, we are super excited to run the second year of the Merici Olympic games which we hope to see you all involved in once again. It was a raging success in 2023 and we would love this to be the case in 2024. We want to keep our promises by listening to student voices, and making sure that each and every one of you feels safe, supported and included in this wonderful Merici community. In the spirit of Spes, we want everyone to be able to look to the future with the knowledge that everything is going to turn out just fine. We want to allow you to be hopeful for the future, both at Merici and beyond.
This year, we may face challenges and obstacles that seem difficult to overcome. We also know that hope is an integral part of our character as Merici girls who never give up. This year we are going to learn, make memories and look towards the future with spes. Every student has something to offer, and we can’t wait to see everyone living to their fullest potential. As your Captains this year, we are committed to working with all of you to help create a hope-filled Merici community. Bring on 2024!
Sofia White, College Captain
Lily Nutt, College Vice Captain
