A very special night was enjoyed by our Year 12 students and their families last night as we celebrated the Year 12 Graduation Mass and Awards Presentation.
This evening enshrines a special moment in time where we recognise a turning point in the lives of each individual here, most significantly, in the lives of the Class of 2021. We are in what geographers call a littoral zone, a space where, like the intertidal zone on a beach, things are constantly shifting and changing. A place of beauty, surprise, and constant variety, a place that demands curiosity and openness to what might be coming next. It is a place of uncertainty that demands resilience, support and agility. Navigating this littoral space, the place between the security of land and the liquidity of the sea takes maturity, organisation, reason and a good deal of emotional intelligence. The young women here today exemplify the qualities needed to not only negotiate this littoral space but to experience it’s wonder. I believe they will continue to chart new paths in life’s littoral spaces because they can.
Year 12 2021:
- Are resilient rather than temperamental so good at managing self
- They inspire others and thus are empowering rather than indifferent
- Through their ability to be present in the moment and connected they reveal a depth of maturity and self knowledge
- Their awareness of others’ needs highlights empathy as a strength – they have been valued Big Sisters
- They are genuine and authentic so can be trusted
- They think with both their heads and their hearts and so can be expansive in their decision making – they are wise risk takers and I would like to congratulate a small group of brave young women, our first cohort of IB DP students who ventured into new territory with the college in 2021.
We know this because we have seen it. They are a year group filled with diverse talents: musicians, sportswomen, academics, creative makers and powerful public speakers. They genuinely care for others. Year 12 have worked hard to shape our world already through numerous social justice initiatives over the years and have led our community through almost 2 years of COVID crises. We are all so proud of the women they have become.
Year 12 2021 have not become talented navigators of the littoral without the support of loving elders. Thank you parents, carers and loved ones for nurturing your daughters. You have been their primary educators and should be well satisfied with the impact you have had on their growth as highly functioning human beings.
Thank you to all who have worked in partnership with Year 12 and their parents in order to enable them to reach this turning point. I must recognise the staff of Merici College who have nurtured the individual talents of each these young women. I would especially like to acknowledge Mr Damein Nemeth, who as Head of Senior School, supported Year 12 over two extraordinary years; Ms Vicki Meyer and Ms Laura Sheehan, who, as House Coorodinators have walked with their seniors as they have grown into Ningil and Tullow leaders. Thank you for your service to our community and, most significantly, our students.
The Year 12 women of 2021 who have grown up at Merici can now move into littoral spaces with confidence and a deep sense of security in the knowledge that they are loved unconditionally by their God. They have embedded values that will clearly help them determine their individual pathways through life’s tidal zones. Not only that, but they know how to reach high, and to dream deep, as they strive to achieve their goals.
To the Year 12 class of 2021. Thank you for being you: witty, positive and loving. Thank you for welcoming me so generously to a community you clearly cherish and have led so powerfully this year. Thank you to two women who have led you with wisdom and courage, Heather and Caitlyn. Your genuine openness has helped me refine my vision for the wonderful school that is Merici College. Your voice is strong and significant and may it continue to be so.
For the Romans, to say vale meant more than just farewell, it conveyed the speaker’s desire that you stay well and be strong. That is what I hope for you. As young women you are going into a world that is complex and exciting, rapidly shifting and changing. It is thrilling yet daunting in its imperfection whilst being positively beautiful. As alumnae of Merici College you have the power to shape these spaces as you live your lives. In fact, the world needs you to be effective shapers and navigators. It needs to you to believe that you can change the world for the better, as individuals and as a collective. Especially as women, the world needs you to be proactive, collaborative, creative, intuitive and effective problem solvers. Be strong, have faith in your voice and power to effect change and shape the world. Young people are challenging negative forces with style and skill. You don’t need to be told how to by older feminists. In fact, we need to recognise and acknowledge what you and your generation can do!
You are our future. You are precious to us. We know you are women who are ready to live in littoral, fluid spaces where individual possibilities are infinite. Be confident that you are more than able to keep evolving as individuals in a wonderfully complex world. You have at your core, the knowledge that you are made in the image of God and loved. Go with our confidence in you and with this blessing:
Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep peace of the flowing air to you,
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
Deep peace of the shining stars to you,
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.
Anna Masters
Principal
