Journey Well

Last Friday we said farewell to our Graduating Class of 2019. There was a mixture of emotions following a tremendous couple of weeks in preparation for the graduation service, final chapel and formal. There was a great warmth in the manner in which we bid them goodbye and it was perhaps the tunnel formed by all students following Chapel, that highlighted for me just how grateful we are of the students’ contribution to our College community. Importantly, it is a time for all to reflect on the memories created and the legacy they leave behind.

The word farewell means to ‘journey well’, we often say ‘Godspeed’, which turns farewell into a prayer. Journeying prayerfully is to make the journey a pilgrimage. We hope the College has helped the Graduating Class of 2019 as they ‘journey well’ to name the presence of God in their lives. We thank all staff who played a role in the graduates’ formation and their parents for entrusting us to walk with them on their journey. I thank our Head of Senior College Students Mr Mark Hauser for his leadership of the Year 12 graduates this year.

This week we also said farewell, for a brief time, to the Year 9 students as they embarked upon their final compulsory Outdoor Education experience. For many, this is the culmination of a journey that had its beginning with their first camp experience in Year 3. For everyone though, this is an opportunity to set themselves challenges, to connect with nature, to connect with others and a time to connect with their interior selves as they experience a dawn to dusk solo. This program also coincides with the Rite Journey Homecoming ceremony that takes place on Monday 2^nd December at 5.00pm in the College gym. As the Year 12 cohort graduated from school, so too, our Year 9 students graduate from Middle College and transition into the Senior College, where they will continue to grow and mature into fine young adults.

Mr Ben Ryan, Director of Students