This week has been, as is traditional here on the hill, a chaos of activity. After postponing, rescheduling and adjusting we were finally able to celebrate the Year 12 Induction Mass. Included below is a variation of my address from the Mass.
Roaming through our new library recently I was stopped in my tracks by a question launched my way from behind a row of, might I say, plush and extremely comfortable seating. “Have you gotten the Wordle Word of the day Sir?”. Staring back blankly at the young man who advanced this query my aging brain quickly overheated with cells desperately expending energy, searching for connections and links to a source, a memory that would allow a reasonably intelligent response. Quite frankly, I had no idea what Wordle was, to say anything about the Wordle Word of the Day. Fortunately, there were some kind Year 12 boys who took me under their wing and generously took time from their Christian Ministry class to enlighten me.
Wordle is a game you play on the Internet. As with many things nowadays it only takes five to ten minutes to run through. Might I say it’s a bit addictive. You start with a 5 by 6 grid of blank boxes - five wide and six high.
Tentatively you type in in a five-letter word. Your first try appears in the top row and your chosen letters stare back at you from the screen, each in its little box, white against a coloured background. A white letter in a green box — you’ve nailed this one — right letter in the right spot. White letter in a yellow box — not bad — right letter but wrong spot. White letter grey background, well…try again, wrong letter, wrong spot. Step by step you inch your way towards your goal and the reward of success, Wordle Word of the Day.
In taking the first step, in typing that first word, you commit to a path. In learning, leadership, in life, it’s a bit like that. The first most important step that our young men will ever take towards success is to make a choice - a choice to learn, a choice to lead, a choice to live lives to make a difference - a chance to work intensely, play hard and finish well. For our Year 12 cohort this year is their year, their time to take the chance, make that first step, choose to commit.
Announced last week the senior theme for 2022 is “Sculpture the Culture”.
Before he was a Mutant Ninja Turtle Michelangelo was an architect, poet, and painter of renaissance Italy. While he was the guy who painted the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, his main love was sculpture. The Pietà, Moses, David, all masterpieces of high Renaissance Art.
“The sculpture is already complete within the marble block before I start my work. It is already there; I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.”
Our culture here, like Wordle words is already set. All our young men need do is commit, take that first step and chisel away the superfluous, to shape a culture that we hold dear.
Just like in Wordle, the right word might appear on the first try. Give something a go, create an idea, lead a change, invest in a difference and it comes out staring back at you in green - right letter, right spot, right idea, right time - bonus! More likely though, there will be some green, perhaps a yellow or two and absolutely some grey.
So, what to do? In what our Eddies Men learn, in the relationships they form, in the life they lead, there will be big steps, but there will be many little steps - small, sequential and moving ever closer to the values we hold true. These values are represented by words, the words of our Vision and Mission, faith, community, compassion, living simply and making a difference.
The moments here for our Year 12 cohort of 2022, are numbered. In what will seem to be a heartbeat, they will take a breath in March and suddenly, it will be November as they exhale. So much will have happened. When the final moment arrives and for many it will come all too soon, hopefully it will be a time of sunshine, definitely a time of heat and maybe even a time of tears. It will be when they take their first steps away from this place, our place on the hill.
We hope they make the choice to commit wholeheartedly, to give every part of themselves to being the best they can be, as an apprentice, a Uni student or an employee.
Our culture is in the heart of our Eddies men. It’s Ipswich. It’s our Eddies Team and Catholic community. It’s the legacy of the Christian Brothers. It’s in living simply, maybe striving to do and succeeding first time, but mostly and importantly, having the resilience no matter what, to keep going one step at a time until they make their difference as a son, a brother, a partner or maybe one day as a father, but always as an Eddies Man.
Performing Arts Evening
A very special congratulations to the performers from both Eddies and St Mary’s who, on Wednesday evening, demonstrated that we are two schools full of talent. Angelic singing, virtuoso playing, and a reasonable dose of comic relief made for a wonderful evening.
Rookies
Rookies, by the grace of God, went off on Friday afternoon, on time and as per schedule. A new cohort of Eddies Rookies enjoyed the chance to take that first plunge into the Eddies experience. After two years of restricted interaction, it was a welcomed event to meet and chat with our many Rookies parents.
I look forward to a less restricted year to come and many more opportunities to interact with these new and most welcome members of our Eddies Team.
