"Tis the season to be jolly". It’s Christmas, it’s snowing and judging from the architecture, it’s not Australia. In a large department store, two people, surrounded by the festive season, simultaneously reach for the same pair of black cashmere gloves. So begins the 2001 romantic comedy — a much maligned film genre — Serendipity. Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack wind their way through an imaginative yet formulaic will they/won’t they love story, that eventually ends unsurprisingly with them together, living happily ever after etc, etc, etc.
In the real-world, serendipity doesn’t depend on fashionable yet expensive hand warmers. It can happen anywhere, anytime. The word itself was first coined in 1754 by Horace Walpole, from an ancient Persian fairy tale called the Three Princes of Serendip – a story about three young men of royal breeding who, by using observation, analysis and deduction, discover as if by accident, amazing things.
Serendipity for us, is defined as an unplanned fortunate discovery, a happy accident. While Kate and John may have been the beneficiaries of a serendipitous meeting, their history is littered with examples of happy accidents, fortunate unexpected discoveries.
Velcro derives from lucky inconvenience during a hunting trip. Frenchman George de Mestral came up with the idea after observing that thistle burrs annoyingly stick to clothing via a multitude of tiny (and tenacious) hooks.
The microwave oven came into being when Defence scientist, Percy Spencer, noticed the unusual, strangely accelerated and somewhat messy melting of a chocolate bar in his pocket, while working on radar equipment.
Alexander Fleming returned to work after a holiday to find the bacteria from an experiment, abandoned in expectant vacation haste, had been eradicated. A bit of contaminating bread mould, bacteria gone and bingo, Penicillin!
Silly Putty comes from synthetic rubber gone wrong,Teflon originates from a failed refrigerant gas for air conditioners and Coca Cola, well, it’s interesting what you get when you accidentally add carbonated water to the ingredients of a prospective headache cure.
Happy accidents aside, what made these innovations amazing wasn’t their unexpected discovery — although this is pretty cool — it was that someone had the foresight, ability and creativity to see the potential in each chance occurrence. To have the knowledge to recognise opportunity, to be able to think creatively beyond set boundaries, to work through a problem step by step, to collaborate, to fail and bounce back, to use all the tools at hand, these are the true story of serendipitous discovery.
In Term 3 for us at Eddies, tis the season to be selecting subjects. Our young men have the opportunity to select the courses that will lead them on their chosen pathway; a pathway that needs to engage them; a pathway that develops the skills to recognise and make the most of situations that can make a difference. These situations will sometimes be unexpected and serendipitous, sometimes deliberate and carefully planned but will lead to independence and self-reliance as successful adults.
Our Eddies Team is crucial during this time. There are questions to be asked and discussions to be had. Our young men need to make informed decisions and the input of all of us is so important in this process.
The Three Princes of Serendip is a story of learning, of developing skills that can be transferred across the many episodes of their adventure, and Serendipity is a 'Rom Com' with defined and expected outcomes. Each journey for each student will be different as will be the pathway they choose. Serendipitous events will present themselves occasionally, as will more often, circumstances that are defined, planned and foreseen. Supported by the Eddies Team, what will make the difference in the life of each Eddies Man? Knowledge will play a part, but skills, transferable from situation to situation, event to event, job to job, developed through learning experiences, in classrooms, on sporting fields or on stages, will allow them to take any situation, be independent, make a difference and thrive.
