Year 12 Commissioning Speech 2021 – Message to the Young Men of Year 12
For the young men of Year 12 and to every Eddies Man from Year 7 to Year 12 …
The theme of the Commissioning Mass today is The Heart of an Eddies Man.
At my house there is an ongoing discussion as to what makes a good movie. What is at the heart of a truly good flick? If you dissect it and get down to the essence, what are the things that make you say…that was good?
For my sons, we are talking complex plot twists, fantastic acting and thoughtful, yet breathtaking cinematography - movies like Inception, Shutter Island, and Blade Runner (the latest one) come to mind. Dad on the other hand, is happy if there is something resembling a storyline, lots of CGI and as long as it is all smiles at the end, then I am all good. For me, the ultimate form of cinema would be the superhero movie.
If the heart of a good movie is superheroes, explosions and coloured spandex, what then, is in the heart of an Eddies Man?
I think our College Vision covers it.
… inclusive Catholic community enriched by Ipswich culture and grounded in the Edmund Rice Tradition educates and inspires young men to live simply and make a difference.
There is a lot in these words. An Eddies Man is challenged to live simply and make a difference. It is not hard to do, it does not take the brilliance or strength or virtue of a superhero. You do not have to be super strong or super smart or wear a formfitting Lycra bodysuit.
That sort of stuff is extraordinary. It does not mean you cannot strive for the extraordinary, but the extraordinary is exactly that - extra ordinary, beyond the norm. It does not happen often. It is in the simple and the ordinary, the little things of every day, that you can make a difference.
The Year 12 theme for this year is Invest in the Crest. Investment means you must put something in and maybe you get something back.
To make a difference, all it takes is a little investment. Invest a moment, invest a smile and invest a kind thought. Invest your time - with a friend, with your family, with our staff. Invest in study, invest in sport, in creative activities, invest in what you can do for others. Invest your heart, invest yourself.
This year is a chance to put a razor-sharp edge on the skills in which you have invested and knowledge you have gained, from the first day in Year 7 when you became an Eddies Man.
Gentlemen, the journey from today to November is crazy short. In between now and then there will be assignments, exams, certificates. You will succeed, you will fail but you will celebrate, and you will learn. You will dress up for the Formal, dress down for inter-house days and hopefully be proud of the College uniform every day. There will be time invested with your buddies, effort invested in our sausage sizzles and speed invested in getting to the pizza line on Fridays!
And then the moment will arrive; it will probably be hot inside our Hall and it will be bright outside and there may even be tears; it will be when you take your first steps away from this place, our place on the hill. For some of you it will come all too soon, but we will be here to farewell you, friends, staff, parents and caregivers - our Eddies Team.
So take the challenge, give it a go, and give this year all you can. Invest every part of yourself. Be ready to enter the world as the best you can make of yourself, whether it be an apprentice, a university student or a trainee. Be ready to live simply, making a difference in the lives of others with the little acts of every day. Make a difference as a son, a brother, maybe one day as a partner or as a father.
What is the heart of an Eddies Man? The heart of an Eddies Man, like our College crest that sits above the heart of our young men, is in Ipswich, in our Catholic Community, in the legacy of the Christian Brothers. It is in living simply, maybe striving to do the extraordinary, but it is in being firmly and solidly set in the plain and ordinary act of every day.
And what do you get back for your investment? The fact that you will enter the world a strong and resilient, kind and respectful, gentle and responsive, reflective Eddies Man, and importantly, that in your world, you have and will continue to make a difference.
