I regularly travel the ten, more or less, kilometre stretch between Darra and Toowong, morning and evening in fact. Part Centenary Motorway, part Western Freeway this road is so familiar that it has become background wallpaper on my windscreen as podcasts fill the car with random musings from random podcasters about random topics.
Occasionally I’ll drift a little too far to the right, spinning tyres touch the unbroken white line that marks the innermost boundary of the passing lane. Suddenly a sound will fill the car, a high-pitched whine that signals a transition. Similarly, the move from lane to lane is announced by a tone, intermittent, shorter lived, but no less an indicator of change. You’re moving from one lane into another and with this there are differences, new expectations (remember the right lane is for passing only) and new destinations. Stay left and it’s Toowong, stay right and you’re into Legacy Way until you get to Kelvin Grove.
As an aside, these white line harbingers of change are called “Audio Tactile Line Marking”. The term “rumble strip”, is also used. You’ll find this as the inside line on Darren Lockyer Way. A rumble strip, however, announces that you might be stepping out of your comfort zone in a much less subtle and confronting way.
Imagine then, being behind the wheel of your car, driving down a bustling highway. There are others sharing the road with you. In sports cars, or family cars, or vans, some are electric, some hybrid and some petrol or diesel but all are moving to somewhere else. Towards a destination that relates only to the person in that car.
Our Eddies men in their journey of lifelong learning will face a sprawling network of roads, filled with twists and turns. There are certain junctures when they will find themselves faced with change, the need to switch lanes, in the journey toward their goals and objectives. Just as the loud white line markings on the road from Darra to Toowong signal a change of lane, there are things in our annual routines that serve as markers announcing changes of direction, movement forward, and progression toward an ultimate destination.
For the Senior Class of 2023; they enter the final weeks of their time here. Those young men who are working towards an ATAR, move into mock exams (“the mocks”), feedback from which will ready them for the challenge of external assessments. For those young men who transition into an apprenticeship or to full time work, they finalise their competencies in gaining crucial certificates.
The move to Term 3 and the “the mocks” is one of the audio tactile line markings of our year. They, among other things, signal a change, a move from one lane to another. Possibly a move into the fast lane, or maybe into a lane that leads to an off ramp, a kilometre closer to a destination.
The signposts of the end of year are more that tactile audio they are an experience. There’s a gut feeling that begins to settle in our Year 12’s that life is about to change. Lanes will change and the off ramp will take them off the Hill. They will be moving on to other destinations, exploring and discovering; and this is right. Shifting lanes both on the road — Centenary Motorway, Western Freeway, Warrego Highway there are so many — and in life signifies transition, evolution…change.
Moments of change can be challenging, manoeuvring across lanes, negotiating rush hour traffic. The unknown can be daunting, however, it's crucial to recognize that change is an inherent part of a young person’s journey.
To the men of Year 12, all the best as you embark on “the mocks” and the next step to externals or to finalising your certificates and the commencement of full time work. These last weeks are announced, they’ve made their presence felt, the lane change is upon you. You will experience endings in so many ways, your final class, your final assembly, your final roll call. The days are few and getting fewer, enjoy!
