sch ool captain biggest motivator. You have formed me into the man I am today. I will never forget your face when I took my shoe off to present a foot that had been burning in acid for three hours. I laugh and cry thinking of it. I love you both so much, and I promise I have done my best to make you both proud. I would also like to thank Mr Wain, Mr Hawkins, Mr Bos and Mr Stansbie for working with Condi, Tom and me, making our jobs much easier, and trusting me with the position of School Captain this year. Thank you to the Prefects and to Tom and Condi for helping me this year. To Tom - you are always right beside me through the thick and thin and you’re someone I can always turn to for help. To Condi, your hard work, dedication and passion for this school is remarkable and has proved to be an inspiration to all. You both have been great role models and have had my back all year and I know we will be lifelong friends. Thank you.
To all our parents, and families. Thank you for giving your sons such a great opportunity to attend this amazing school. The investment you make in your son’s education does not go unnoticed. There may be times when we get caught up in our social lives, but I can promise we are truly grateful for all you do for each of us. And I want to take the time to thank my own parents. Mum and Dad, for everything you do for me, the time you have taken out of your own lives for my brother, sister and myself, cannot be described and thanked enough for. For moving across the world from South Africa to Australia just so we can have a better life. For being right beside me, all through the years I have moved through the School, through good times and bad. Mum, you are an absolute inspiration to me. Your love and care for me is like no other and I am truly lucky to have you as my Mum. Dad, you are my biggest critic but my
It’s been an absolute honour to be your School Captain this year, and I hope I have done all I can, to make your year a memorable one. I hope I have left a positive impact not just on the students but on the wider TSS community. I wish this school all the best for the future, this school means so much to me and will stay with me for the rest of my life. So I will leave you with a quote by Rocky Balboa that has resounded with me for my final year. Through my thick and thin. Through the good times and the bad. And it goes like this, “You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.’’
To the rest of the School, the band of brothers, I thank each and every one of you. You have supported me all year. Enjoy your time at this wonderful place as before you know it, you will be sitting in the seniors' seats; ready to tackle the real world. Seize the opportunities that come your way and take nothing for granted. Your time at this place is so special, so take the opportunities you get, as you don’t know what you can do unless you try. I want to wish the School Captain and the leadership group for 2019, everything of the very best. I know they will do an amazing job.
Palmam qui meruit ferat
Finally, to the valedictorians of 2018. There is nowhere I’d rather be than with you all, finishing this journey together. What we have experienced together, our memories and our mateships, is something very precious and special. The big world awaits us in the next chapter of our journey. This cohort is something special. A cohort that I think will leave a lasting memory to the students and teachers for many years to come. I hope that many of our paths will cross over, as once a Southport boy, always a Southport man. This is because at the end of the day, no matter how far the distances that separate us, an unspoken brotherhood brings us together. It’s been a privilege to be with such a good bunch of blokes.
SOUTHPORTONIAN
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