LORETO TOORAK
Year 12 Valedictory Speech Sophia Murray
I stand before you today, albeit through our screens, six years on from when Ms Jaensch first welcomed us in Year 7 as the Class of 2021. To my 12-year-old self, 2021 seemed a world away. But here we are having now completed our final day of schooling. I always thought school would go on forever, and even now a day without school seems almost unimaginable. But all good things must come to an end… even after 15 years one of the most intellectual and captivating TV shows about strong, independent women had its season finale this year: Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Those women have nothing on us… as we end our 13 years of school let us launch ourselves as the Loreto Class of 2021 and let the world try to keep up with us! I have found myself, like many others, somewhat scared to graduate and enter the world of adulthood. The thought of days not being structured by timetables, having to pick an outfit every single day, not being able to have a chocolate muffin every Friday morning, and having to thrust myself into the unknown has played on my mind over the last few months. At the same time, this year has felt like a rush to the finish line, a countdown to the final SAC, final class, final day of school and final exam. But a single-minded focus on what lies after school finishes, and the rush to ATAR release day, neglects the 13-year long journey to today and the individuals who have shaped us all during that journey. So, in writing this speech, I forced myself to slow down, to reflect, and to appreciate my schooling journey. I began my journey as a Loreto Toorak girl in Term 4 of Year 2, nine years ago. I still remember my first day, arriving in full pristine summer uniform whilst everyone else was dressed in their sports uniform because, as would be my luck, the first day back we had PE. For anyone starting at a new school, you can imagine this would be 18
the last thing you would want, to stand out when you are trying so hard to blend in. But no one made a comment. No one singled me out, rather on that first day I felt more welcomed than I had ever been before. My strongest memory is an emotional one of feeling valued by everyone I met… I was eight and I had arrived at my happy place. This warm and felicitous environment has remained whilst at Loreto Toorak, and I am sure every girl who has come to this school as a new student can attest to this. Over my next four years at Rathfarnham my love of learning grew. The teachers I had saw potential in me and encouraged me to participate in all manner of extra academic activities. I fondly remember mornings with Sr Mary Balderstone completing Math Olympiads, which I could never seem to quite get right, and Ms O’Brien explaining that one day in senior school I would have to integrate quotes into my English writing and not just write my opinion. It was in Years 5 and 6 where I truly began to harness my
" ... I have been taught by some of the best and most inspirational people ..." academic potential, feeling proud when I did get a maths question right, and empowered to be able to sit at my family’s dinner table and
