The Resilience Project In 2022, Trinity College, in partnership with The Resilience Project, are teaching students how they can practice Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness in their day-to-day lives, and how these practices can lead to greater happiness.
HISTORY OF THE RESILIENCE PROJECT In 2008, a young Melbournian school teacher was travelling through India and wound up doing some volunteer work in a small desert village in the country’s far north. This village had no running water, no electricity, and no beds in the mud huts that the locals called home. What began as a two week visit to lend a hand to those less fortunate ended up being a three-month residency which taught this young teacher more about happiness than any other experience he’d ever had. The young teacher’s name was Hugh van Cuylenberg, and those three months would be the catalyst for his wellbeing program called The Resilience Project. What Hugh came to realise during his three-month stay was that these people were amongst the happiest people on earth, despite not having access to many of the things that we here in Australia take for granted. He came to realise that practising gratitude, empathy and mindfulness every day is what led them to being so happy, and came to the conclusion that we need to be doing the same thing back in Australia to help address the increasing mental health issues that were becoming more and more prevalent. This experience inspired Hugh to further his post-graduate studies upon his return to Melbourne. What soon became evident was that the research had been there for a long time in support of these three principles, and from these revelations, The Resilience Project was born.
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WINTER 2022 – TRINITY NEWS
WHAT DOES THE RESILIENCE PROJECT DO? The Resilience Project focuses on educating young people on the three GEM principles of Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness plus Emotional Literacy, and how they can practise these in their day-to-day lives that can help lead to greater happiness. The school’s program for each year group is structured around 50 x 20-minute lessons focused on one of these principles, and involve practical activities, educational and entertaining videos, and small-group and whole-class discussion. The lessons are complemented by a student workbook to help guide their discussions and understanding, and also involve at-home activities to help them extend the conversations with their families.
WHY IS THIS PROGRAM IMPORTANT FOR BOYS AT TRINITY COLLEGE? With research now showing that one in four adolescents have a mental illness, as a school and community it is important that we continue to help our students improve their mental health and find ways to equip them with the knowledge and tools to work their way through the challenges they face. TRP does just that with Trinity students in Years 7–10 engaging with TRP to varying levels throughout the first part of 2022 with a vision to expand this into our Junior School from as early as next year. Ultimately, the goal through this program is to develop compassionate, thankful and respectful young men who are able to remove the natural negativitybias possessed by many humans, and instead more readily identify the positives that exist in their lives.
