I’ve had a wonderful year at this school and have been immensely proud to have been a part of it for 5 years.

I found it extremely difficult to write my prize giving speech which, in a way, was supposed to be a bit of a message from my time at Logan Park. Despite being given advice; have it be short, be not-boring and say appreciate, I had a very difficult time.

I think it was because simply, I couldn’t talk for everyone sitting in that auditorium. I couldn’t make huge, sweeping generalisations about why my whole year had enjoyed their time at Logan Park. I have loved my time at Logan, it’s true. I’ve loved every single second, and I know just why I’ve loved it. But, it’s not for the same reasons that all of my different friends have loved it. Everyone has had different experiences and made their own highlights. I think that’s great. It’s wonderful that everyone is able to make their own experiences and are not forced into a cookie cutter mould of a stereotypical Logan Parker, where everyone is exactly the same.

Despite not having a cookie cutter mould, I still think we are all made from the same recipe. There are certainly characteristics which I saw in everyone. I saw inclusivity, I saw effort, I saw individuality.

At the start of the year I went to a leadership day with Jacobi and Tahlia. There, after lots of talk with senior leaders from other schools we discovered that there were some seniors who didn’t ever interact with juniors. I originally just didn’t understand. How was that even possible?

Then it clicked; Logan Park was different. The inclusivity which everyone always goes on about actually is so very prominent, but it’s just such a part of our culture that we constantly overlook it.

I would see it when I entered my group room each day. The minute I entered 1/1 on my first day of school back in 2011, I knew it was going to be good. The seniors were kind and helpful, my year group was wonderful and as the years went on the new students who came in kept up the nurturing and safe environment. The inclusivity didn’t stop with the students though, and here is when I feel I really need to thank Mrs Whipp, my group teacher, who over the years I’ve put though a lot. I probably shouldn’t go into details except one of the computers now as a rather peculiar dent on the side and she gets slightly nervous whenever I am near them. It must be a bit stressful for her in a room full of them.

Mrs Whipp has been a fantastic group teacher, one who welcomes students in with open arms and cares about them, treating them as their own person, much like all of the teachers at this school.

Not only do Logan Parkers care about others, but I believe they care about themselves by striving for excellence in whatever they may choose to do. The thing about striving for excellence doesn’t mean you have to win. It means putting in all of the effort you can. It means trying your best, and being happy with that.

I would see that effort when I came down to hockey practice at 7.30 in the morning and there would be frost on the turf. When the ball seemed to go almost too fast and your fingers would freeze and jar when you would try to trap the ball.

I saw it when we went on hockey tournament and we played the best we had ever played. Sure, we lost every game, and sure, we scored no goals, (a very consistent result, I must say), but we gave it our all. We came back feeling proud and happy with how we’d done, and we came back a team.

We were a very diverse team ranging from year 9 to year 13. Each person having their own special characteristics and quirks which we came to know by the end of the week… rather too well in some peoples cases.

However, that’s what made our team great! We were filled with individuals, and we were allowed to be ourselves. This I think translates into every single one of us at this school.

Logan parkers have the ability to be themselves, and to be respected and nurtured for that. We are able to make our own judgements, to think of things our way and to form our own opinions. To excel in whatever we want to excel in.

The proof of this lies in the exceptional creations in the technologies block. It lies in the portfolios of arts students, in the performances of the music and drama departments. In the winning of science quizzes, in the impressive Logan park record of taking out the junior classics cup, in the wonderful films which get created, and the triumphs we have in various sports, admittedly not girls hockey. It lies in all of the successes, in all of the departments.

I saw it when I looked around at my fellow Year 13’s and we all looked different. I saw it when my biology class got into ethics debates. I saw it when we didn’t just accept what we were told, we challenged.

As we leave this school and take our own paths out into that big, shiny world, I hope we remember the things which make us unique. I hope we stay caring and accepting. I hope we still are striving to be the best we can. And, I hope we still are us. Because, after being at this school you become a freethinker and your own person, not dependent on others, or for others to tell you what to believe.

I hope in years to come when I catch up with my friends we still manage to hold these characteristics dear to us. Not only are they signs of a Logan Parker, they are signs of a well-balanced, thoughtful, and good person.

Now I must leave this school and go out into that world, leaving behind a school which had been so so good to me. It’s been a wonderful year, and I sure am going to miss it.