Some of you may have seen the man sitting over there with his wife. His name is John Foote, and he’s my father.

“Why is he here?” You may be asking. Well, multiple reasons, the first, he missed out on attending the assembly where I got my Prefects tie, due to unforeseen reasons; and the second, he is my main motivation for this Last Word.

Here’s a wee backstory:

February 9th 2021

I arrive back from a few reception-less days away with the Hostel Year 9’s up at the Mt Aspiring Lodge, to the news of Dad being in hospital due to an accident on the farm a day earlier. He was gutted (even more so than I was) that he wouldn’t be able to attend the prefect ceremony the next day. The observant ones of you will have noticed he is wearing a fake left hand - the amputation happened on March 2nd, 22 long days after the mishap. Dad was released from hospital 9 days later on March 11th.

Some of you may be thinking “Jeez, is he alright?” et cetera et cetera. Well, he’s all fine, he still has his dominant right hand, and we still manage to do most of the things we could do before. At the moment we are in the process of sorting out a fancy attachment, and with a growth mindset and some help here and there, anything is possible. Long story short, he has good days and bad days, but he chugs along and doesn’t do too badly.

Over the course of 31 days from the admittance, to the release of Dad from hospital, countless acts of kindness were carried out. We were blessed to be looked after by such a great small community, particularly with the running of the farm. Dad still shows his thanks the best he can, and often he gets shut down by someone saying he’s just getting an overdue dose of people looking out for him after everything he’s done for the community.

Here’s a few of the things Dad does/did.

· Caretaker of the swimming pool for many years.

· Chief of the Middlemarch Volunteer Fire Brigade, for the last 17 of the 28 years he’s been a member.

· Relief school bus and van driver for rail trail companies.

· and he’s always sure to drop whatever he’s doing to go help someone out, whether it’s a mate, a stranger, whoever.

Between all this, he still somehow finds the time to be a farmer and provide for the family.

An ex-deputy rector of the school, and someone who has given countless hours of service to sports associations, Otago Boys’, and in particular our Hostel, is a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Des Smith. Mr Smith spoke in this assembly at the start of the year about volunteering, and his passion for doing so. He talked about seeing the success of people he helped, and how the feeling of being a part of that success motivates him to continue to offer service.

The difference with Dad is, his main motivation (as I see it) is to make other peoples’ lives easier. He isn’t motivated by what will benefit him, but by the sensation of knowing that he has done a good deed, and has simply helped someone out.

Boys, when the rector reminds us to “put your hand up to offer service, not out as in ‘what’s in it for me?’”, it should be more than just words - it should give you a mindset and build into your character. Even just little things - from loaning a pen to a mate next to you in class, to holding the door open for the person behind you, or volunteering a couple hours to help out on Open Night. Whatever you contribute, it won’t go unnoticed.

There’s an award at this school, which isn’t given out at Prizegiving, but at the final senior assembly for the year in a private ceremony. This prize was initiated by passionate old boy Stuart Stevenson in 2017. Stewie had Motor Neuron disease - which kills nerve cells controlling the muscles which allow us to move, speak and breathe, and in time deteriorates these muscles until passing. But before he passed, he and his friends wanted to give something back to the school, a legacy of sorts.

We know this as the Good Man Award, given to the “good bugger” of the Year 13 group.

Stewie hails from the same place as myself, Middlemarch (even though Mr Hall often grinds my gears and mistakes it for the Maniototo). The trophy actually depicts a farm scene among the Rock and Pillar mountain range in the Strath Taieri Valley.

Stewie passed away only months after William Sinclair’s name was the first to be engraved on his trophy.

Now this award is very important, not just because I knew Stewie and had the odd yarn with him in the local cafe, nor because of the connections it has with my home, but because it is the most prestigious award in this school. Most teachers will argue I am wrong and say that it’s actually the Dux.

Well, I know someone who was Dux of a big school up in the North Island. He lacked the character and personality someone eligible for the Good Bugger Award would have. Last I heard, he was in his 30s, unemployed for over 2 years, still on his restricted license, still flatting, and had burnt a lot of bridges with a lot of friend circles.

I know this isn’t the case for every Dux, and no disrespect to that prize at all. But employers won’t care that you passed level 3 with flying colours if you don't have the work ethic or people skills. If you were to ask me who in my year group is going to go the farthest in life, I would say the person whose name gets engraved on the bronze of Stewie’s award. Someone who can sit down with ya and have a yarn, someone anyone can easily talk to - about anything, someone who is cooperative, volunteers, is humble, takes pride in themselves and their work, someone who goes out of their way to help others, someone you can rely on - an overall bloody good mate.

So, how does an amputee from the Taieri High School (as it was called in those days) have anything to do with an award here at OB’s? Well, I reckon that if we were to put all the people in Middlemarch, maybe Dunedin even, up for this award, I’m sure that Dad would be pretty well up there. So, thanks for being a great role model.

There’s a song by country singer Tim McGraw, and I want you boys to think about the last little bit - it goes as follows:

Hold the door, say "please", say "thank you"

Don't steal, don't cheat, and don't lie

I know you got mountains to climb,

But always stay humble and kind

Don't take for granted the love this life gives you

When you get where you're going, don't forget, turn back around

And help the next one in line

Always stay humble and kind

What goes around comes around boys.

As Tim McGraw once sung, “Always stay humble and kind.”