Prefect Gus Workman presented his Last Word at senior assembly this week.

Whāia te Iti Kahuraki
Ki te tuohu koe, me mauka teitei
Tīhei mauri ora
Ko Hikaroaroa te maunga
Ko Waikaouiti te awa
Ko Pukiteraki te marae
Ko Myles toku matua
Ko Lynley toku whaea
Ko Will taku teina
Ko Angus toku Ingoa

Let's stop for a second and be honest. Most of you have already zoned out, and if not now, definitely will in the next few minutes. I get it, I too have sat through years of Last Word's and Rector's messages and have zoned out to a lot of them. It wasn't until I knew I was being named a Prefect and started to think about what I would say in my Last Word that I regretted it. It made me realise that the most important knowledge I can pass on is the power to talk less, and listen more.

Boys, it took me a long time to learn that. As a brand new Year 9 student, coming from Karitane - a school of 25 students, to a Year 9 roll of 200, being loud was a curse. Trust me boys, when I say that the best way to make friends is not being the loudest. I wish I had learned this earlier when my mother warned me of how loud I was. 

Instead, it wasn't until I joined the gym, under the guidance of the gym owner Hami, I learnt that if I was to talk more than listen I'd get nowhere. I would share my gym goals and training plans, and he would offer advice, which I would of course zone out and ignore. This led me to make almost zero progress throughout my first year. When I started listening to him, I became stronger, bigger and have had fewer injuries since.

I started applying this to all aspects of my life. When I stopped talking about myself and what I'm doing and started to listen to what others have done or are doing I started to learn. I started to pick up life lessons others had learnt, big or small. I've learnt not to judge someone and have made more friends. Boys, I don't expect you to listen to every Last Word or every speech, but I urge you to at least try. Start small. In your next conversation, listen to the person and say less, you will understand and learn more about the person you're talking to and what they are saying than ever before.

It's not easy to just listen, nothing valuable is, so I'll leave you with 2 tips to help.

1. You need to respect every person and what they say. Respect your mates, teachers and the randoms you talk to with the same respect you'd give Reagan, Matua Vai, the Rector and anyone you admire.

2. You are allowed to not understand. People waffle the most about the things that they know the least about. Abraham Lincoln once said, “It's better to remain silent, and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.” Boys, you are allowed not to understand, so don't pretend you do. Ask questions, the simpler the better, and then listen and reflect on the answer.

In true OB's fashion, I'll end with a quote.

"We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less." - Diogenes.