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Jackson Toms
 

The Last Word

Jackson Toms —

G’day lads, hope you’ve all had a good break.

Now, when asked to write my final last word I didn’t really have much clue what to write about. Nothing was coming to mind and it was nearing the end of the holidays. I began to think about my Grandmother who I call Nanny. Now Nanny was getting up there, and none of us were sure how long she had left, be it weeks, months or years. She is old, so we always enjoy getting to spend time with her. However, over the two week break I realised I hadn’t seen her as much as I probably should have. What makes it worse is that my Nanny lives just a 5 minute drive away from me, so why had I not made the time to visit her every couple of days?

Why did I not take the opportunity to spend time with her in the 2 weeks I was at home? I had no excuse, I wasn’t too busy, things hadn’t gotten in the way of me visiting her. So why?

Boys, taking things for granted is something we do far too often. Whether it is visiting loved ones, making the most of opportunities at school, or even just being thankful for food on the table. So I encourage you all to make the most of everything that life throws at you. So you never have to live with the guilt of "I wish I had done this, or why did I never do that?"

As I near my final days of High School, I look back to what has been an amazing journey. The things I have done and the mates I have made makes me know that I will leave this place without any regrets. I chose to work hard when I began at school because I would have been sent home otherwise! Also, I did not want to look back at my time here as a waste, wishing I could have tried harder. I did not want to leave empty handed, to leave without taking opportunities given to me during the past 5 years. To not wish I had done more but to be proud of everything I have done. I wanted to make the most of everything this school had to offer and as I now look back, I truly do feel like I have done that. And I couldn’t have asked for a better group of mates to be with me along the way.

So boys, please be grateful for everything that comes your way. I know some of these things will seem irrelevant to you all now but trust me these missed opportunities may come back to haunt you. So make sure to give everything a crack because you never know what could come from it.

Now as for my Nanny, I made sure to go and visit her before heading back to town on Sunday. The time spent with loved ones is so valuable and it must be made the most of. Things can change so quickly and we never really know how much time we have left with someone. Just like with opportunities at this school, you do not want to look back wishing you had spent more time with that person, wishing you had listened to just one more story.

It’s these moments that you can never get back. So, I encourage you all to go out and visit your grandparents, learn from their past mistakes, and their success, listen to their stories because once they are gone you can never get those moments back. Trust me, there may come a day where you wish you could have one more moment with them, just to hear that final story. So don’t let that day come.

Today, there’s one thing I want you all to take away. If you get the opportunity to visit loved ones, go out of your way and do it. Don’t hesitate. They will appreciate it far more than you will ever know.

As tradition, I will finish with a quote. 'We have 2 lives, and the second begins when we realise we only have 1.'

Cheers.