The end is near for seniors. Nearly 500 are going to the Leavers' Ball tonight including many parents, grandparents and staff.

Yesterday we celebrated the success of CanTeen and presented them a cheque for $115,204.95. Representatives of CanTeen attended as did pupils from Marian College. Following is Connor McSweeney’s address to the assembly. It is outstanding and deserves to be shared.

Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Donald Trump. Three brilliant minds and one not so who thought the unexamined life was not worth living.

As I’m sure many of you are aware, one of Trumps downfalls is his big mouth. However, given Trumps obvious prowess in the academic field, I personally think we all need to start taking the many things he says more seriously. For example, he said recently that ‘Part of the beauty of me is that I’m rich.’ And as unbelievable as it sounds, he’s right. He is absolutely right.

As with any person, Donald Trump’s most redeemable feature is his wealth. Just a few weeks ago for example, St Theresa was canonised, a women famous for dealing with poverty – she was just as wealthy if not more so than Trump, and we loved her for it.

The thing about being Rich or wealthy is that it is not solely restricted to the amount of money one has. This is why someone like Saint Theresa, can be considered to be a metaphorical millionaire – not in monetary terms, but in another kind of currency that is far more meaningful.

I think it is important that this is kept in mind in the context of our donation to Canteen. Yes, we have fundraised for teenagers with Cancer, but more important than the money we give them, is the intent behind it. Yes, we are donating a dollar value, but in this other currency – the more meaningful one, we are donating, giving so much more.

In doing a bit of research whilst writing this, I found something very interesting across a range of websites. A number of recovering Cancer Patients all said that the one thing they wished they had been given more of during treatment, was wet wipes. Given the nature of cancer, it is remarkable to think that something as simple as a wet-wipe can have such a positive effect on someone suffering so much. Yet it does. $500 – the amount of money just one runner here is expected to raise gets about 15,000 of the things.

It may sound like I’m trivialising a serious and grave subject matter, but the point I am making is if we as a school only sent one runner out to fundraise, we could still significantly improve a life, and that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Regardless of how much money is on that cheque, what cannot be denied is our absolute intent behind it. That is something to be proud of, and something that I imagine Canteen appreciates on a level that only a handful of people sitting in this gym could possibly begin to comprehend. Perhaps knowing someone out there cares, and is willing to go through an ordeal to help, is worth more than the cheque itself.

So in our presentation of this cheque remember we are in essence donating money and intent, because the first without the second is meaningless. One has a value, but the other is priceless.

Without further a due, I am humbled and thrilled to have the opportunity to ask Isaac Schimanski to present a cheque to CanTeen totalling $115,204.95

Until next week

Justin Boyle