Last Word
Over the last 4 years of being at St Hilda’s I have sat through numerous assemblies each one presenting the famous ‘last word’ and I can stand here today and honestly say that I remember none of them. Now don’t get me wrong it could just be that this is because I have a bad memory or maybe I was too distracted by my tummy rumbling as I sat there thinking about what mum had packed in my lunch, I know I should make my own but then there would be no surprise.
No matter how inspirational or motivating they were, there has been none that have really grabbed my attention or tickled my fancy. There may be some of you who could possibly be in the same boat as me. My hope today is that maybe my last word might just be the one that you can remember because my last words that I have the privilege of presenting to you are simple, HAVE FUN!
Over my last 12 years at school, I have pretty much tried to live by this simple rule every day. Now, I know what some of you are thinking, you can’t have fun in a double period of physics, right, well did you ever stop to think why you took the subject in the first place if you knew you were not going to have fun while doing it? My guess is you were probably thinking, well I will need it for the future which in some cases may be true.
Throughout my many adventures at school and doing a range of different activities from girl guides to doing a flashmob to just having a wee boogie in the supermarket, whatever it may be my parents have always supported me to do what was fun. They have always advocated that if you stop having fun then it might just be time to move on to something else.
For example, when I was little I did gymnastics and I used to love going along and jumping and tumbling, doing the group activities all for the big build-up for the Christmas ‘show’ at the end of the year. But there came a point when the leaders at gym class wanted you to turn up three times a week for training that was 1 - 3 hours at a time, that wasn’t gonna be fun for me, so I moved on to better and more exciting things.
For me, thinking about what I enjoy doing and the experiences I want to be a part of made choosing my subjects for school easy. I selected subjects that I actually really enjoy doing and I don’t find it a drag when it comes to class time because I want to be there.
Spending time doing the things that you enjoy, means you will always go back to them as your memories are ones of being happy, as you know you will have fun. Having fun with school, friends, family, sports or even jobs can make you feel much happier as a person and can result in a much more positive outlook on trying new activities. I feel that by having fun each day makes you a better person, fun to be around and able to laugh with friends (even sometimes when you shouldn’t be). Experiences can often lead to opportunities and opportunities can lead to experience.
Even if you have no idea what tomorrow, next year, or when you leave school will bring, whatever you decide to do make sure you do it to have fun. No matter how stressful or how many curve balls life throws at you try and catch them and turn it into something fun and exciting. However simple my two words of wisdom maybe it is something that should be taken with a dash of seriousness a teaspoon of happiness and a whole lot of passion because to be number one you need to have fun!!