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A year full of joy, laughter, and overcoming challenges along the way. To hold the role of head boy for 2023 has been a pleasure to say the very least. Standing up here to give my farewell speech is a bittersweet feeling for me. I'm sad to be leaving this amazing school which has given me so much, but I'm also incredibly eager and excited to see what the world has to offer me. To put into words the impact that this school has had on my life is going to be difficult, but I'll give it a try. I'd like to begin with [00:00:30] the thank yous. You guys surely know how much I appreciate you, but I'll say it here, so everybody knows how amazing you truly are. Firstly, thank you to mum, dad, and my four sisters for getting me this far in life. You've provided me with anything I could ever need and want in this world, including bucket loads of love, support, and the occasional filling of my car's fuel tank. I would also like to thank Ms. Cave, Mr. Davies, and Mrs. Vins. I'll be eternally [00:01:00] grateful for the influence you three have had on my life so far, as well as the opportunity you've given me to lead this school. I hope that I've made you all proud this year, and know that I'll continue to strive to do so in the future. Last, but certainly not least, I'd like to say a special thank you to Mrs. Hanna. Mrs. Hanna is incredible. She represents all the qualities that anyone should aspire to hold. Selflessness, integrity, and an unwavering amount of [00:01:30] compassion for others. Throughout my whole time here at BMC, and particularly this year, Mrs. Hanna has been the one to turn to if I've ever needed advice on anything and everything. She knows a lot. She was the one who gave me the nudge and encouragement to put my name forward for Head Boy and instilled great belief in me that I could actually do it. Though I know you don't like to be made the fuss of, and are probably hating that we're shining the spotlight on you right now. I hope you know that not only myself, but the [00:02:00] whole school appreciates all that you do for us, day in day out. So, thank you. Now, to my speech. I put my name forward for the position of head boy because of the opportunities that it could potentially provide me. Opportunities which I didn't want to pass up. [00:02:30] I didn't want to look back on my final year of high school and think, I wish I had tried that, or I should have given that a shot. Instead, I wanted to spend my final year exploring everything this school has to offer, and leave with no regrets. My goals for this year were to respect and uphold the role of head boy, and to leave it better than I found it, just as previous head boys had done. A lot of people here are probably not aware, but I've suffered from pretty intense anxiety my whole life. Anxiety is [00:03:00] awful. It's not just feeling nervous and not being able to relax, it's so much more than that. It's having uncontrollable worry and unwanted thoughts that you just can't get unstuck from. It's like living with a bully in your mind that judges your every move, criticizing yourself for the smallest mistakes. I spend every minute of every day struggling to deal with these little issues that are likely to seem silly to most of you. For example, a couple years ago, as part of our tool preparations, we had to do tailing to raise money. [00:03:30] Over this time, I somehow developed a fear of opening gates from paddock to paddock. Now, I can't explain what created this strange fear. I guess that's just how anxiety works. But I can guarantee you that I didn't open a single gate throughout those three years. Thanks to my fantastic on the spot reasoning, I did all it needed to avoid even the tiniest potential of opening a gate. Whether it was bribing my friends with chocolate, sitting in the back of my dad's ute and insisting that I [00:04:00] did not want to sit in the front. Or strategically arranging myself in a vehicle that had no possibility of being required for the gate opening expertise. I even got so desperate that sometimes I would move my weekend shifts around at the Foursquare so I had to miss tailing. What I'm trying to say is that I gave up, allowing my overwhelming fear of this basic action to overcome me. Now, I didn't just tell you that embarrassing story about myself for nothing. I have a point, I promise. [00:04:30] Over the year, and as I was preparing for this speech, I made a list of things I'd overcome and plan to overcome. These things may seem minor or insignificant to you, but they mean a lot to me. This list includes things like completing a year 13 tramp, joining kapa haka, speaking in front of the school in assemblies, and participating in swimming sports for the first time in my 12 year schooling journey. I did all of that. Where am I? This year, the role of head [00:05:00] boy and the responsibilities that have brought me challenged my anxiety like nothing in my life before. I had now gone from just an ordinary student, ordinary student, to a leader in the school. Oh, where am I? And I needed to push myself outside of my comfort zone. Or else, what kind of name was I, what kind of name was I leaving myself here at BMC? A head boy who avoided any kind of fear and did everything it required to ignore it? I knew that this year I had to step up. [00:05:30] What makes this list of things I've accomplished so special and important to me is that unlike the opening of the Gates gig at Tailing, I did not escape it, nor did anybody else do it for me. Instead, I stood up and overcame it on my own, with the support of those around me, of course. This list of mine still has a couple of unticked boxes, but I'm confident they'll be checked off very shortly. Along with the anxiety, Another thing I've struggled with for well as long as I can remember, [00:06:00] but particularly throughout my time here at BMC, has been my identity. Since I was quite young, perhaps the age of about 8 or 9, I've known that I didn't exactly fit in like everybody else. I knew that I was gay. Around ten years have gone by since that realization, and it's not until I'm standing up here in front of you all today that I actually say it out loud. So surprised. [00:06:30] Keeping this secret hidden for so long has been one of the most painful and exhausting parts of my life. It's difficult to explain the feeling it's given me, but to put it simply, it's as if I was just existing, rather than living. I felt like I was constantly lying to my friends and family, and I've struggled to connect with them because I've essentially been living a lie. Making friendships has been the most challenging part, as I've never been able to show anyone the real me. Although it's [00:07:00] taken me so long to say the words, I've always known that I was supported by everyone around me. And really, it's been up to me to be bold, courageous, and just to be myself. Values that have been instilled in me all my life. Both at home, and here at school. So to finally be me, and get rid of this heavy secret, is a relief. Now that I've admitted who I truly am, I feel as though my life can finally begin. This list of mine is nearly complete, which is something I never [00:07:30] saw myself doing, despite dreaming of doing it for so long. As I said earlier, it is really difficult to express the impact that this school has had on my life, and who I am today. To most of you it probably seems as though I've just given you my whole life story. Which I guess is true. But this unbelievable and terrifying list simply demonstrates what can be accomplished when you surround yourself around people who genuinely care about the person you are and want to be. The support has come from both my friends, [00:08:00] both my family, the teachers, and my friends at this incredible school. Thanks to these people, I am standing up here as the most true and pure version of myself. I am leaving this school knowing exactly what I am capable of, and ready to face the world, no matter how frightening it might seem. And with that, my list is complete. So thank you.
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