President’s Message – Opportunities to Grow

As part of my Advancement activities at King’s I visited Shanghai, China last month to host a school community gathering and meet with some of our families. This was a very successful trip, building strong connections that will lead to some exciting opportunities for the School.

But not everything went exactly to plan. Through this experience I am reminded of some valuable lessons learned from prominent Chinese-Australian Ballet Dancer and author Li Cunxin.

I was fortunate to hear Li give the keynote address at a National Boys’ Education Conference held at King’s, sharing his experiences and inspiring us by his story. His story is an incredible one, one full of oppression and hardship but also of determination, hope and love. Li credits his resilience in the face of adversity to honesty, integrity and dignity; traits instilled in him by his parents early on in life. During his speech, Li reflected on a fable told to him by his father, which he says, “Reminded me where I came from and how hard I need to try if I want to live a different life.” For Li, the fable of the tiny frog who wanted more than the walls of the dark well of which he was born into, gave him the drive and determination he needed to succeed.

In the beginning, Li struggled with the demands placed upon him at such a young age: to excel as a ballet dancer for the politically powerful, to study hard and succeed academically and to serve his country as a member of the Communist youth party. Chao Xao, a teacher at the prestigious Beijing Dance Academy, provided Li with a new perspective as he struggled with the conflicting demands. His advice to Li was to have patience and to enjoy the process of becoming the dancer that he strived to be. So often in life do we wish away the present in an attempt to get to a future that we just know will be better, that we ignore the beauty in the journey and arrive at our destination wondering where the time went.

As leaders, teachers and mentors, there is much that we can learn from Li Cunxin’s story. It is our responsibility to guide and encourage our students to follow their passions and go after what they want in life, even if the path isn’t an easy one. Success and failure are both part of the journey. Li stresses that failure can be one of the most valuable lessons in life and shouldn’t be overlooked as an opportunity to grow.