Reflecting On My Time In Boarding

I have been an assistant housemaster in Hodges House since Term 4 of 2015.  In two weeks, I won’t be any more.  This is a very strange sensation.  Over the last 5 years, I have seen enough Hodges Boys become Hodges Men to know that students who leave the house never really leave the house.  The memories, the lessons, and above all the relationships which they have developed stay with them forever and make them part of an elite and exclusive club which they can’t get out of, no matter how much some of them might want to.  I hope that the same is true for assistant housemasters.

However, I fear that the great and terrible truth about schools like Shore and houses like Hodges is that everyone is replaceable – Hodges has survived the departure of a legion of enthusiastic, genuine, passionate young men while I’ll been living in it and I am sure that it will proceed past my departure without so much as a wobble.  However, given that I have been given a soapbox to rave from for a few paragraphs, I offer three pieces of advice to those left in Hodges.

Firstly, be positive about everything life throws at you.  Whether it’s a morning roll-call, 2 hours of prep or an admittedly somewhat crazy lip-sync battle, you will find ways to enjoy the experience if you approach it with positivity and the goal of making it worthwhile.  The inverse is also true – if you go into something expecting it to suck, you’re almost certainly right.  Whatever else you do with your life, do your best to choose to be happy.

Secondly, take responsibility for whatever communities you choose to be a part of.  Be a leader who stands up for others and who does unpleasant jobs which no one else wants to do.  The World needs more role models and everyone values that kind of person.  Besides, if you approach unpleasant jobs with positivity, they may not turn out to be that unpleasant (see point 1) – one of my favourite memories of Hodges House is deep cleaning the kitchen with Lachy and Angus on a Friday night while blasting Cher and trying to work out what some of the things in the fridge once were.

Finally, take the time to thank people who matter to you (and not just a ‘thank you sir’ on the way out of a classroom – put some thought into it).  On that note, thank you to my housemasters (Mr Morris, Mr Dobes and Mr Fitch), my colleagues in Shore Boarding other than Mr Separovich, and above all to the many boys in Hodges House with whom I have had the privilege of sharing a chat, a meal or a joke with over the last 5 years.  They’ve been great and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

By Mr Davis