Alex Liu – Year 12 Reflection

Being in School house has been a life changing experience for me. Coming in as definitely the most clueless person in year 7, being around new people and new environment was very haunting. However, as I slowly started talking to other people, I realised that the already 6-foot Fin Hancock was much nicer than he looked (at the time), and that Billy Moore loves his chips.

Much has changed since my time in year 7, from Mr. Hughes’ stealthy manoeuvre through the dorms at night in order to catch people speaking to get them in trouble, to what is now Mr. Chapman’s fierce presence in the foyer when he is on duty. Yet, what has not changed is the culture instilled within School house.

Perhaps the people most influential to me in terms of ‘teaching me the ways’ were students from the year above. Having someone to look up to is special, especially when they live right next to you. It exists in every single stage in our lives. This could be your parents or siblings in your younger years, as they would have walked the same path as you do. The School’s motto ‘Vitai Lampada Tradunt’, passing on the torch, can best represent this process, as culture within the house is passed on from year to year.

Being around people that I look up to throughout the years has certainty shaped my behaviour around the house, as mine will shape others as well now that I am older. Thus being able to pass on the most positive parts of culture can prove to continue the process that was started years ago, slowly extracting the best parts from each year onwards, and gradually steer towards perfection.