Good morning Mr and Mrs Cassar, Mr and Mrs de Korte, staff, pupils and more specifically matrics.
So this is it. Right now is the last time that you are going to sit at a Camps Bay High School function as a pupil of this school. There is not much that I can say to convey the enormity of it all, but I’ll try my best.
At the beginning of 2006, we sat in the hall as grade eights. For some reason, probably because of the seriousness of the event, Lani and I got the giggles and continued to laugh uncontrollably for the whole assembly. It’s funny because 5 years later, our matric drama class did the same thing last week in our final practical exam. I guess we haven’t matured that much after all.
Still, our transformation as a grade and as individuals has been mind blowing. Yes, Tatiana Inocentes is STILL asking the same questions in Bio, Olo Toni STILL thinks that she can sing an Christy McCullagh is STILL making things explode, but something’s happened and through all our classes, our grade camps, our arguments, the fashion show, the valentines ball, the matric dance and everything else that we have done together, we have become a grade. So much of who each individual has grown to be, depends on our grade. For example it’s impossible to mention the name Luke without mentioning Stefano. But Luke told me to say that they arte JUST FRIENDS.
So where does that leave us now. We’ve become so used to seeing each other all the time, everyday and now we’re all leaving. All going our separate paths and personally am so scared. Partly because I don’t know what life has in stall for me, and partly because I’m not going to have you guys there by my side, assuring me that everything’s going to be okay. I think that makes my fear of leaving school so much worse, knowing that If I burst out in tears at varsity, my whole class won’t stop and make sure that I am okay; or if I mess up, I’m not going to have my whole grade telling me that it will all turn out for the best. I think it is going to be a lot harder for all of us not have each other every step of the way.
Over the years it hasn’t always been easy. We’ve had our problems, but through it all our grade has learnt so much about what it means to fight for the success of something greater. It’s more than individual achievements or personal rewards; it’s going for something with all your heart and fighting for your peers as well as yourself. Robert F Kennedy said “Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all these acts will be written the history of this generation” I think that our grade has learned to work selflessly and I believe that we can go out there and change the world. Not any one of us, but I am certain that together we can play our part in writing history. I say this because matrics, you are the most amazing a real people that I know.
I want to say again that this Is sit. It feels like a dream, I know, but we are about to close a whole chapter of our lives. To end on a good note I need you to do 2 things: Firstly, take everything you have, every bit of determination and will that this school has taught you, and put that into your exams. Get the results you’ve always known were possible. And secondly, when this ceremony is about to end, and Mr de Korte asks us to stand and sing our school song, sing it with all the pride you have inside of you. Because that is who we are. We are the matric class of 2010. I’m sad to call us past pupils of Camps Bay High School. See you at club berg!
Nicola Soekoe
Head Prefect 2010
