Student Voices

student goals and implementations committee president

Having been in Marymount for six years, I learnt what a real community was from day one. Never have I felt such warmth anywhere else and don’t think I ever will. I joined the SGIC in Grade 8 meaning I’ve been in the committee for almost five years. As a result, I’ve done a lot of reflecting and I said to myself “Kiana, this year I want you to push yourself ”, and I’m truly taking this to heart.

Putting myself forward for anything is always difficult but knowing that I have such support behind me gave me the confidence to step in and give my part and my all into something that is of fervent interest to me.

As individuals, we find community in the small things and it is those small things we have in common with people which unknowingly strengthen our relationships. For me, the SGIC has been that. I walk around campus seeing my fellow SGIC members and it makes me glad to be a part of such an influential committee, within the school and outside of it.

Therefore, a way in which I want to influence our community is by further establishing a unified female support system in our school and across the grades via an online forum. This would be in accordance with the school goal, “that all may have life”. Similarly, I aim to increase our connection with our sister school, St. Joseph’s in Zambia, by holding a poetry reading where on Zambian Independence day in October, the girls will share their poetry with us and in an effort to spread awareness and also see how they celebrate in their own communities.

Overall I am thoroughly excited to embark on this journey with my committee and share our wonderful ideas with the Marymount and wider community.

By Kiana Fathi, Grade 11

student council president

The personal growth that I have achieved through the past six years is something that my peers, teachers and the positive educational environment are accountable for. Looking back, I can gather varieties of moments in Marymount which contributes to my evolvement of becoming a confident, compassionate and courageous individual. My gratitude to this school comes from the conviction that these qualities would not have been attained if I were to have spent my past few years anywhere else. In addition to this is the international mindedness that I have gained, which has led me to recognise my goal of cultivating a greater sense of global stewardship within our community.

Sustainability is a topic that is often considered to be over-discussed, yet many remain to be ignorant of in reality. While adequate discussion do take place, I fail to notice sufficient action taking place regarding this severe global issue.

As an educational institution, Marymount holds the ability to shape the future generation by taking a step further in combating climate change, and as a student leader, I am keen to assist the school towards sustainable development. Potentially, our school carbon footprint can be reduced significantly, and within the fulfilment of this goal requires participation from each student. The smallest action can make the biggest difference.

I plan to survey the student body to identify particular environmental causes that they care about (e.g. recycling), then provide a starting point for each member of the community to pursue (e.g. distinguishing between general waste and recyclable waste). Additionally, ecological awareness can be raised by celebration of environmental holidays. With the most prominent being Earth Day, these special days are opportunities for the Marymount community to reflect on how we can contribute to reducing effects of climate change.

Through these feasible approaches, I seek to encourage the student body to take an active role as global stewards.

By Akari Katamura

boarding council president

I initially decided to run as President of the Marymount Boarding Council as being a boarder since the age of 11 has helped me grow and mature in my own independent way, thanks to continuous support from the boarding community. I wanted to give back and help improve the community that helped me grow as a person. My motivation also came from wanting a leadership role where I could listen to the council’s ideas, communicate these to the boarding staff and help put them into action.

Student leadership is important in my opinion, as a leader has to be a great listener and persistent to be efficient. I want to learn this at an age where I am still growing; it will push me to continue to grow in these important ways for the future.

As for what I hope to achieve this year, my main goal is to satisfy the boarders and houseparents sustainably. I aim to help the houseparents with some of their duties to support them in the many tasks they have. I also want to receive feedback from the community and ensure Marymount is truly their second home.

Along with this, we have a council keen to start becoming a more sustainable community with initiatives already completed such as new recycling bins in every hall and cutting down on paper posters to save paper.

Lastly, I hope to unite the boarding community again as the COVID-19 lockdowns did mean that we were not as one as we previously were. I will do this by hosting more activities and creating new spaces for the boarders where they can relax and feel at home as this is important to us.

By Caterina Ewing

nhs president

The last year has exposed us to the deep chasms and wounds that divide our society. Many of us, including myself, have confronted our lack of awareness, our unconscious prejudices, our silence: our inaction has become self-evident. We have come to realise that the demands across all facets of our world, from climate to social justice, now have a new and unrelenting sense of emergency. We can do better. We can harness the power we have as young members of society to create change within our communities. And that is exactly what I want to achieve as National Honors Society President. Together with my peers, I want to take the NHS forward and ensure that we use our incredible dynamism and nuanced insights to educate, empower and engage the school community.

This was a big agenda and required strong leadership and participation from all of us. For me, leadership and presidency are all about action, not about the position you hold. It is a journey of service and commitment to your values. It is about bringing teams together to implement a shared vision and drive change and value for the broader community. This year, I was impressed by our ability to engage with pertinent global issues and produce a myriad of fascinating initiatives. A garage sale promoting sustainable shopping, a multilingual poetry competition, and a thought-provoking series of teacherled lectures are just a few examples of the amazing work our committees have produced. Together, these initiatives have helped foster cultural responsiveness within our school community and promote principles of inclusion, equity, and social awareness in an engaging manner.

Next year, we hope to maintain these successes and establish a new paradigm that guides and defines the next stage of our evolution. Our key goal is to increase inter-committee collaboration and combine our strengths to elevate the NHS to new heights. Whether it is our Lecture Series and Social Justice committee bringing in youth activists to talk about their audacious journeys or Eco-schools and Fundraising coming together to sell customisable tote bags and raise money for places struck by climate change calamities- the possibilities are truly endless. Through these collaborations, we aspire to open up our toolboxes of skills, experiences, and talents and share them with other members so that we can be the change we want to see in our community.

By Mugdha Vasishth