What RGS means to me In his final assembly as Head Boy earlier this year, Jamie Robson (01-11) gave a heartfelt speech to the rest of the school about his time at the RGS
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lmost a month ago, I was in the RAF club in London attending an ONA dinner. The man sitting across from me was an elderly gentleman. I spoke to him once all evening. I asked him when he left school, and he said “I left in person in 1952. But part of me never left. Part of me will stay there forever”. On Friday I sat down to write my entry for the Leavers’ Yearbook. One of the questions was ‘what has been your greatest achievement at the RGS?’ I wrote being made Head Boy. But last week I formally stepped down as Head Boy. This marks the beginning of the end of my time here. By the time I leave, I will have been at the RGS for 10 years. When I look back, I try to pick out the most memorable, or treasured memories I have from this school. There are things I have done which I am proud of, some things which I wish I had done better, and some things I wish I had had a go at. But no regrets.
This school will be more than just memories. It has shaped what I have done, who I have become, and what I will do in the future. When I leave, I will not just take memories away, but something much more. The spirit of this school is something that will remain with me until the day I die. The pride we all feel when we walk through this hall. The constant and underlying feeling of optimism that follows RGS students around. Sometimes it is too easy to forget all that we get from this place. I have met many Old Novos this year, people who still celebrate the fact that they went to the RGS 20, 30, 40 even 50 years ago. They all remember their days here, and remember them with the fondest of feelings. This school and the people in it have been my life for the past 10 years. It has become a home from home, a place where I feel welcome and somewhere that I can make a difference. I have met some fantastically talented, clever, sporty, arty and cultured people – but all good people. Some of you I have never met. Some of you are distant friends. But some of you have become like brothers and sisters. Because friends are the family we chose for ourselves, and this school has allowed us to grow these
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On Friday I sat down to write my entry for the Leavers’ Yearbook. One of the questions was ‘what has been your greatest achievement at the RGS?’ I wrote being made Head Boy.
Jamie Robson
14
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