3 minute read
Captain’s Address
George Davies
It sometimes feels impossible to stand out when you are surrounded by such unrelenting excellence. In these pages lie reams upon reams of international sporting successes, Olympiad victories, community collaborations, and far, far more. Indeed, the thick stack of ‘The Pauline’ magazines sat in front of me as I write only makes clear that this excellence is very much a historical continuity. Over my five years here, St Paul’s has been and remains a place of total application, scholarship (Prof. Bailey’s favourite), and creativity. You only need look at the rows of – shall we say unorthodox – poster designs lining the school hallways to prove that last one. So how does the curious beast that is the Pauline do it? How do we find our place in such a labyrinth of virtuosity?
Ultimately, you have to buy into the community. Drilled into us from the early days of Fourth Form History and English is the necessity of the critical eye – and the Pauline’s approach to the dining hall often seems to prove our penchant for cynicism. Yet to stand out, you must have hope, and believe that your work can make a change. Indeed, the last year saw the development of new groups helping to make that change: the Values Committee, new Equalities societies, ACS Network, and the Inclusion Alliance. They may not immediately bring the school to utopia, but they indicate the massive strides that school students and staff are taking towards producing an ever more inclusive and thoughtful environment, and events like the Joint Conference on misogyny provided a concrete and enriching addition to the year. They only happened because students and staff believed that it was worth it and were willing to give up their time to help: it is this selflessness and commitment to the community that characterises the truly stand out Paulines.
And yet all this talk of flagship events glosses over much of the mundane reality of Pauline life. Your reputation may not be made by your performance on your most recent German vocab test but it is certainly down to how you behave in daily life. Your interpersonal skills – being kind to the support staff, figuring out the correct way to word that last-minute extension request email before your English essay is due – will take you far. Unfortunately, much to the dismay of one classmate I had last year, teachers are now rarely fooled by the classic ‘corrupt file’ submission on a Google Classroom task. To succeed, you must be able to navigate the complex world of other people, and ultimately give them the respect that they deserve.
Plenty of things will remain the same next year: Erasmus will still be mentioned in every speech possible; Paulines will still never do anything before the last minute; and St Paul’s will continue to produce excellence. But as the club system crumbles and houses rise in their place, you all have a chance to shape the future of the school over the next year. I may fade into irrelevance, consigned to the foreword of this magazine, but the same qualities of commitment and kindness will remain the surest way to stand out among the talent and skill that characterises St Paul’s, and shape that future for the better. Good luck with the coming year – and thank you for allowing me the pleasure of being your Captain.
