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PANDEMIC PAPERS
WHAT'S IN A YEAR? At the start of the year, when plans were fresh and hopes were high, the Communications team met with the 2020 College Captains. Their year was a blank canvas – they spoke of aspirations and much-anticipated Senior moments…little did they know the year had other plans.
KEL SEY BRICKNELL
communications officer
B
en, Julia, Zac and Alara were elected to lead St Peters after Leadership Camp in January. The group wasted no time in banding together to plan their Senior year. “We want to build on the history of school spirit at St Peters,” Ben told us at the time. “And show one another support because of how proud we are of the College.” Their aim was to encourage all Year Levels to ‘turn up’, both physically (attending events and sport fixtures to support their peers) and in attitude (wearing the College uniform with pride). “We want everyone to feel that their talents are supported,” Alara explained. “Everyone at this school has their own individual talents and they have the right to be acknowledged.” The plan was to lead by example—to be in the centre of group war cries at AIC and QGSSSA Championships; to encourage their cohort to join them at Music’s Performer of the Year and Art’s VAPAr; and to unite the community by initiating lunch-time activities that promoted mixing beyond the Year Levels. Add to that the wish to have every Year 12 student able to leave the College with ‘no regrets’, and you’ve got one very
Plus Ultra | November 2020
busy, yet rewarding Senior year. When the pandemic hit, however, that year began to crumble away. “We had no idea what was happening – what we’d still be able to do – the future was so uncertain,” Julia shared with us recently. With Ben (a boarder) back in Canberra and the others unable to see each other due to lockdown restrictions, the Captains moved to Zoom. The group were faced with a challenging task. “We had to say to our [Year Level], ‘This is your Year 12 year…this is what we can and can’t do with it.’,” Zac told us. “Having to do that was pretty tough.” Nevertheless, the group pulled through. They drew on the leadership traits they’d identified as important at the start of the year and developed a range of new ones they hadn’t anticipated needing. “Communication,” Ben said, “was obviously one thing that got us through, but also the ability to give [our] best [in every] situation regardless of what it [was].” “It [was] also important to understand that [our] 100% could look different to someone else’s,” Alara added. “Everyone is
