Speech Night – Valedictory Address Speech Night
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ood evening Mr Banks, special guests, ladies and gentlemen, and my fellow students. On the eve of closing an important chapter of our lives, it is only now that one realises the magnitude of the imprint that Trinity has Nicholas Barbas left upon us, the class of Head Prefect 2007. We leave as men of faith, men of fortitude, and most especially, men for one another. Instilled within us now is an intangible spirit and at its core is the notion of serving others; standing in solidarity with our fellow human beings in order to make a difference in whatever field of life the future holds for us. To commence I would like to tell of a first-hand experience that embodies the very essence of what being at Trinity is all about. It was a cold mid-winter night in Kolkota, India and at 11 o’clock three of us joined Jim McGuiness, a former Trinity staff member, to hand out blankets and clothing to the homeless at the nearby train station. After an hour of work we approached a young man with cerebral palsy. He sat timid and helpless on the side of the track as several people walking past threw money at him as if he were some kind of sub-species. He was covered only with a singlet and a tattered pair of shorts, and had a large gash in his leg. After contemplation, Jim decided that this man needed to be taken back home
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with us, and then to one of Mother Teresa’s institutes to be properly cared for. As one of my fellow pilgrims propped the man up and began walking through the station, two of us organised a rickshaw to take him back to the school where we were staying and we set up a bed for him just outside our dorm. Something I’ll never forget was the smile of this destitute man. He had been given shelter, a comfortable bed and, most importantly, altruistic love and compassion that defines the Trinity Spirit. The benevolent manner in which I saw my mates beside me treat this man is a reflection of Trinity’s legacy, that in life we are all challenged to serve others. And this does not have to be on a pilgrimage to India; it can be much closer. In our families, in our friendships, and at school, we are all called to work as one, for one another; to extend a hand to those left out, to those left behind. This is what distinguishes Trinity’s distinct culture and communal life. Embedded in the 200-year-old tradition of Trinity is the strong ethos of Edmund Rice, a man whose unwavering dedication and selflessness to the disadvantaged, left a powerful example for us all. In our quest to emulate everything he stood for, we truly have become men of the gospel, and men for one another. At an impressionable age, young Trinity men served the poor in India on the 8th Trinity Pilgrimage Through India, worked with remote Indigenous communities on the Kimberly Immersion experience, served each other on the spiritual Kairos Retreats and were involved in a myriad of other Christian service experiences such as
