This year, I have been deeply inspired by two Australians: Professor Richard Scolyer and Jai Arrow.

On the surface, they come from very different worlds. Professor Scolyer was one of Australia’s most respected melanoma researchers and our 2024 Australian of the Year. Jai Arrow is one of rugby league’s most beloved players, known for his toughness, his heart and his refusal to give in.

Yet both have faced profound personal health challenges. What has moved me most is not the challenges themselves, but how each of them has chosen to respond.

Richard Scolyer, even after his diagnosis, urged us not just to lean in but to “leap in” to opportunities, to challenges, to life itself. He didn’t step back. He gave more. Right until the end.

Jai Arrow, still fighting his own health battle, has spoken about showing up every single day not because it’s easy, but because the people around you are worth it.

So why do people, who have faced so much, still choose to give more?

We cannot always control what happens to us. But we can always control how we respond.

Growth isn’t something we receive. It’s something that happens when we contribute. The more we give in effort, courage, kindness, leadership and encouragement, the more we grow.

Give more. Grow more.

Not just as this year’s school theme. But as a way of living.

Giving, at its core, is about service. Ut Prosim, that I may serve.

Life is not only about what we achieve. It is about how we show up for others and how we contribute to something bigger than ourselves.

We all experience this in our own ways, through successes and disappointments, through challenges we chose and some we didn’t. What I’ve come to understand is that growth rarely happens in comfort. It happens when we step forward anyway. When we give a little more of ourselves than we thought we had.

I have also come to truly understand that growth is never a solo achievement.

I am still reminded by my family about the homework Ms Lemon set for me in Year 2. I was asked to go home and practise placing baby Jesus ‘gently’ in the manger for the Christmas nativity play as, apparently, I was a little heavy-handed. And Mr Pomfrett in Year 4 suggested I work on using a more grown-up voice when speaking because I would need it in high school.

And then our high school teachers. The late-night emails with just the word ‘help’ in the subject line, always answered with a sense of calm, clarity and patience. Meetings during free lessons and lunchtimes to go over content. Croissants brought to before-school classes.

Beyond the classroom, there are so many unsung heroes who contribute to our Wenona experience: the ICT staff who calmly resolve many a frazzled student’s laptop crisis, the health team whose care and comfort we have all needed at some point, the business office, facilities team, professional services teams, assistants and teachers who all give so much of their time and wisdom, often in ways we don’t even see.

They give of themselves, quietly and consistently, year after year, to help us grow. That is what giving looks like. And for that, we are deeply grateful.

Richard Scolyer’s message was to leap in. Jai Arrow’s message is to keep showing up. Looking back, I think Wenona has spent 13 years teaching me how to do both.

Give more. Grow more. Don’t just think about what you want to achieve, think about what you can contribute.

As our Year 12 journey enters its final chapter, I am reminded how lucky we are to have grown up together, to have learnt from one another and to have shared so many cherished experiences along the way.

*Each week, Wenona’s student leaders share their insights with their peers in Assembly.