The 2023 Chronicle

ADDRESS BY SENIOR PREFECT, ANDREW WOODLAND

I

t was the match against Pretoria Boys, one of our toughest yet. With the score neck and neck, our mighty sixth team needed to produce something special to maintain our season’s unbeaten run. The ball was swung out wide and suddenly we had broken their line. Our extremely complex move fooled the opposition, and we were in under the poles with a majestic swan dive, and in turn a resounding victory. The unbeaten streak extended. The reason I tell you this story is not to remind you, once again, of our sixth team’s incredible, history-defining rugby season, nor to emphasise that I was obviously selected as senior prefect based on my impressive rugby prowess. But rather to illustrate some of the characteristics that a boy develops by making it through the Michaelhouse system. More on that later. Good afternoon, Chairman of the Board, Rector and members of staff, parents and guests, members of the Michaelhouse community, and boys of Michaelhouse. As my time at Michaelhouse comes to a close, I have been reflecting on the year and what it means to emerge at the end of your time here as a true Michaelhouse Man. What characterises the Michaelhouse identity? Through many deep discussions with multiple people, I keep hearing a two-word phrase that summarises the identity that we as boys leave with, after several years in our unique system. That phrase is “humble confidence” – and I like it! You may take a while to digest this, but what I think it means is that we approach the world with self-assurance and independence, confident that we can tackle whatever comes our way, but all the while acting with humility and respect for others. You see, the boy who scored the try in my story earlier had the confidence to take the gap, but credited the boy who made the pass to him for the team’s success. The boy who made the pass had ultra-smooth ball skills but swiftly passed on the credit to the forwards for making the move possible in that phase of play … and so on. I think this is a perfect example of how this humble confidence is developed. I chose a rugby example, but very clearly it is seen and developed in every aspect of what we do at this school – from music, to debating, to academics, to service. Adam Grant, a Wharton professor, describes it slightly differently, calling it “confident humility”. In his book Think Again , he defines it as “having faith in our capability, while appreciating that we may not have the right solution, or even be addressing the right problem”. But what is so fascinating about this concept here at Michaelhouse is that it is not actually deliberate. We don’t sit down in class and study how to obtain this “humble confidence”. It seems that it’s really the other, unique aspects of our school that fosters this trait. It comes from things like: the values we are taught, the respect that we are instilled with, the gruelling slog to Inhlosane and our famous Naked Miles. Perhaps it’s the extremely diverse array of opportunities and experiences one is

exposed to here that breeds this. Or maybe it’s because Feedem put something extra special in our daily delicious stew.

In digging a bit deeper into this, I have selected two key aspects of the school which I think contribute significantly to our Michaelhouse identity, which we depart with: Firstly, our school breeds an intense camaraderie amongst all the boys. One feels an empowering degree of comfort and assurance by knowing that each and every one of your Michaelhouse brothers will always have your back against whatever obstacles are thrown at you. The red-brick walls and the armour of our number ones are the greatest defence and support a Michaelhouse boy has. This brotherhood is forged in the crucible of boarding school life – every waking minute spent together with other boys, the surge of adrenalin generated by a massive war cry, the discipline of yet another practice session and the gang-sick vibe of our school slang. Second is our unique system of mentorship. As the Cacks will hopefully remember from my speech at New Boys’ Day, and as I’m sure you are all well aware of by now, we are proud of our distinctive cop/cack mentoring system. This tight dynamic fosters a remarkable bridge between the youngest boys and the oldest boys, a connection unparalleled elsewhere. As you will know, the bonds so formed often endure beyond our school years, and I have no doubt that this trend will continue. Last year, our grade delved deeper into honing our mentorship skills through dedicated workshops, discussions and coaching – as have next year’s leaders. This paved the way to the incredible success of the cop/cack system this year. I would like to thank the prefects, the Rector, Mr Ncamani and Mr Gittins for this. Because of you, this time-honoured tradition remains a defining pillar of our Michaelhouse identity, an identity a boy never loses. But what makes this school so special is that, even though, for the A Blockers, our journey is almost done, the Michaelhouse family is everywhere out there and is always willing to help. So, I would urge you to make use of the mentors that have been carefully and cleverly allocated to you. Like your Cop when you were starting here, they are there to help guide you and ease you into the big wide world. Firstly, Mrs de Wet, Mr Noel and Mrs Kelly for the organising of this event and the hard work that has gone into making this a memorable day, especially for us A Blockers. The rest of your team and all the academic staff – you are the reason for these excellent results and awards today. We are, after all, at school to achieve a matric, so that we can move to the next stage of our lives… which is obviously having a constant bust up at Stellies! The dedication and time taken by all staff members in working long hours to educate us is much appreciated, and whilst the next six weeks feels like a tall mountain to climb, we are truly grateful for all that you have done for us. As this is my last chance in a public forum, there are so many people I would really like to thank, but I can only mention a few.

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