I’m writing this piece on the final night of Year 6 Canberra Trip. All around me are tired faces. You might think that would result in a peaceful, quiet evening, but apparently Year 6 students have a remarkable ability to find a second wind! As they begin heading to their rooms to settle for the night, and the noise level slowly drops from deafening to merely enthusiastic, I find myself reflecting with a real sense of pride on the work we do.
Camps like this one build our students. Over the past few days, our Year 6 students have deliberately been placed in situations that stretch them. They have been away from home and family, navigated an unfamiliar environment, attempted challenging activities, managed friendships, dealt with tiredness and disappointment, and discovered that sometimes the only way forward is to keep going. And I have watched them step up.
I’ve seen the smile of a student who has made it through another night despite feeling homesick. I’ve watched students reach the top of a mountain after a steep climb, exhausted but triumphant. I’ve seen them try something they were nervous about, stand up for someone else, navigate a friendship challenge, and choose to do the right thing even when others did not. These are moments of courage.
Sometimes we imagine courageous people as those who simply aren’t afraid. But courage doesn’t exist in the absence of fear, difficulty or uncertainty. Courage is choosing to take action even when you feel afraid or uncertain. It is taking the next step when something is hard. It is speaking when it would be easier to stay silent. It is taking responsibility for mistakes. It is trying when we might fail. It is standing firm when others choose differently.
As parents and educators, our instinct is often to make the path easier for the young people we care about. Sometimes, of course, that is exactly what they need. But there are also times when our role is not to remove the mountain, but to walk beside them as they climb it. To encourage them, support them, remind them of what they are capable of, and resist the temptation to take away every struggle.
Because it is in doing hard things that young people discover something important about themselves.
Tonight, as the camp finally becomes quieter and our students drift off to sleep, I am grateful for the privilege we have of walking alongside them. We get to cheer them on as they face their fears, persevere through challenges, make brave choices, and discover strengths they didn't know they had.
And perhaps, little by little, they begin to understand that they don't need to wait until they feel fearless.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7
Mrs Deb Cooper
Principal
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