Senior Boys' Boarding Blog: 19 May 2019

Trennick blog – Mars’ Speech

I am sending a slightly different blog this week in the form of Mars’ outstanding speech to students, parents and teachers at the Upper Sixth Leavers’ Chapel Service last Friday.

Good morning everyone. Wow, it is so hard to believe that two years of A level study is coming to its end. I still remember that all of us were shocked by the thickness of physics textbooks when we first received them two years ago. There was such a lot to learn and there still is before Monday! Then quite a few of us in the economics class, including myself, got our first detention from Mr Whatley for not handing in homework on time. I would like to say I didn’t do it again and Mr Whatley’s punishment worked, but I did. It was pretty clear that A level was nothing like GCSE, nobody was messing around. Many of us were discouraged at first. It’s like: how can I get a good report? Sounds like a mission impossible! However, the support from school teachers helped us get through this hard time. Many of them have devoted a lot of their personal time in clinics to make sure their students are happy about new knowledge. For example, Mr and Mrs McCabe barely went home before 5 on Mondays and Tuesdays. And Mr Whatley always filled his cup with black coffee to keep going in clinics, and detentions. I am sure that many other teachers did a similar thing for us. So here I am honoured to represent my year group and say: thank you, sir, thank you, miss.

What is also vital in this journey is the encouragement from friends. I am lucky because I have got friends like Oscar and Callum who have always got my back. Whenever I feel down, a handshake or a pat on the shoulder can really cheer me up. Now when I look at them, I can see politicians, runners, mathematicians and musicians. They are the people who will shape our society. After the exams, we may not see them as frequently since everyone will go to university and start to make new friends. But I believe the friendships will last a long time and those good memories may even stay with us for the rest of our lives.

My memories of Truro School began when I arrived three years ago from China, with, my boarding friends reminded me, two large suitcases and very little English. I would like to thank all the staff and students who have helped me develop into a confident, bilingual and nearly-academically-qualified young adult, prepared for the next stage in life. For many of us, that will mean going to university and being away from home for the first time, though some of us have been doing it already. Some people may shout out: freedom hooray!! But no one is going to drive us to school for free or do the laundry. Perhaps you can drink beer with your mates all night but when you go back to your dorm, no one will clean up the mess you make. Only then will we appreciate the contribution from our parents in these two years, be it picking us up after school, doing housework or working hard to pay the school fees. So I would like to say, on behalf of all of us, nearly-adults, thank you for your support to help us get through the last 2 years, thank you mums, thank you dads, thank you house parents.

And now if you’ll excuse me, Mr Williamson, I need to go to revise for my physics exam on Monday.