Apologies for being inconsistent and breaking my 'blog-a-day' tradition; I was a bit tired after the brilliant day I had yesterday.
Started off with going to a Mass with my family at St. Mary's and St. Michael's Church, in remembrance of my Nan. My Mum's side of the family live further into London than I am; not out of East London though. All of them attend or used to attend a Catholic School, like me, but I'm not sure if any of them have the same religious (or non-religious) beliefs as I do. When I went up to receive a blessing from the priest, his eyes seemed to pierce through my head. He looked into my eyes for more than a few seconds. I find it hard to believe that anyone can 'sense' that you're an Atheist, but on this occasion perhaps I was obviously lacking a certain 'faith' in my soul. Or something. I'd say it's nothing.
After spending a bit more time with my family at the cemetery, my Mum drove me and my sister back to school. We arrived at lunchtime, and being the last day of Sixth Form, there was a Leaver's Mass ceremony that took place after lunch. The first thing I noticed was that the guys were in their Bon's blazers AND ties. Really wish I did the same; the only things I had on (with regular 6th Form clothing, of course) were the Bon's tie (Music tie, so it had an extra purple stripe) and the Head Boy badge from Year 11. Then again, I guess I was representing the whole Sixth Form, as there were quite a few externals present. Didn't wanna make them feel too left out! So yeah, cue lots of photos being taken and people getting emotional (no tears though, as I was quite surprised by).
When it came to the Mass, I found myself allocated a seat right at the front, on the seat closest to the middle walkway. The Headteachers and some Senior Staff decided that the sun was too much for them, so we had to swap seats with them. The heat was quite intense, at some points. Good thing the wind came along (the Mass was outside), although at times it was quite violent, knocking over the crucifix on the altar. Of course, because I'm the Head Boy (was?), I was chosen to do the First Reading at the Mass. Needless to say, it was quite hypocritical, thinking to when I said my speech. Then again, the words were simply words to me. I'm merely a speaker of words that others may take to have more meaning behind them. Of course, this was the second Mass I went to, so it was the second time I went up for a Blessing instead of the Blessed Sacrament. And of course, I was situated right at the front, the nearest to the priest. This priest happened to be none other than the Monsignor John Armitage, who had in the past given me the Blessed Sacrament and watched me grow up in a Catholic school. I got a few looks from some teachers, but luckily I didn't have far to travel back to my seat. Near the end of the Mass, the Headteachers of both schools, the Director of Sixth Form, the Head Girl and myself all delivered speeches to the audience; the Year group and quite a significant number of teachers. Here's the full transcript:
Afternoon people,
For a few people sitting here today, this is probably the first time you’ve seen or noticed me as the Head Boy. If I’m to be honest with myself and all of you, I’m not sure whether or not I’ve performed enough duties for the Sixth Form as a whole to fully fulfil the title. Nevertheless, I’ve done as was asked of me, and I hope that you’re happy with my actions over the past year.
From what I’ve seen and experienced over the past two years, our year group stands out from the others in more ways than one. On one hand, you could say that our year likes to be different; different in terms of dress sense, different in terms of punctuality, and different in terms of how much we choose to make friends with the rest of the year group. Of course, I’m speaking generally; I’m not saying it applies to everyone individually. I do however believe that we can eventually penetrate through those barriers that each of the groups in this year possess. I’m sure that every past year group has had some level of these traits, and our year group by no means possesses the worst of these.
In my personal experience, being in this Sixth Form has brought me great opportunities that have defined the person speaking in front of you now. I have developed my understanding of who I really am, who my friends are, and experienced the highs, and lows, of being a teenager maturing into an adult. I think the greatest development I have made is that of understanding the world surrounding us. The Sixth Form has opened up chances for me to view the world more openly, instead of just this stubborn chrysalis that we call London
And if you’re not proud of yourself, at least know that I’m proud of you. I wish every one of you all the best wherever your lives take you, and I hope that we’ll meet each other again in the near or distant future.
Thank you.
I admit, it took quite a bit of my courage to say that I'm an Atheist in front of everyone, especially Monsignor and my GCSE RE teacher. What can I say, I like to surprise people at the most appropriate times. After the speech, Serviam badges were handed out to the Deputy Head Boys and Girls, then to the Head Girl and I. They're pretty much like the Victoria Cross medals of the two schools. Honestly, I was really proud when I received mine. I'm always going to be proud of where I'm from and where I attended, because these places have made me who I am today. I'm also proud of the people I've gotten to know over the past two years, and for some it's been seven years. I'd like to thank all of you, wherever you are, and wish you the best in trying to make this world a better place. You're the future!
So, as the service was ended, I was returning back to my seat when the Monsignor put his hand on my shoulder, saying "You're a very brave man". I apologised to him, in case I offended him by saying I'm an Atheist, but he stopped me, saying "no no, no need to apologise, you're a brave man for saying what you've said. The only thing I'm asking you is to never give up on Him. He'll always be waiting, so you needn't worry". To an extent, I agreed with what Monsignor had to say. I'm not giving up on the idea, but I'm not accepting it as the answer. He's a wise man, regardless of what anyone thinks. A really down-to-earth guy. A person that I respect, and have respected for many years now.
A few teachers approached me afterwards, saying the exact same about how brave I was to say what I said. They joked about too, saying "I think there's a stoning taking place outside a bit later, you might wanna get a move on" - words of Mr. Templeman. Mrs Burke (née Reynolds) offered to double-check my Leaver's Ball speech, to which I replied saying that I wanted to keep it a surprise. Although I think I've blown all my surprises at once with the speech I said.
I'll post a blog later about the good few hours that followed. Most of which has been documented already by people's cameras. That reminds me, I really do need to get a camera.
Until next time.
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