‘From dust we are made’
- reflections on resilience
at Guildford Grammar School
Fr Thomas Pote, Chaplain, Guildford Grammar School
In the Bible’s second account of creation, God fashions humankind from the dust of the earth. However, if you travel up the Derbarl Yerrigan towards Mandoon, you’ll find another type of earth mixed into the students’ DNA at Guildford Grammar School. We call it Guildford Grit.
In an age where the mental health of young people is at the forefront of conversations in education, we are seeking to build perseverance and determination in our students from the ground up.
Guildford Grammar School is built on a bedrock of Christian faith and learning, a tradition whose imprints you can trace in almost all that we do here. It’s a faith which is shown in our community life where we seek to build each other up and encourage one another in the many different areas our students choose to perform in. It’s a faith traced through our service learning and our outdoor education which connect us to the wider community we live in and to the creation we are stewards of. This faith is traced through our learning as we strive to know more about the world we live in while recognising our duty to leave the world a better place than when we entered it. In other words, dust from our bedrock gets everywhere.
Just as wisdom comes from the blending of experience with knowledge, grit comes from the mixing of that dust with the realities of everyday life. It’s when we encounter pressures in life for the first time as young people that we have an opportunity to develop our resilience. Strategies learnt at school to overcome nerves before assessments, music recitals, public debates and sports matches will serve us well in the workplace or in managing the frenetic pace of modern family life. Equally, being able to dig deep into hidden reserves of courage or determination on an outdoor learning program or overseas service tour when tired, blistered and far from home, will pay huge dividends when it comes to going the extra distance or putting in the extra hours to ensure success in a project.
It’s the thirst for that success which brings our Grit to the fore. By offering opportunities which push our students out of their comfort zone, we invite them to get their hands dirty and in doing so learn to innovate and persevere. Because we believe that each student is unique, Grit comes out differently in everyone, but we know that it will stay in them for life as they strive to achieve the long-term goals they’ll set for themselves. But despite this difference, like the common traits all humans share, Grit is a defining characteristic of Guildford Grammar School students. As they walk through life with their feet firmly on the ground from which we came, we know that it’s this Grit which will both define and serve them in whatever path they choose to pursue.
