Renfrew put on a beautiful Chapel presentation with all the right elements required to take the congregation through a full gamut of emotions. What follows is a speech by their Head of House.

I would like to begin by saying hello, since “hellos” and “goodbyes” are what we are focusing on today. These are two simple words we often utter automatically, without putting in much thought. However, without those two words, we would have no beginnings, and no endings. In fact, I wouldn’t have an opener to my speech. Today, let us think about what those two words, twelve letters, really entail.

A pessimist might say that “You cannot have a hello without a goodbye.” An optimist might say that “You cannot have a goodbye without a hello.” In reality, hello and goodbye are directly related whichever way you look at it. They are so connected that the French even invented the word “salut,” which can be used as either a hello or a goodbye. However, even though the two words are so closely intertwined, they are also entirely opposite. “Goodbye” usually involves sadness, departure, and closure. But when we think of the word “Hello,” we usually think of arrivals, opportunities, and new beginnings. To quote Mr. Connolly, “A hello isn’t just a sound we make when we greet someone. It’s also an attitude. Our hello can be coloured by distrust and caution, or it can be filled with confidence and enthusiasm. Our goodbyes can be a matter of sadness and grief, or an occasion for appreciation and gratitude.”

Our lives are infinite series of hellos and goodbyes – some bigger and some smaller than others. There are small hellos like the beginning of a new week, or bigger hellos like meeting someone new for the first time. Similarly, there are insignificant goodbyes like closing the door behind us as we leave our classroom, or greater ones such as finishing our final exams at the end of the year. Nonetheless, I’m sure I’m right in saying that coming to Shawnigan was both a huge goodbye and hello for all of us here: the goodbye being leaving our old homes and the hello being arriving at our new home at school.

I remember when I first came to Shawnigan in grade 10, it was heartbreaking to say goodbye to my family. I would soon be entering a new province, a new school, a new home… At that time, it was the biggest goodbye and hello that I had ever experienced. To say the least, I was scared. And I’m sure there are others here who have shared this fright. I know that everyone has endured their own unique occasions of leaving home. We are all familiar with the feeling of leaving behind our families and coming to Shawnigan for the first time.

Saying hello to Shawnigan has been the most significant new beginning of my life. I can still remember my first hellos in Renfrew House; introducing myself to my soon-to-be best friends, getting used to Mrs. John’s funny accent and strange vocabulary, and wrapping my head around an orange wardrobe. However, I have learned to love all of these things, and these are the things that will prove to be the hardest goodbyes – except, maybe the orange.

Now, two and a half years later, I cannot believe that soon enough, it will be my time to say goodbye to Shawnigan. Just as I was when I left my home for the first time, I am scared. What am I going to do at university? I will actually have to pick an outfit every day, cook my own food, and plan my own exercise regime. It’s weird to think that the place I was so scared to come to, I am now so afraid to leave behind. It’s even stranger to think that the place that was my biggest hello will now become my biggest goodbye.

However, as has been said a million times before, “When one door closes, another one opens.” I know that Shawnigan has prepared me, and you, to enter through that new door. I know that every single person whom I have met here and all of the lessons I have learned from them have helped me become a better person. For example, the girls of Renfrew House have taught me how rewarding a single hello can be and that you don’t have to be blood related to consider someone family.

As Mr. Welsh told us last week, we are now more than halfway through the school year. Before we know it, the year will race by and summer will be upon us. It will then be my time to say “salut” to Shawnigan and “salut” to university. I can only hope that the communities I will be saying hello to will be half as life-changing as Shawnigan and Renfrew have been.

– Nina H.