Thank you to Lonsdale's House for a terrific Chapel presentation. We were highly entertained by the entire House singing "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow," accompanied by the Lonsdale House Band. Another musical presentation by a smaller group was "Going Gets Tuff," fronted by the very talented, Rex S. We also heard poetry, prayers and readings. Their theme was determination, and what follows is a wonderful speech by the Head of House:

When I think of determination, many things come to mind. Later in this speech, I will give you some examples. But first off, for those of you who don’t know me, I’m usually a calm and collected person. You’re probably all looking at me and wondering if I’m calm and collected, but some of you may be surprised to know that I'm actually quite nervous. It’s funny because when I was named Head of House, I was ecstatic and honored to lead Lonsdale’s. I was confident that I would be capable of dealing with anything to do with the house, but I was petrified by the thought of delivering a speech in this chapel.

As teenagers mature, one of our greatest struggles is discovering what kind of person we want to be and which values we wish to nurture. The teenage years are all about experiencing new things, such as failure, and not letting them affect us negatively, but to learn from it. Ultimately, our biggest challenge is becoming comfortable in our own skin. This is what the adults like to refer to as “character building.”

Other ways to build character include chasing oval balls and uprooting broom.

In Lonsdale’s, on the first Saturday of every year, the grade 12s sit down with their little brother groups, a Sharpie and a large piece of construction paper to discuss what we want Lonsdale’s to look like, sound like, and feel like. We then combine all of our ideas to create the Lonsdale’s code of ethics.

This entire process takes a few hours, but when it’s all said and done, our code of ethics states that our house is a place of positivity, comfort, cleanliness, friendship, respect, and love.

The real challenge though, is in making these ideals a reality. A “House full of welcoming love” is surprisingly easy to write down, harder to say, and much harder to accomplish on a daily basis. I like to think that a good year in the House is when everyone has the determination to stick to the ideals.

This is also true on an individual basis. Just as we decide every year what kind of House we want to have, then work to achieve it, each of us, as teenagers, must also decide who we are as people. Someone with determination not only has strong convictions about what they want or who they want to be, they also strive to make that a reality. Once someone determines who they want to be, “determination” is the skill of sticking to that with unwavering, principled behavior. Simple.

I like to think of myself as a determined person. When I think of determination and how it fits into life on campus, it’s a great quality to possess to get you through every day of your life here at Shawnigan. The neatest part about determination is that it can be applied on different scales to complete any goal. When you set a large goal for yourself, you can’t battle it head on. You must break the task into manageable goals for yourself and steadily work towards accomplishing the larger one. For example, a large goal would be to get into a good university. It will not happen just from staring at a blank application. You set small goals to achieve getting into university. You start by doing your prep, paying attention in class, talking with a guidance counselor, volunteering at the Hospice events with Mr. Dukelow, and in my case, taking the SAT. A woman named Joyce Meyer once said, “Getting organized in the normal routines of life and finishing little projects you’ve started is an important first step toward realizing larger goals. If you can’t get a handle on the small things, how will you ever get it together to focus on the big things?” This quote directly relates to our theme because it is the small goals that stack up to create and accomplish large goals.

And now for the examples that I promised you.

When I think of determination and people that embody it, I think of three people: Mr. Coy, my squash coach Mike Johnson, and Luiz.

Day in and day out, Mr. Coy tirelessly works to keep everyone content inside the House and out. Living under a roof with 53 young teenagers can be stressful at times but Mr. Coy tackles all adversities thrown at him with determination, strength, and courage. In my first year at Shawnigan in grade 10, I switched to another house for one week, after an unfortunate fallout with a housemate. I didn’t plan on returning to Lonsdale’s. However, Mr. Coy, determined to bring me back to the House, persuaded me to move back. Needless to say, I am forever thankful for that. If I hadn’t returned, I probably would not be representing Lonsdale’s and speaking in front of you all. If you thought Mr. Coy’s plate wasn't full with being the House Director of Lonsdale’s, the head rowing coach, an English teacher, and a husband, I should tell you that he’s also casually training to for a half marathon. That’s determination.

Another very determined person that I have had the pleasure of knowing is Mike Johnson, my squash coach. I cannot begin to describe how determined he is. Rest is a word that is simply not in his vocabulary. If he’s not on the court with someone, he’s usually found running errands or working in his gardens at home. Mike, at 66 years young, recently underwent surgery and was instructed by the doctor to rest for a couple of weeks. Instead Mike decided to rest for a few days, and then started working and getting back on the court. Determined to continue helping the squash program and seeing the kids thrive. The term “old man power” is not a myth. It’s an incredibly real term that lives through Mike, who has a bad knee but sometimes does my training with me when he gets tired of watching all day. In a way, Mike is like Miss Daisy, from Driving Miss Daisy -- unwilling to give in to old age. In Driving Miss Daisy, Miss Daisy refuses to give up her ability to drive. Mike refuses to give up his fitness regardless of how much pain his knee causes him.

Finally, the third person that I see as a determined individual is my grade 10 roommate, Luiz. To us Lonsdale’s boys, it was clear that Luiz was the most determined boy in the House. In many of my conversations with Luiz, we talked about how cool it would be when were grade 12’s. The benefits of seniority appealed to us: having a loft, enjoying relaxed bed times, getting to run juniors, taking credit for the hard work of others . . . but mainly becoming leaders in the House. An example of Luiz’s determination, was in grade 10 when he joined rowing. He told himself that he was going to do everything in his power to make the boat. Unfortunately during practice, he was having pains in his chest and it was discovered that he had a faulty valve in his heart, temporarily rendering him unable to work out. Luiz easily could have let this heart condition bring him down, but instead he went down to the boathouse every day to help out in any way he could, including during the Brentwood Regatta, waking up every morning at 5 just to go down and help out. He did all of this because he was determined to stay a part of the team even though he couldn’t row. He was later awarded the title of Unsung Hero of the Boathouse. So Luiz, I’m so proud of you, and I’m honoured to have once called you my roommate and friend.. just kidding were still friends. To conclude, I’ve given you examples of determination and how it applies to the School, to my House, and to individuals. After the break, we will all return for the final term of the year. For some of us, it’s the final term of our high school careers. I challenge you to determine what kind of term you wish to have, set goals, and find the determination to finish the year strongly.

Thank you.

I’d like to give a quick thank you to Gavin for putting together this whole house presentation. None of this could have happened if we didn't have him dedicating so much time to this. So, thank you!

Photos by Stephen Lane

The livestream video below cuts out for a few seconds in the beginning, but does record the entire presentation. Enjoy!

Watch live streaming video from shawnigan at livestream.com