The Alleynian 703 2015

Pueri A lleynienses: L E A V E R S ’ A D D R E S S E S Boys leaving Dulwich at the end of the academic year have their passing marked in a number of ways, but one of the most poignant is the time for reflection afforded by the Leavers’ Service in the Chapel of God’s Gift. To convey a sense of this occasion we reproduce here the short addresses given this year by the School Captain and the boys’ Head of Year

Above : Year 13 assemble for their Leavers’ photograph with their tutors.

‘You find yourselves poised on the edge of a precipice, balanced between past and future’

state of mind. And we can’t be happy now by dwelling nostalgically on the past or hoping for a better future. As your School Captain so rightly said at the end of last Summer term, what matters is now – make it count. I am convinced that life’s winners are not those who have more, or even achieve more. The winners are the ones who make the most of the moment they find themselves in, for themselves and to the benefit of those around them. I hope it doesn’t come as a disappointment that I cannot advise you on how best to do this. Given I am no expert on the subject, from where have I developed this conviction? Most obviously, from working with you. Despite the many claims on your time whilst at the College, and the significant pressure of repeated cycles of examinations – which seem designed to force you not to live in the moment – you have mostly made a very good job of it, and are the happier for it. I have seen some of you over-book yourselves at lunch time with so many activities you would have had to teleport to be able to complete them all (but have still spotted you doing one of these as though it was the only important thing to be done in the world); others, perhaps less diverse in your interests, have been able to suspend all concern for your currently undone (but imminently due) prep in order to sit in Ned’s Place sipping coffee with a friend (frequently one who appears to be trying to do his prep). Almost without fail, you will opt for a cheery nod or smile if I pass you somewhere on the campus, no matter how rushed or late you may already be, and though I may concern myself, to your occasional puzzlement, with the latest Daily Report return, about your missed prep or lateness to lessons, you are generally confident that things are in hand, that that was yesterday, and that it is now today and that things are fine. So, in addition to asking you to leave well, I would like my parting words to you to be ‘thank you’. Thank you for teaching me about, or just reminding me of, a thing or two about life. I have valued our time together greatly, and wish you all the best for a future lived in the present moment, making good use of the experiences you have had in the past.

‘We are the masters of our fates’

Mrs Marina Instone

W hen I became your Head of Year at the start of June 2014, I wondered how well I would get to know you before you left the College: a year is a short time, and there are many of you – 198, to be precise. Inevitably, I have seen more of some of you than others, but overall I am struck by just how much of an impression you have, collectively, made on me. And what sort of impression? Overwhelmingly, it is one of fun, friendship and a touching ability not to take yourselves (or others) too seriously; to consider various perspectives and, if not always seeing the bigger picture, appreciating that there undoubtedly is one. This fundamental openness has made you a joy to work with in your final year at the College, and I would like to thank you for it. On occasions such as this one, it is usual to look backwards, and forwards. Whether you have spent one year or 16 at Dulwich, you will have memories that will stay with you indefinitely; I hope they are predominantly happy ones. For better or worse, the experience of being here will have shaped you as individuals in ways no one could have predicted with any precision, and, as always, what is about to become your past will have a significant bearing on how you go about moulding your future. You find yourselves poised on the edge of a precipice, balanced between past and future. This is a very natural time to be acutely aware of it: leaving school is a momentous occasion. But being balanced between past and future is how we always are – it is always the present, this moment. Almost as soon as you are aware of it, it has passed, and you can never get it back. Living in the moment is the key to happiness, we are told; happiness is a not a state of affairs, it is a

W hy ‘Invictus’? I wanted to see how this poem might be felt to describe Dulwich, Black and Blue, Pueri Alleynienses. ‘Invictus’ describes the challenges of life and how one can and does overcome them, with humility, wit, ambition, confidence. That’s Dulwich. During our times at Dulwich, we’ve all, without exception, met challenges, and we’ve all, without exception, tackled them head on. It takes a certain confidence to do that. I remember Mr Northcote-Green describing the typical Dulwich boy as someone who ‘is comfortable in any environment you throw him into’. Again, that takes a certain confidence and courage. My musings this morning are never going to do any more than scratch the surface, because we’ve all had such different experiences at Dulwich. But what I wanted to touch on is this common platform we’ve been given – this confidence, this courage. ‘Invictus’ talks about being ‘unafraid, unbowed, unconquerable’. That’s what we are. We fall down, but we get up. We make mistakes, but we learn from them. As our debaters walk on to the world stage, as our 1st XV marches onto the rugby field, as our actors stand in front of hundreds, we will walk with confidence into our futures. Black and blue down our backs, God’s gift in our hearts, we step forth into a world that’s waiting for us; nervous, expectant. I’ve heard it said: ‘Replace fear of the unknown with curiosity’. No. Replace ‘fear of the unknown’ with ‘confidence’. Replace ‘fear of the unknown’ with Dulwich. For we are the masters of our fates, we are the captains of our souls; we are unconquerable. We are Dulwich. Anamay Viswanathan (Year 13)

‘Invictus’ Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

WE Henley, 1888

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