Lily’s Mount Memories and Her Future Plans
Former College II Senior Leadership Team member Lily, joined her College II peers in delivering a relatable, yet meaningful speech as part of the Foundation Meeting celebrations early this year. As she prepares to start the next chapter of her education, we look back on the powerful words of wisdom she bestowed on the next generation of Mount Leaders.
Lily
So, this is the end of our journey at The Mount. For me, this journey has extended across nearly half of my lifetime and has subsequently shaped me as the person I am today. I distinctly remember my first day in Year 7, walking up that little walkway to Reception with my hockey stick and my kilt dragging across the floor whilst I held my dad’s hand and in true ‘Wild Child’ fashion, I remember thinking ‘I can’t believe my parents are sending me to an all-girls school!’
At the time I was young and scared of change, my naivety stopped me from realising that that decision and walk up that little walkway was going to change my life forever. Mount girls are confident, resilient, ambitious, strong and above all kind. All qualities which I am proud to say my classmates and I have developed under the nurturing care of the school.
I undoubtedly believe that these qualities would have been supressed if I had gone to another school and I am therefore eternally thankful to my parents for choosing The Mount and The Mount itself for letting us all flourish.
I know that this will have been mentioned at almost every speech at this school however there is a reason for it, the community and lifelong friendships made at this school is unparalleled. There are no outsiders to our community, everyone belongs, and everyone has the courage to be unashamedly themselves.
Despite this being the end of our education within this community it will remain an integral part of our whole lives. The small conversations you have with catering staff in the morning about lessons ahead, the genuine smiles exchanged down the corridors are small yet powerful gestures which make up the foundations of what it means to be a Mount girl. Although we are leaving the catering staff and the corridors behind these small acts of kindness are embedded into who we are and that is something that will stay.
The impact that my teachers have had on my life is indescribable. I credit their support for pushing me to exceed myself beyond limits enabling me to achieve goals I once believed were made for someone else. They provide me with tools to tackle the challenges, A Levels for example. Things that I couldn’t even begin to comprehend when I first started. Thank you for teaching me to not fear failure and that every accomplishment starts with a decision to try.
The word friend doesn’t suffice to describe the bond held between girls at this school. I have been with these girls 9 hours a day, 5 days a week for the past 7 years. Together we have grown, we have spent most of our formative years together. We have brought each other patience, anger, laughter and compassion. I refuse to consider today as a day that marks parting from one another. Today just marks a new chapter, a chance to make new friends not to remove old ones. Our differences and quirks have brought us closer, allowing us to develop an open minded and accepting stance when taking our first steps into the future. I consider you lifelong friends and you are all uniquely unforgettable.
In the position that I hold at this moment in time I would like to take the opportunity to speak to the younger years. If I was to take one piece of advice to give to my younger self it would be;
‘Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the encourage to continue that counts. Be unapologetically loud, be brave, take up space and take every opportunity you have, be the girls who just went for it’.
This is the mindset of The Mount school and it is now the mindset that we will leave with. I am not a fan of goodbyes so in true Mountie fashion I shall leave you with a text of the day from Dr Seuss: ‘Don’t cry because it is over. Smile because it has happened.’
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