From our Head Boarder

This year has been the first full year back from the pandemic, it hasn’t always been easy to get back to non-quarantine school life. Therefore, my goal as Head Boarder was to bring more positivity into the house and build up a stronger relationship between boarders.

It has been a great pleasure working with my wonderful prefect team: we had many laughs during our meetings for organising different events. I remember vividly the first event we had to organise: afternoon tea with the residents of the Alms Houses, our neighbours at Mary Ward House.

Since then, our prefect team has worked together smoothly to arrange a variety of events. At the start of the year, during the handover ceremony, I quoted a sentence that my dad said, “言必行，行必果”, which translates to ‘promise must be kept, action must be done’. I always thought of it when I was performing the duties as Head Boarder.

This year we planned some new activities, this included a baking competition and a Halloween house hunt. We also continued many great St Mary’s traditions, such as organising the boarding hoodies, the wonderful Christmas Dinner at Peterhouse College, Cambridge, and the fabulous Boarders' Concert.

During those activities, the whole house comes together as one, celebrating both the differences between us and more importantly the ties that bind us.

Especially in the Boarders' Concert, I saw many talents: great singing skills and amazing dances from all over the world. Having been in the audience for many years, it felt unreal to plan and host it myself, and watching the concert come together on the day made me feel connected to the boarding community and gave me a sense of pride.

Through planning those different activities, I have gained many essential skills as a leader in the team. After a year of practice, I felt so much confidence about public speaking, and more ready to move on to the next step in my life.

Through my experience, I would like to propose two small messages to the boarders and the future Head Boarders:

My first message is to the future Head Boarder: I understand being Head Boarder can sound difficult, but please do not worry about it. You are never alone at St Mary’s, there is always support around you.

The second message is to the future boarders: from my own experience, I know that boarding, especially when your family is overseas, can be difficult. Always remember that there are teachers and prefects you can confide in. The benefit of being in the boarding community is that there are so many different activities, and talking and working with others makes boarding life so rewarding!

Miranda Q. Head Boarder

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