Valedictory ceremony speech by me to my daughter's batch... Namaste, and a very Good evening to all... Valedictory function 2017, the last time I stood here to give a speech was in 2007. That was the batch I had taught since I joined this school in 2002 hence was special to me. Today ten years later I am standing here again to give the valedictory speech to a batch that is very close to me. I have seen most of you in this batch grow up from the time you were cute little kindergarteners to the dashing young adolescents you are now. For some of you I am your Biology teacher but most of you know me as the mother of one of your classmates. I remember the day Kiran sir interviewed me in Mumbai, “our school is different from other schools” he said, "You must visit Rajkot to see the school for yourself”. Well, after 15 years, I am glad I came to Rajkot and joined this institution, it is a matter of pride that today my daughter is graduating from this wonderful institution. 15 years is a long time, almost all of you have been here for about 15-16 years; and have seen a lot of changes in the institution and changes in yourself. From your “Didi’s” in the prep school to the teachers in high school, from the unknown classmates to the “inseparable part of your life friends”. It is these changes that allow you to adapt and learn the skills essential for a successful life. It is not the knowledge of a subject but the ability to face problems in life that built your character and define you as a person. When you focus on problems you will have more of it, but when you focus on possibilities you’ll have more opportunities. I like what Dr. Abdul Kalam said about school life, “Sometimes, it's better to bunk a class and enjoy with friends, because now, when I look back, marks never make me laugh, but memories do.” How many of you remember the marks you scored in the first prelims… very few of you definitely! However what most of you surely remember is time spend copying the chemistry answers while sitting and chatting with your friends, and how the next day you ended up outside the English class because you were busy with the chemistry home work that you forgot the English homework, you will remember how you escaped being caught by the admin dept while strolling around the entire campus with the excuse of going to the wash room or roaming in the city during galaxy bazaar claiming to be out for sponsorship. All those are now going to be memories……nostalgia… of times when you were carefree and lived a life that just revolved around SNK… the prep building to the annex building and the main building to the sports complex, the pond area, reception area (especially for the late comers), the library and of course the last but not the least…. “the area of last moment talks…..The parking area”. These memories are to be locked safe and taken out to relive your high school years that will bring a smile to your face. Make these your strength, the little doses of vitality that you may extract whenever you feel drained in life. Memories that will remind you of a strong foundation that this school gave you. A school molds and sculptures its students to enhance their potential and talent, which can be exploited once the student moves out of the school. The entire TGES faculty has contributed and created a foundation for a path for you to tread on and have shown you the skies, helping you build wings to fly and reach your dreams. Today all of you have metamorphosed from the innocent toddlers to brilliant and confident teenagers, armed with courage, strength and intelligence capable of facing the outside world. As you move out remember, there are certain things in life that we want because of others i.e. an external push, which makes us do things in life because somebody wants you to. However there is also an internal motivation that pushes us forward. This is the ambition that drives and guides us. That’s what we need; the inner motivation, we need to know that we are doing this by choice. So what ever you do you need to look for the inner motivation that will drive you to achieve success in life. Never forget that you always have voice and choice in your life, your voice has the power to change any situation and for every difficult situation you have a choice. I would like to end this speech with one of my favorite quote by Charles Darwin “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” On behalf of the TGES family, I pray that may God grant you the strength to follow your inner motivation and may you all be able to adapt yourself to changes leading to success. Wishing you all the best! Thank you.
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The views and experiences of a child penned by a parent. - Deepthi Uthaman “You, are not the highest in class? Your mom is a teacher right?“
“Your mom is a science teacher then why have you chosen humanities?” These are some of the questions my daughter had to endure being in the same school where I am a teacher. As teachers we know that every student is different, each student has their own individuality. However somewhere when it comes to advising students most of us tend to forget this and judge students by their parent’s profession. A doctor’s child should be interested in science and not in literature, or an artist’s child cannot try for the common entrance exam for engineering; these are some of the common views that students hear from their teachers. Do we as teachers realise what we are doing to the young minds? For all you know the parent must have taken up the profession under pressure and not for the love of it! May be not under pressure, but yes the society outlook made me take up science (you know the “Log kya kahenge” thing). I preferred Biology over the other sciences; however the subject that fascinates me even today is Indian History. Selecting "Humanities" with a distinction in grade 10 in the 1980s? It was unheard of! People would have claimed you and your parents insane; hence I ended up taking science. Coming back to my daughter; she being the daughter of a Biology teacher was expected to do something great in the field of Biology. Something like, discover a new species or may be create a new theory, or discover a process that allows animals also to manufacture its own food like plants… that’s not all, the worst part was that she was expected to excel in Biology every time with the highest marks! She had heard “Biology is in your genes” so often that she started hating Biology and also the fact that her mother is a teacher in the same school. According to my daughter, it is difficult for a normal child to understand this; children having their parents working in the same school will only be able to understand this condition. The daughter of my former Principal rightly puts this as the "PIS syndrome", … never heard of it? Well it is Parents In School syndrome. So if you have parents working in the same school, you get special treatment as no one will want to mess with the "child of a teacher". On the other hand as the “child of a teacher” you are supposed to excel in sports, dance, recitations and academics. Making friends is also a tough game as you don’t understand who are genuine and who are the ones just befriending you because you are “child of a teacher”. Again being the “child of a teacher” everyone has an eye on you, where you go, what you do, whom are you talking to, and even what you had during break time! Most people derive great pleasure in going and telling your parent all this with their views. The parent actually gets a daily report. Gives a feeling of a celebrity right? Yes, but how many of us would like being this type of a celebrity? The condition of the teacher-parent is also perplexing at times. Especially when it comes to questioning the system or giving opinion about something, we are unable to put up our views, the entire brunt of our view or opinion has to be borne by our child. There are times when my daughter has come home and said, "Mom, I told you not to talk to any of my teachers, why don't you understand?" However, as parents the good thing is we know that our child is in safe hands. The school, the staff are all familiar to us, we know when and what to expect. Apart from this, there are teachers who genuinely care and give critical feedback to us while treating the child normally. As a parent it may be good idea to have your child in the same school….. but as far as the kids are concerned it is difficult to comment. After all they are different individuals and have their own views! |
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