The words the Navy Seal spoke resinated with me as they were concepts that I have long lived by and long tried to inspire in the children that I have the great privilege of teaching. It also reminded me of my basic training in the Army and how a platoon of individual men became one team by learning how to do the little things right. Here is an excerpt from the speech;
“If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. By the end of the day that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that the little things matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never be able to do the big things right. If by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made. That you have made. And a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better”.
As I look around the College, I see that the students who struggle the most also struggle with the little things. They either have not been able to get themselves into a pattern of working on the little things or they totally refuse to do the little things. So what are the little things? I believe it all starts with how you enter into the day. The first thing (other than making your bed) that our students should be striving for is to be correctly dressed for each day. The second is ensuring that they have all their equipment for the day. The third is arriving to school on time. These three areas immediately put the students into a positive mind frame that will get them set up for the day ready to work in and with the Positive Learning environment that we are trying to achieve. It also, as Admiral McRaven states, prepares them to do "the next thing and the next thing". If they are not prepared for College, by doing the little things, how can they possibly do the bigger things needed of them. There are many more little things, too many to mention just here but they are all achievable for our children and they need your assistance in ensuring they are starting the day positively. They may not like it at first, but soon will build positive routines that will benefit them throughout their time here at Thomas Hassall Anglican College.
Each one of our students has the capacity to do great things. They have been given gifts and talents that they can use to help themselves and others. My hope is that if we build on getting the little things right, the big things will be much easier. I will finish with another excerpt from Admiral McRaven’s speech.
“So if you want to change the world, start each day with a task completed. Find someone to help you through life. Respect everyone. Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often. But if you take some risks, step up when the times are the toughest, face up to the bullies, lift up the downtrodden, and never, ever give up; if you do these things, the next generation and the generations that follow will love in a world far better than the one we have today. And what started here will indeed have changed the world for the better”.
God Bless.
Mr Phil Kaye
Director of Welfare (Senior Years)