Faheem Mohammed (Grade 10 GPS-International)

Another clichéd back-to-school article!, you might be thinking, as you roll your eyes and your hands move hastily in an attempt to close this tab. But, I assure you, the year ahead of us is anything but.

It’s been close to two months now and we’re fully immersed in our relaxed schedules and ample free time. Indulging in three scoops of ice cream instead of one and binge-watching three seasons of a TV show instead of any at all.

Four days before school begins, you’re quickly jolted out of that dreamy lifestyle and you descend into a nightmare. Everything you did, thought to do, and ought to do during the summer, flash before your eyes.

The extra pounds that you promised yourself to work off? Didn’t happen.

The 15 km cycling trip you dreamed of making? Couldn’t happen.

The experiments with cooking that you encouraged yourself to do? Shouldn’t happen.

Now, it is easy to cave into an idea of an unaccomplished, disused summer, and I must warn you with a cliché — life is too short to have any regrets. You weren’t able to do what you thought you’d do this summer? That’s alright, you have another year ahead of you.

A year to think. A year to accomplish. A year to write. A year to paint. A year to indulge your inner Mozart. A year to create the change you want to see. A year to believe in. 

Today, I am convinced, more than ever that the impending times beckon with promise; beckon with hope. I am convinced that our best days lie ahead of us and not beyond us. I am convinced that this year will be our year. Our year to kindle and to define and to develop.

I say this not only with conviction, but also with an immovable belief I possess as a GPSite. A belief that our efforts will not be lost on us, but will instead help us find the way. A belief that what we do may not bask in limelight, but will not be futile. A belief that the year ahead of us is for us to define, and not for destiny to shape.

And with this message, I call upon every GPSite — lethargic and reenergized; first-grader and twelfth-grader; athletic and otherwise enthusiastic — to join hands in defining this year as one of promise, of hope, of dauntless optimism, of endless opportunity — for we’re an enduring student community that shines the light, and upon which light has shone.