The theme for this week is co-curricular involvement. Today is a Monday timetable, thanks to the fact yesterday was a Field Day, one of the many ways the School goes beyond the curriculum to enrich our learning. I for one spent the weekend with Mr Casale and the surfing Period 8 team enjoying the best of the Cornish weather. But Field Days are only one of the many opportunities to get involved beyond the curriculum. Every day, The RGS Today is packed with societies, house events, music ensembles and sports practices so there is no reason not to get involved.
One of the best things about extra-curricular activities is they are a chance to socialise and work with people outside of your classes or year groups. Working with new people and making friends is not only good for you and your mental health but is also an invaluable skill to develop for your career and adult lives.
Over the years I’ve always done what I can to get involved, from going along Junior Philosophy Society in First Form or signing up for all the House events no one else wanted, through to me taking on running The 1509 from its creators the Upper Sixth. But despite this, there are still areas of school where I wish I’d got more involved. I have never played music with the School for example, and looking at the end of my school career, I find myself wondering maybe I should have made the effort to go to the Old Building before school one day and pushed myself a bit. Because that is one of the many benefits of all the extra-curricular activities on offer; there is such variety that there will inevitably be activities on offer that you are not very good at and are therefore opportunities to go outside your comfort zone.
I would leave you with a quote from Henry David Thoreau, made famous by what is probably the best film about an extra-curricular activity ever written: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived… I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” So go to clubs and practices, get to know some new people, learn some new skills, face your fears, and make your lives extraordinary.
Tom Postance
Senior Prefect