Grow by learning about yourself
Everybody makes mistakes in their life, whether it is a wrong number in a maths paper or an offence paid to a loved one in a heated argument. What differentiates us is the ability to learn from your mistakes. The heat is turned up on Sixth Formers across the globe as they revise; continuously correcting their mistakes in trial past papers. The humbling process reveals your weaknesses, your most likely mistakes. The mark schemes show you how to fix the problems, so that next time you are less likely to make an error.
In the real world, however, you don't have a mark scheme for life to see where you've gone wrong. You have to be reflective, introspective, watch the way you behave and the things you do to assess whether you are doing what is right. We are frequently faced with scenarios that allow us to do this, and yet often overlook them. For example, if a group project has gone wrong, it is important to assess what part you have played in its downfall. Even if it seems obvious that it went wrong because Joe Blogs never brought that important document to the last meeting, there will always be something you can learn from. Was it a bad idea to trust Joe with such an important task? Could you have reminded him prior to the meeting? Is it questions like this that you should be asking yourself whenever something goes awry in life.
One doesn't just learn from the bad times. There are many good experiences that offer opportunities for lessons learnt. I've learnt through spending time with friends and travelling that there are far more valuable things in life than just good grades. Meeting people, being adventurous, breaking the rules, these things teach us the most important lessons: the ones about ourselves. As was said by Benjamin Franklin, "There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self". Learning about one's self is so valuable for many reasons. You know how you will respond when in certain situations, allowing you to better prepare for them. You develop a better picture of your own beliefs and morality, and this allows you to act with greater certainty in your endeavours. Most importantly, you will eventually get to know who you are. You'll see the moulds that you have been being squashed into and realise that you have your own niche in society, and that you can be proud of who you are. Grow by learning about yourself.
GEMS has Grow by Learning as one of its core values, and over the time I have spent here at Sherfield I know that I have certainly grown as an academic, a prefect and a person. I know the lessons I have learnt have come from good and bad places, from good times and bad times. The rough and the smooth, and particularly the knocks, have made a more rounded individual. Take time in the coming week to be introspective. Grow by learning about yourself.
Thomas Jenkins
Head Boy