THEME: HUMILITY
Welcome to this special assembly, which is focused on the appointment of the acting prefects.
Most appropriately, the lesson and prayer today are on “humility” and will be read by Van Selm.
From Scripture:
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14:
A Prayer:
“We pray for a heart of humility. Humility in such a way that we do not cheapen our own worth, but that we understand that we are here for a greater purpose than just our own gain.”
The theme for the week is “humility”, which, broadly, means to have a modest view of your own importance. To be humble is not necessarily a stance, in this competitive world, that comes naturally to a Maritzburg College boy. After all, we have a privilege system that has at times been known to allow a senior boy, who might have a long and gruesome misconduct record, to bust the chops of an A-team loyal junior – just because he is a senior and I suppose a sense that “I can”!
Also, at this school, we also talk often – and I am one of the most enthusiastic culprits – about our proud old school, the oldest in KZN, with its long list of famous old boys, and for the need of you boys to always strive to meet the high standards of those who have gone before. It is not a very humble tale.
But, that being said, I would like to think that hopefully it is an inspirational one; one that aims to have College boys strive to be the best that they can be.
But you young men are also taught many other lessons at this school, and for you as College boys to acknowledge –
- that there is a well-trodden, noble path out there for us all to aspire to;
- that we always need to strive in this life to be better tomorrow than we were yesterday;
- that the best leaders are those who serve others; and
- that we are each, individually, but a small part of a greater and more worthy enterprise.
These are most certainly lessons that we are all taught in the classrooms and dormitories and on the corridors and sports-fields of this school.
I’d like to think that, beneath our proud and hard-striving veneer, there is very much a more humble under-tone.
You College boys are often externally bold and courageous, but I also like to think that, during your five years within these ‘Old Walls’, you also learn to internally test your own strengths and weaknesses, and to learn, via the valuable life lessons that underpin so much of what we do here, more about yourselves. Because, as many philosophers and writers will tell you, humility is less about how you project yourself to the outside world than how you look at yourself:
- “In reality, humility means nothing other than complete honesty about yourself.” – William Countryman
- “Humility isn’t denying your strengths; it’s being honest about your weaknesses.” – Rick Warren
In the 1950s, a poll asked high school seniors in the USA if they considered themselves to be a very important person. Just 12% said “Yes”.
When the same question was asked 50 years later, 80% of the students said they think they are “very important”.
The American columnist David Brooks looked at this broad cultural shift toward inflated self-worth, which I’m afraid that as modern people we are all guilty of, and he argued that a central mistake / delusion / fallacy of our modern world is that to focus on one’s own importance and own success leads to happiness and a meaningful life.
Brooks argues instead that in order to have a truly fulfilling life, you must learn how to forget yourself. You need to be humble. You need to show humility.
As he wrote – “We are all stumblers, and the beauty and meaning of life are in the stumbling.”
In short gentlemen, be modest with your successes, as they come your way; accept that the long journey of life will be littered along the way with successes and failures; and always be ready to humble yourself and accept that we are all but bit players on life’s great stage.
It is worthy that today’s lesson is on “humility”, given that our main task this morning is to appoint our acting prefects for the next seven weeks, until the Passing of the Drum Ceremony in September. For years, they have hopefully been inspired to serve their school and to serve their brothers – you boys. After all, humility is at the very core of all servant leaders.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Kadira and his prefects of the class of 2023 for their service to Maritzburg College, and to wish them well, as they take a deserved break from their prefect duties, to now focus on their Trials studies.
The process of selecting the acting prefects is a long and gruelling one, involving multiple rounds of voting, a leadership camp and live interviews. There will be a number of boys who are bitterly disappointed at not attaining this much sought-after accolade from their school. I ask them to remember my words about life being a long journey.
To the young men appointed today, I wish you all well, as you learn to lead and manage the 1 250 schoolboys at our school – diligently, loyally, responsibly, and of course with HUMILITY.
Our Acting Prefects for 2023 are:
P Khubeka, C Robinson, R Jacobsz, J Slevin, J Jansen, I Mosupye, J Konigkramer, N Holmes, A Botha, C Ferraz, N Jackson, M Knoetze, R Bernstein, O da Costa, C Mason, J Gasarasi, K Jele, J Kloppers, J Knoetze, I Jikijo, N Narain, J Marcus, J Werth, L Myeza, A Mohamed, R Maartens, E Maynard, J Mumford, M Moosa
Our Acting House Leaders for 2023 are:
CULTURAL AWARDS
Congratulations to a number of boys who have been awarded cultural awards for MARKETING.
LAPEL BADGE
SAS HLOPHE [COMMONS]
IG MOSUPYE [PAPE]
OL NTOMBELA [CALDER]
NR SETIPA [FORDER]
COLOURS
DJ BECKET [CALDER]
IO JIKIJO [FORDER]
HONOURS
SA MCHUNU [FULLER]
SPORT
There are few schools with grounds big enough to host an MTB event – but Maritzburg College’s stunning 25-hectare campus certainly is! On Saturday, we were proud to host the KZN Schools Mountain Biking League #3 event, as part of the 160th celebrations, which saw hundreds of MTB cyclists taking part, tackling the course around the school grounds, which included some challenging ramps and a floating bridge! Well done to the boys who spent many hours helping build the exciting course and congratulations to Mrs Kerry Batholomew and her team for organising an excellent event.
This weekend saw Maritzburg College’s 1st XI soccer team take on Westville while our U17 and U15 rugby sevens teams travelled to DHS for their second tournament. College’s canoeists took part in the Dolphin Coast Surfski championships, winning two medals, and the squash teams secured convincing wins against Pretoria Boys High School.
Full sports results are here.
Prestige Concert
We held our annual Prestige Concert on Friday night and we offer a hearty “Well done” to Mrs Thaver, Mr Solomons and Mr Harty, and all the helpers, and of course to all the musicians, who put on an excellent show. We are so lucky to have such a rich, ever-developing cultural side to our school – let’s congratulate all involved.
As outlined in the weekly bulletin, it’s another busy week of activity, including the acting prefects’ course, the Moms’ Evening, the exciting ‘Night of 1000 Starts” talent show on Friday night, a closed Friday for the boarders, and Family Day on Saturday, with College hosting the Nashua 7s.
Have a good week, and work hard.
For the 6th Formers this is of course your last full academic week of school – from next week onwards its Trials, mark checks, the 6th Form Dance, holidays, a week in term 4 of farewells, a week of study leave, and then Finals!
Work with us, gentlemen, to ensure that your departure from College is a happy one, and that come your Pump House jump in early December we can all look each other in the eye, shake a manly paw, and wish each other a happy goodbye.
Lastly, the Springboks showed some excellent form against their old enemies from New Zealand on Friday night. For next Friday, you will all be invited to go “Bok Friday” – which we will use to support a College family in dire need. But more about that next week.
Pro Aris et Focis
Matthew M Marwick (Acting Headmaster)