The Last Word

By Ahmad Diwan | Posted: Monday August 3, 2020

For my last word, I have selected a topic that I feel is imperative to most of us, gratitude.

Do you take time to appreciate things that you own, and the opportunities that you are getting every day inside and outside of the school? Do you know how lucky you are to be sitting here in this school and this country? The chances are high that you don’t think about these things. So, I would like you to think about them now.

First, I would like to start with a little bit about myself. I came from a country that has a civil war, Syria. I faced so many severe challenges when I was just 13 years old, and I had to work for three years in a factory. I could not attend school in Syria for three years because of the war, and I came to a completely different life with a different education system. The transition from one part of the world to an other made me grow up so quickly. Also, it made me understand how different everything is. As a result, I became flexible and open-minded about pretty much everything.

So now, from my experiences, I have learnt to value and appreciate every single thing and opportunity that comes my way. No matter how small or big it is. I know that you have been told the next one a lot, believe me, I have been told this a lot too, but appreciate the education that you have access to. There are millions of people and students around the world like South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Turkish and refugee camps who can only dream of having access to the education that you have access to, for even just one day. Roughly 100 million children around the world don’t even make it through a primary school, and millions will never even step in a classroom. Not because they don’t want to, but they don’t get the opportunity to go to school.

There are so many students sitting in this hall who left their parents, their relatives and country just to be here studying with us and to get some of the opportunities that we are getting. We are so lucky to have access to a set of stuff and a clean safe school environment. Take advantage of the resources and the opportunities that you have right in front of you…. Use them wisely while you can. Because you already know that soon you will be out the archway facing the real world. Your education is crucial. So, appreciate it because not everyone has access to it. Not everyone is getting what you are getting. Regardless of what you want to do in your future, or where you go, just try out all the opportunities that come your way at high school, because it’s “now or never”.

Here in New Zealand, we have access to assets that other countries could only dream of having. Most of us don’t realize how easy our lives are compared to other people in the third world. We have things that most of us think that everyone in the world has, like the rooves over our heads, running water, food to eat and schools to attend. Many of us own cars, and we are not even 18. We are so fortunate, and I hope you can see that.

When you are grateful for what you have right now, you will have more to be grateful for. It is true that when you have those feelings of gratitude, you will become immediately happy in this moment. When you are thankful and satisfied with your life as it stands today, a lot of stuff will flow into your life to be happy and grateful for. Appreciate the beauty of your life now and value what you have now because you don’t know what could happen to you in the future.

In true OBHS tradition, I would like to finish with a quote from the author Stephen Richards “Gratitude opens your eyes to the limitless potential of the universe, while dissatisfaction closes your eyes to it.”