The Last Word

By Samuel Jones | Posted: Wednesday August 9, 2017

My biggest fear. My biggest motivator. Regret.

Regret is when you look back on what has happened and wish you had done something differently. I’m sure none of us want to feel regret.

Many people think I’m super motivated, and work hard in the classroom. Want to know what helps motivate me? Regret. I don't want to regret not trying hard enough, not putting in the work to do the best I possibly can. I don't want to walk out of the archway and regret not trying hard enough at school… so I try.

There are things I don't regret, such as how I’ve tried hard academically, but there are some things I do regret. One regret of mine is being unable to continue to play cricket at the high level that I once did. But what I learned from not playing was that I needed sport in my life, and hence I have got back to playing.

Tracking back into my past another one of my regrets came when I was six years old. Foolishly I listened to my 10 year old cousins when they told me to attack a quarter pipe on my single speed bike… which inevitably resulted in a broken arm. Even though, as I sat in the hospital waiting room for 5 hours regretting my decision, that event had many positives. Firstly, I learnt to never trust the judgement of 10 year olds. But it also gave me a legendary story to tell my awestruck friends at primary school. Yes, I regret it, but no it was not all bad.

But regrets can also be more simple, such as never having a chicken aioli sub at the canteen… maybe I’ll fix that this lunchtime.

One thing I know is that we all have regrets. Many of my fellow Year 13’s will no doubt have their own regrets about their time at OBHS. We can’t change these regrets, but we can learn from them. So make sure you do learn from them. Try to avoid having regrets, but don't get caught up on it because they are a part of life.

Don't let regret be a word that comes to mind when you look back on OBHS.