The Last Word

By Micah Puni | Posted: Monday April 8, 2024

For those of you who don’t know me my name is Micah Puni, and for those of you who do know me should know I am definitely not a perfect student nor a perfect person.

I am not the top of any of my classes, I did not get excellence endorsement overall for Level 2 last year, and I definitely do not find joy in presenting speeches such as this. But rather than focusing on the things I fall short in, I want to talk to you boys about mustering up the courage to overcome where you fall short and become a better man.

At times I have found it very hard to embrace change and face new opportunities, due to a lack of courage. Moments like this have occurred many times in my life, whether it was constantly moving cities while growing up, having to continuously try to make new friends so I wasn't considered a loner, or going back home to Samoa these past holidays and realising I was what you would call 'plastic' in my own culture. In both these examples, I was afraid. Afraid to meet new people and get rejected, and afraid to try and speak Samoan, as I would make myself look like a fool in trying. I managed to find the courage to do both of these things anyway, as I realised this would only make me better. Mustering up the courage allowed me to overcome where I fell short, giving me an extra step into becoming a better man, as Nelson Mandela said “The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

Boys I will be honest, when I was blessed with the opportunity to become a prefect, as soon as I walked out of the Rector’s office there was one negative thought that remained in the back of my mind until this moment. My Last Word. In fact, my fear of presenting a speech to you all caused me to doubt myself whether this whole prefect thing was even for me, until I remembered this one tiny, tiny fear was the thing stopping me from not only making myself proud but also my family who brought me here proud.

Boys, it takes courage to be comfortable doing the uncomfortable. It takes courage to be a better man than what you were yesterday, and most of all it takes courage to be great. Look over the last few weeks, months, or even years of your life. How could this apply to you? Whether you were too afraid to ask for help in class in fear of being judged by your peers, or whether it was the fear of just saying ‘No’ to your boys as you know that what they are doing doesn't help you achieve your own goals. I know it’s easy to follow the crowd, the thought of just being considered ‘cool’ is appealing, isn’t it? But will following the crowd make you a better man? Will it help you reach the goals you set? 

Will it make you happy? If it doesn’t, have the courage to make a change for the better.

I can 100% guarantee all of you will face times where the fear of failing or being laughed at will become an obstacle stopping you from becoming a better person. But I've learnt that if we admit these problems and find the courage to overcome them, we can reach our goals. So, don't let anything stop you. As seniors, there is so much for us to accomplish this year. Don’t let that little thought of fear, or other people’s opinions of you stop you from reaching your goals and becoming the man you want to be. Have the courage to ask for help. Have the courage to separate yourself from the crowd when needed. But most importantly, have the courage to be a better man then what you were yesterday.

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." ― Winston Churchill.