The Last Word

By Luke Woo | Posted: Wednesday May 1, 2024

Home. Where is your home?

Hold on, not like that. Let me tell you a story.

2006 December 19, a normal boy named Woo Seung Min was born in Hong Kong. He grew up there with his Mother, Father, his annoying older brother along with his lovely Grandma. Once in a while he would go to Korea and meet his relatives and stay for a while, making new friends both in Hong Kong and Korea until he left to bravely explore the world of New Zealand.

New Zealand was a weird experience to start with. He had never seen so many Europeans, Polynesian and Maori people. To make it worse, although his brain cells had multiplied, it didn’t seem to make him any smarter. On the first math test he did in New Zealand, he got an outstanding zero. (Doesn’t fit the stereotype, does it?) Everyone laughed at him, and you could say his debut wasn’t impressive but nonetheless, everyone accepted him and time passed just like before, and he made new friends he could call brothers for the next years of his life.

I’ve told you that he has lived in Hong Kong, South Korea, and New Zealand, but the main thing that I want you to remember is that he was with his family and he made new friends, brothers if you will in each country. So, if you have to say, where was his home? Was it his house in Hong Kong where he first lived, or was it in South Korea, his ethnicity, or is it New Zealand?

Now that I’ve given some context, let me ask you again.

Where is your home?

Someone’s home isn’t determined by where they sleep. No, it is where their family, friends, and brothers are. Seung Min’s home isn’t in a singular country but all three. I am happy to say this school is part of my home because you guys are here. Funny or serious, religious or not, unhappy with me or not, tall like me and short like James Veituna, we are just one big brotherhood in this home we call Otago Boys'.

Seung Min fights with his brother from time to time. That’s a lie, he fights with him 24/7. He argues, annoys, frankly takes his brother's will to live sometimes, but they love each other.

What I’m saying here boys is that sometimes we will trip, we will stumble, and there will be conflict. Whether that was alone or with someone, a loving family member will not walk past you, but will kneel in the dirt, hold your muddy hand, or in the case of conflict apologise and forgive. This is something that is one of the most difficult things in life. It is easier said than done to treat your brothers in school with kindness just like you would if you have a blood-related brother. That’s why those who do it are seen with respect. They do not show off with bigotry, or step on someone to get higher, but they raise the people around them so they can climb the mountain together.

I am not perfect, in fact in my head, I am the furthest away from it from anyone else in this world. Lazy, jealous, full of anger, these are some of the many things that I was and I am and will be in the future although I'll try not to.

Some of you may think, in what authority then, does he tell me what to do when he can’t do it himself?

The reason I say this is not because I am better than you. It is because I have made more mistakes.

In my early years of senior school, the brotherhood I thought of so lightly, punished me heavily. So, I wish that all of you dedicate our brotherhood more in your hearts and only reap the positive benefits it can give.

This castle is a home that us brothers share. See each other not as people who don’t care about you, but as brothers who share the same problems but will still offer a hand, if you ever need one.

However, the sad truth is that some of us think the brotherhood doesn’t apply to them. But in the words of one of those motivational Instagram reel comments that I saw, the most gangsta thing you could do, is to love your brothers like yourself.

Overheard and cliché this idea may be, this is one of, if not the most important thing you will learn in high school.

I am confident that each of the new prefects has this strong ideology of brotherhood in their minds and that might be a good reason why they were chosen.

So boys, know that the people next to you are your brothers regardless of anything. This brotherhood will help you reach your goals and will constantly support you throughout your life. Blood related we may not be, but we sure are bound by the brotherhood inside this castle of ours. In true OBs fashion, I'll finish with a more serious quote.

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish like fools."

Martin Luther King Jr.