Speech by Andrew Telford
My name is Andrew Telford. I was born in Proserpine and I grew up here. My family are cane farmers. I went to St Catherine’s Primary School and then the Proserpine High School. I was the School Captain here in 1983.
My good friend Kathy Finlay, who was the girl school captain that year, sadly passed away in 2006.
I would like to make special mention of Kathy as she is greatly missed by her parents, Gail and Harry, her brother Stephen, sister Rhonda and her many friends.
As we walk the path of life, and progress a bit further down the track, it is possible to reflect upon those things in your life that perhaps, with the benefit of hindsight, can be viewed as turning points. It was the late 1970s when I started high school.
As a farmer’s son I thought I would muck around at school for a couple of years then go home and work on the farm. I did not try particularly hard in Grade 8.
In fact, I am today embarrassed to say, I didn’t try at all. My marks were dreadful. I recall getting 8% for French and 26% for Maths.
Although, for some reason, I always seemed to do well in Science. I remember a young Paul Hedgcock being my science teacher in Grade 8 and throughout much of my high school education. Perhaps it was Mr Hedgcock’s exemplary teaching that helped me always do well in science related subjects?
Anyway, the next person to enter this anecdote is a larger than life character.
That is my mother Pam.
When my mother found out that I was going to be doing classes for students who were struggling with their school work, she grabbed me by the ear and stormed into then Principal Ron Impey’s office.
Initially, to my delight, it seemed that Mr Impey was relatively disinterested in the argument put forward by my mother. That was that I simply could not be as dumb as what my marks seemed to indicate. But then I recall Mr Impey looking at the results of some tests that I must have done in primary school. Fortunately for me Mr Impey ultimately concurred with my mother and accepted that I was not as dumb as what my marks otherwise indicated.
The next year in Grade 9, I was in a class with a teacher by the name of Murray Wagner. It was an Advanced Maths class. I received what I now realize to be overt encouragement. I thought it was odd, at the time, that when I did something correct, Mr Wagner would make a big deal of it. He would tell the class how happy he was that I had got it right. He would speak really slowly and say “Well done Andrew”. Mr Wagner encouraged me and so did many other teachers at this school. They all thought that I was struggling with my learning rather than realizing that I was lazy and being a smart alec and required nothing more than a kick up the backside.
This extra encouragement and effort made by all of my teachers meant that I achieved my potential. If it was left for me to do on my own, then I am not sure where I would be today.
And I am sure that my mother prefers to see me where I am today rather than where I might otherwise have been had she not pulled me by the ear into Ron Impey’s office more than 35 years ago.
I wanted to stand here tonight and encourage you students in attendance. I wanted to say something about growing up in a small town being a good thing.
So I googled it. The results were mixed. One search result that vividly stood out was that a common thread amongst people who commit mass murder was growing up in a small town. So let’s forget that and accept that the internet is not always correct.
I think growing up in a small town gives you lifetime friends, makes you less likely to be false and pretentious and more likely to be down to earth. But it might take you 30 years before you realize this.
Like the young Andrew Telford that stood in Ron Impey’s office 35 years ago you perhaps might not get it at this stage of your life. But I am sure that one day you will.
You can receive all the encouragement in the world from your parents and teachers. This helps – as it did in my case.
But at the end of the day, you mostly have to rely on yourself. You have to have self discipline and be able to dedicate yourself to do things that you might not really want to do.
Please be aware of the traps of your generation.
The selfish and narcissistic attitudes that prevail. For those who might not be familiar with the term “narcissism”, it is a word used to describe an unhealthy, self absorption. That means that you tend to think about yourself and not much else. What awaits you in the real world out there is not only good fun and freedom but also hard work and the need for self discipline. Please don’t let your expectations of fun and freedom detract from the need for you to be thoughtful, have a good work ethic and simply do the right thing by others. Do not always think of just yourself!
Hopefully, when it is your turn to reflect on your own journey in life you will realize that you get where you get with the help and encouragement of others combined with simple, old fashioned hard work. Not by having an exaggerated sense of self worth and entitlement.
Perhaps also, you will realize and appreciate the positive influence that your parents, teachers and your school had on your life.
I know that I certainly do –at least now I do – with the benefit of hindsight.
