Jerningham Govt School praised

The Mayor said so while delivering the feature address at the 2006 SEA Graduation Ceremony yesterday. He told his listeners that life must be directed towards helping others no matter how small “as whatever we do must make a difference.”

He explained, “It is said that it is far better to try and fail than fail to try. I agree with that statement and I hope that you too will agree. So many of us lament that we are not achieving our goals, our desires. However, how many of us are really making the kind of effort that is required to bring about the success we want for ourselves.”

“If you are to make a difference you must never be daunted by what might appear to be the enormity of the task. Instead you must do what you can, do your little part. This requires both courage and conviction, the belief in your cause,” he added.

“But while we often think of making a difference as relating to the lives of others, we must recognise that we ought to first and foremost make a difference in our own lives. If we do, then by our personal examples we would be able to inspire the lives of others as well as motivate others to make a difference,” the Mayor said.

One sure way to make a difference, the mayor said, was to clean up the environment, even though you might be regarded as children, “how about if in your little village you were to get the children and youths of your village to launch a campaign to clean up your village, to plant it up with beautiful flower plants and trees.”

Another way is to say no to negative temptations, he said. He pointed out that as “you are about to enter secondary school. It is going to be a challenging experience, not only by what will be expected of you with respect to the discipline you would need to exercise with your school work, but also with respect to the current negative aspects of the school environment.

“The temptations of drugs, smoking, alcohol, sex, “breaking biche,” doing things to be part of the group, or what is now called the gang will all challenge you at secondary school. Here you can make a difference, first by saying an emphatic ‘no’ to any and all of these negative activities and negative people.”

He said that “if you have the courage to say, no, you will make a positive difference in your life. Only when you become an exemplar to yourself would you be able to become an exemplar to others.