On Monday, 12th February and Friday 16 February respectively, the 2018 Student Leaders, Student Council representatives and Captains from the Australian International Islamic College (Durack and Carrara Campus) were officially inducted into their leadership positions. Present at the special ceremony were the entire student body, staff, invited parents and family members.
Our principal, Mrs Mariam Banwa gave an opening speech outlining the heavy role and responsibility that comes with such an important post. She shared three important aspects of leadership. The first being ‘Popularity is NOT leadership’. She reminded her students that there would be times when their resolve would be tested and that they needed to have the moral courage to make the right decisions even if it meant being isolated and ostracised by their peers.
The second point was ‘to be a good leader they needed to be able to see more than what others saw’. Leaders needed to have foresight and vision to anticipate situations and problems, and to turn challenges into opportunities.
And the last important point and by no means the least, was to be an effective leader, one had to be a team player. The adage ‘No Man is an Island’ rang so true. Alone, one might not be able to achieve much but as a team, mountains could be moved. Therefore, to succeed, there must be no ‘I’ in team.
According to Mrs Banwa, the journey of a young school leader would be fraught with challenges and difficulties. There would certainly be dark days. But the best days would come when one was able to stand behind their team and recognise their success. She encouraged all the selected student leaders to use this opportunity to develop their skills as leaders and to make a positive contribution to the college. She ended her speech with a hearty congratulation to all student leaders selected, wishing them the best in their journey of leadership and service to the college.
After the badge presentation segment and the speech by the Student Captain (High School), the student leader induction assembly ended but not before a photoshoot of our newly minted student leaders. Congratulations and good luck to all!
Fahizal Abdullah
Student Council Lead Teacher