Student Blog: The benefits of being short
Yep, I am short! And Iâm not angry at my parents for these genetics either.
Iâve always sat in the front row of school photos my whole life. And yes, Iâve always had to get a hand when reaching for the food in the top shelf at Coles. But you know what, I own it now!
Good morning, everyone, I hope you have all had a great term so far. I got asked by Liv to do this speech a bit earlier than expected. Well, I freaked out because I didnât know what to write. The other girls have already given such good speeches and I thought, well theyâve just about covered everything. But then I looked in the mirror and thought, Soph, whatâs special about you? Yep, Iâm short! Now I can assure you all that I do get mildly teased about it. Even Annabelle said to me the other day, âSoph, for little corgi legs you cover a fair bit of ground.â Cheers for the confidence booster Annabelle! Or when I was in a shop not long ago, one of the assistants was telling my mum and me that he is doing a Degree in Psychology. He asked me what year I was in. When I replied Year 12, he laughed at me and said, âHoly Smokes, you look like youâre in Year 9.â Well needless to say Iâm thinking Psychology may not be his best career.
But Iâll have you all know that my height has been a real conversation starter. Some would say my height is imperfect, but I would say on the contrary, itâs âperfectly imperfectâ. I will say it does look worse when in Business Lily and Heidi - two of the tallest girls in Year 12 - sit either side of me. However, I donât let this bother me. Iâve come to terms with my height. In fact, it can be a huge advantage and as Mr Millar says, much easier to dive in touch. Got a bit less distance to fall.
Iâm not really someone who will take any sort of offence to being called short because well, firstly, I canât change that Iâm short and secondly, there are so many advantages to being short. My Nan who is shorter than me, believe it or not, still has hopes that I will grow a little taller. But I thought, I shouldnât be the bearer of bad news, but this girl isnât growing any time soon. Now Iâm telling you these stories so that you all understand that to me, âperfectly imperfectâ means working with what youâve got and making use of it. That not only applies to me being short of course, but for everything that you all do. Work with what you have and make those so called âimperfectionsâ your perfections!
Dr Scott mentioned last week about life not always being fair and that it will not always go our way. For example, my family are farmers. And since last year, weâve been in one of the worst droughts weâve had in a long time. However, not once do I hear my parents saying that life is unfair, but instead they get up every day with a âRun at Life Head Firstâ attitude, even in tougher times. I know that it is tough on them when I ask them every night, âHow was your day Mum and Dad?â I always receive an answer about the things in their day that went right. I donât know what all of you know about farming, but trust me, you wonât find a day when something hasnât gone wrong. The tractor didnât start or that sheep got out of the paddock or it didnât rain again. I wonât know about this until I go home, but I idolise my parents so much for this, for always finding the best things in life.
But I would like to take this opportunity to expand on Dr Scottâs point that life is tough at times and it is imperfect. For many of you, you are all fighting your own battles and you might find yourself at times feeling like life is imperfect and it is. But you also have to understand that the majority of you are living in the top one percent of people. You are able to go home to a meal with loving parents who have sent you here to a school, where you are given opportunities that will set you up for life. You get to make friends for life and I can assure you, that overrides any imperfection any day.
We all have something to be so thankful for and by acknowledging this, you make those imperfections just that more perfect every day. So girls, own your imperfections. Make them your perfections. And when life doesnât quite go your way, donât give up! Keep running at life head first. That is perfectly imperfect.
Thank you.
Sophia (Year 12)
Prefect and Co-Captain of Boarding 2018/19