At the end of year 8, we were asked if we wanted to become a part of the House or Arts Council in 2020. I have been at All Saints’ College since Kindergarten, so through-out my childhood and teen years, I have constantly looked up to all the Council Members at the school. Becoming a part of that would not only be a great learning experience for me, but also a way to help give back to the school, as that have done so much for me.

At first, we were given an application to fill in, something that I had only done a few times, meaning that it was already a learning experience for me. I had to talk about why I wanted to be a part of the house council, my qualities, skills, achievements, and other topics that are normally provided when applying for a position. After extensively filling in the application, I had to send it back to my tutor teacher, who would then sign it and send it on to my head of house.

A few weeks later I got an email telling me that my application was successful, and I was one of the four lucky students in my house that had made it into our House Council.

Being part of the House Council has been a huge learning experience for me, as in the first year of my involvement, I was one of the youngest, so I had many older students to look up to and learn from. The main thing I learnt from being on the house council was to always offer suggestions and advice, as that is what people want, and need to hear to learn, and improve. I also learnt that communication doesn’t stop at meetings or verbal conversations, you should always make sure you check your emails and follow- up on meetings you missed or events you are helping out at.

I was also chosen to be a part of the Murdoch House Council in 2021, and 2022, after successfully applying for a position in the council. These years have seen extensive interruptions as a result of COVID, however, we have been able to adapt, and initiate a variety of new fundraisers and events to cope with this. An example can be seen in the latest ice-cream fundraiser, which saw to replace the Crepe stall that Murdoch was unable to hold, due to the cancellation of this year’s Pasar Malam. This event was a great experience to further involve myself in Murdoch house, as we had to allocate roles within the council, and bring in ice cream scoops, and our phones to set up apps that we would use on the day.

This experience, as part of the Murdoch House Council, has helped me so much to grow as a person, so I hope this year will help me just as much to learn more!