Many of you will have seen the ‘poster’ in the Great Hall by now, and I have to say, I understand people’s concerns. Me and Bullstrod have not had a healthy record in the past, far from in fact. But that was the past.
We have both been making vast efforts to keep that behaviour firmly in the past. We are both, like you, disgusted by our misbehaviour. When I look back at last year alone, and I think of all the people I have hurt, there is nothing but regret there. I want to act in spite of that. I want to prove that I can be better, and while perhaps I have not had the best of starts with being a Head student, I am trying.
Rome was not built in a day. It shall take time for me and Bullstrod to prove ourselves. But you all should give us that time, instead of writing us off as failures before we have had time to do anything. People can change, but if you hold them to old standards they never will- why should they, when people will only remember them for their past? I am not saying you have to forget what has come before, but I do ask that you hold off judgements of the present, and hope for improvements in the future. I do not want to be my past. Give me time to prove I am not.
Whoever wrote this letter is punishing the wrong people. They complain about the administration, and talk about when the faculty failed them before, but then they threaten two people who do not control any of these decisions. Me and Bullstrod did not ask for this, we did not apply, we were simply given the role. But there are two possibilities, now: One, you are all right. Me and Bullstrod fall into our old ways and abuse our power over and over, until we are forced from our positions. Or two. We rise to the challenge, we show that we can handle the responsibility, and we stand at the front of the student body, showing everyone that people can change.
This is a huge challenge for me and Bullstrod. I think Bullstrod has been doing marvellously, much better than myself, but we are still getting used to the position. I ask you all, instead of dismissing us immediately, to help us. The prefects and Head students are there to aid in improving the lives of students, to keep them safe, and to do what is best by the students. We are not the people that put us in these roles. Give us a chance to show that we can protect you and do what is best for you, and help us in doing so. Whoever wrote the letter may be right to have doubts, but to start a rebellion within the student body is only going to hurt everyone, it will not help. If you choose to fight with them, if you help them carry out their threats, then you will be no better than I was last year. And I know you can all be better than that.
I may not be the Head Boy you wanted, but I am what you have. All I ask is you give me time to be what you want, and help me fit that mold. If the person who wrote that letter truly cares about the students and what is best for them, then I ask them to come to me, privately, so we can better understand one another.
Adam Fletcher
Your Head Boy
