Embracing Our Scars, Finding Our Pearls
In this heartfelt speech, Enquiry and Inclusion Prefect, Georgia, shares a powerful message about resilience, self-acceptance, and the beauty found in imperfections. Through personal stories and the inspiring art of kintsugi, she encourages us to support one another with strength, humour, and honesty, on the journey toward discovering our unique ‘pearls’.
Each week, our Student Leaders share their insights with their peers in Assembly.
Today, I’m excited to be here and to have the opportunity to talk to you. I want to share three things —and you might wonder how they’re related!
First, let me show you this photo. It’s a little girl in Kindergarten at her first Athletics Carnival, doing the iconic egg-and-spoon race. Yep, that’s me! And let’s just say, I didn’t exactly nail the rules. I gripped that egg onto the spoon like it was the last ticket to the front row of an Olivia Rodrigo concert! It was pretty clear even back then that my talents were going to be found elsewhere—though I didn’t know it at the time. But even if I wasn’t destined for egg-and-spoon greatness, I gave that race everything I had, and that counts for a lot.
Now, for the second thing. Here is a photo of kintsugi, a Japanese art form where broken pottery is repaired with gold. Instead of hiding the cracks, kintsugi embraces them, making them part of the story. The pottery is more beautiful for having been broken.
Kintsugi resonates with me on a very personal level. It reminds us that, just like that pottery, people can be even more amazing for having been through tough times. Those golden lines don’t cover up the damage—they highlight the journey, showing that we can be useful and beautiful despite, or even because of, our scars.
Here’s the third thing I want to talk about – In Australia, we have about 27 million people, and around 5.5 million of them live with a disability. That’s about 20% of the population. You’ll likely meet someone with a disability every day, whether at home, school, work, or even on the sports field. One day, some of you might even have a child with a disability.
Unfortunately, many people with disabilities see them as imperfections. I know I do sometimes. I’ve had 10 surgeries in my 17 years, and I have plenty of scars to show for it. My scars are part of who I am. To me, they represent strength, bravery, and above all, grit. Just like kintsugi wouldn’t exist without those visible cracks, neither would I without my scars.
This year, our motto is ‘No grit, no pearl.’ We’re all chasing different pearls. As your Prefect for Equity and Inclusion, my pearl is to see every girl with a disability lifted up so that she can fully achieve her potential.
But here’s where I need your help. This is where the grit comes in. We have to start by accepting our own scars and imperfections, and then we can accept each others. When you meet someone with a disability, don’t just see the disability—find something beautiful about them that has nothing to do with it. Look for their humour, their kindness, or their courage—whatever it is that makes them unique—their pearls.
For someone living with a disability, knowing that someone sees their worth beneath the scars and struggles makes all the grit worthwhile. It’s not always easy—that’s why it’s called grit—but it’s what leads us to the pearls.
I’m so grateful to be at a school with such a strong sense of girlhood and community, one that truly values inclusiveness and acceptance. The little girl who struggled to keep that egg on the spoon, who was still learning to walk at five years old, is incredibly proud to be standing here in front of you today.
As a community that wears its scars and imperfections with pride, let’s keep pushing forward, enduring the grit, and fighting for our pearls, day by day.