La Rochelle Yearbook 2023

Message from the Deputy Head Girl

All good things come to an end, they say. However, I have never understood the saying. It never seemed fair to me. Sometimes the bad things appeared to continue for what would then feel like a lifetime, experiences felt fleeting. But the more I thought about it, the more I started grasping the concept. The good could only be good, if we were constantly exposed to less good, more uncomfortable, unpleasant and challenging circumstances. The contrast between the highs and the lows is what essentially makes the difference between the storm and the calm, minds of disarray and minds which have gained clarity, successes and lessons. The good is fun, blissful, always earned. But eventually, just like babies in a crib or ’roaches in the kitchen cabinet, good outgrows its space and demands a new, larger medium for further growth. You cannot put a watermelon seed in a flower pot, wait for a couple of months and hope for the best. Matrics, it is not that we can no longer enjoy the ride. It is simply time for a new road, new scenery and possibly, a bigger vehicle. Good morning, Mrs Conradie, staff, parents and my Larrie sisters. The word ‘goodbye’ can be sombre and disheartening. So, rather consider my ‘see you later’ speech. I thank you for all being here today. It is a different kind of anxiety and doubt when a smaller version of you, with stubby knees, chunky specs, a very sad ponytail and a schoolbag bigger than your torso, sets foot in what would be your new educational institute for the next five years. Little did we know it would become so much more than that. Family members will say, ‘ It will be over before you know it ,’ to try and ease your spirits and get you to enjoy whilst the rare, once in-a-blue-moon good

the journey, but halfway through Orientation Week, you are thinking, ‘ Traitors !’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Yes, who?’ ‘Yes, Milady Jamie.’ ‘Sot, relax, just breathe.’ ‘ Okay, Milady Britney .’ I will never forget that Grade 8 Camp – the strong, sandy winds, the rain wetting our beds and forcing some of us to sleep in a ‘Christmas bed’ in the dining hall. Some of us were even lucky enough to bunk with rain spiders! You will never miss

home more than when you are 14, in the middle of

Jessica Eckhardt

nowhere, soaked in mud, crawling your way through a tunnel when the stranger

in front of you shouts, ‘There’re frogs in the water!’

We made friends. Maybe not the best of friends immediately, but significant nevertheless, for in those moments they made us feel less alone, afraid, out of place; more acquainted and bonded. The pieces of the puzzle of what our future would look like at La Rochelle started piecing together ever so slowly. That was the weekend we learnt from Mrs Neethling what it meant to be a Larrie. We realised just how high the standard was, and all that would be expected of us. We were standing in front of the mountain that we were yet to climb and conquer. And Matrics, after these finals, that is exactly where we will be. At that summit! Back in 2019, 2023 seemed like an eternity away. Here we are today, with time seemingly moving at record speed. production, in which many of you were involved. Although I did not have anything close to a leading role, simply standing with the choir at the back of the En Avant was something extremely special to me. It was my first experience of being part of something extraordinary. It was then that I knew La Rochelle was the right choice for me. The school offered something for each one of us to enjoy. The support and love that went into That was also the year of the ‘ Greatest Showman ’ Musical

20 LAR

La Rochelle Hoër Meisieskool | Girls’ High School