“The voice of Time cries to man, ‘Advance.’ Time is for his advancement and improvement, for his greater worth, his greater happiness, his better life” (Charles Dickens).
We are living in a fast growing and fast changing world. In the place of continental world we now speak of global village. Anything that happens in any corner of the world is immediately brought to the attention of the world public by using the latest technologies of communication. As we are part of this ever shrinking global village, we cannot but keep pace with the progress of media and communication. Although we had launched our own website for our school a few years ago, it was not as effective as we would have liked it to be. Hence now we make a firmer attempt to give shape to a website fitting to the stature of Vandana Convent Higher Secondary School. My hope is that our students, parents, teachers and all our well wishers will certainly like and appreciate our newly designed webpage which will constantly be updated, making the latest news and events from our school readily available to all who are interested in our well-being and growth.
Benjamin Franklin once exhorted:
“Hide not your talents; they were made for use. What is a sun-dial in the shade!” .
I would like to repeat these words to my students of Vandana, inviting them to make all possible efforts to develop their talents to their maximum. In a world of ever growing challenges the growing generation has to learn to put to use all their capabilities and potentialities. School is the place where students should discover their multifarious hidden talents and try to develop them in order to be equipped to step into tomorrow’s world. There is a growing danger these days: when everyone concentrates one’s attention on developing one’s talents at the cost of all values, life will become burdensome and meaningless. Fulton J. Sheen once said, “Hell is full of the talented, but heaven, of the energetic.” In a world of the ‘survival of the fittest’ the growing younger generation will face a lot of challenges. In ‘do or die’ situations of the present competitive world, many young people may become easily disillusioned and frustrated when their dreams are not fulfilled and their ambitions are thwarted. My exhortation to my students is this: “Success is never final and failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts” (Anon). Dear my students, be courageous and strong to face the various challenges of this fast changing world of cut-throat competition.
“Usefulness is the rent we pay for living on the earth”
(Robert Baden-Powel). People of all walks of life should pay attention to the above quoted words. In a world of growing selfishness we should not forget to pay our rent for living in this world. The rent that we are required to pay is in the form of usefulness. All of us should discover how we can be useful to others in this world. Just as we lead our daily lives receiving the services of numerous people, we should render every possible service from our part so that the world may become a better place to live in.
“It is magnificent to grow old, if one keeps young” (H. E. Fosdick). Dear parents, although you are growing in your age, you can still be young in your minds. You were once students and you may have your own font memories of your school days. Do you make evaluations of your past school life? What is the report of your introspection? Are you happy and satisfied with your school life of the yester years? Whether your report is positive or negative, you have a lot to do now for your children in the light of your own experiences. If you have had wonderful school days, please try to give the same to your children. On the other hand, if you have had failures and disappointments, this is the time to do reparation for them by providing the best possible education to your children that you might not have been fortunate to receive.
It is the teachers of a school that matters the most when it comes to the aspect of the quality of education that the school imparts.
“No talent can survive the blight of neglect,” says E. A. Whitney.
This is true especially of children undergoing formation. Teachers can give either proper formation or distort formation according to their approach to their students. A student neglected and discarded by teachers cannot grow to his/her full potential. His/her growth will be retarded and s/he will not be able to develop her/his skills and talents. Dear teachers, let us be totally dedicated to the all round formation of the children entrusted to our care. Let no student ever experience neglect or rejection from us. Let us pay all our attention to a healthy growth of our students so that they will be equipped to live in tomorrow’s world.
“We judge for ourselves by what we feel capable of doing; others judge us by what we have done,” says H. W. Longfellow. Our performance as teachers, educators and formators is constantly judged by the quality of our products, i.e. the students who go out from this school after receiving formation under us.
Ours is one of the leading educational institutions of Guna. Its successes and achievements depend to a great extent on the co-operation and support of government officials and administrators. We are happy to place on record the excellent rapport that our school has with the various district administrators of this city and district. Even minor harassments from public officials can adversely affect the education of the future generation of Guna at Vandana Convent School. When I think of the role of various government officials who have some role to play in the field of education, I remember the following words of R. W. Sockman:
“Time is the deposit each one has in the bank of God and no one knows the balance.”
Those who are in offices of authority are actually given an opportunity to serve the public. Their time is limited and they should try to provide as much service to the public as possible and make their life meaningful and worth-living.
“Next to grace, time is the most precious gift of God. Yet how much of both we waste. Time is full of eternity. As we use it, so shall we be. Every day has its opportunities, every hour its offer of grace,” says Cardinal Manning.
Dear alumni of Vandana Convent School, you may have reached various walks of life now. How do you recall your life at Vandana? Had you made the maximum use of the opportunities during your school life? Do you have any regrets now for lost or wasted opportunities? Please share your valuable experience with the youngsters you meet and encourage them to grow to their maximum potentialities.
St. Elizabeth is the heavenly patroness of Vandana Convent School. She was a devout royal lady who spent her life for educating children, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry and helping the poor. Deriving inspiration from St. Elizabeth, the Elizabethan sisters, who run Vandana Convent School, dedicate their lives to the formation and to the integral development of the young generation of Guna. We are totally committed to providing the best possible education to the students of our school so that they will grow to be mature, honest, talented and patriotic citizens of our great mother country, India. May God shower His blessings on Vandana in abundance so that our school will fulfill His will promptly, sincerely and effectively!
