Good Shepherd International School: SCHOOL ASSEMBLY

The School Assembly of Palada Campus was held on 8 August, 2012. It was presided over by the Principal - Dr. P.C. Thomas. The Senior Vice Principal - Mrs. Elsamma Thomas ,Vice Principals, faculty members and students attended.

The Assembly opened with the rendition of the School Song and the School Prayer Song by Std. IX choir. This was followed by the School Prayer by Ujjwal Kamalia- School Captain.

There after, the under mentioned activities unfolded:

News of the Day read by Sohom Ray - Std. IX C
Assembly Speech by Anant Sultania – Std. XII B

Some days back I googled the word ‘trust’. It was a sobering experience. It was more than 20 pages into the results before meeting a single instance of trust in the sense of belief in something or someone. There were all types of financial trusts, business with “trust” in their names, companies eager to help you set up personal trusts, charitable trusts of every kind- but nothing about putting your trust in anything or anyone. This clearly shows that not much of importance is given to the quality of trust and trustworthiness.

Trustworthiness is the quality of honoring and fulfilling at any cost all commitments a person makes whether made formally or informally, verbally or in writing, and whether they are expressed or implied

Trustworthiness is being honest, telling the truth, keeping promises, and being loyal so people can trust you. Trustworthy people don’t lie, cheat or steal. They have integrity and the moral courage to do the right thing and to stand up for their beliefs even when it is difficult to do so

Being trustworthy also means that our outer words are aligned with our intentions. We seek to maintain a level of transparency that let other people feel clear about who we are and what they can except from us. We treat the trust of others as a sacred gift, knowing that it in trusting us they make themselves vulnerable and that we have the power to harm them

Being trustworthy does not mean we will never let others down. Rather, it is an attitude and a pattern of behavior that honors the trust placed in us.

Building trust is very important in order to be able to function effectively in society. We are all social animals and it is important for us to be able to function in society. And one of the cornerstones of being able to function effectively is building up trust. Now perhaps you come from a background which makes it very difficult for you to put your trust in people. And one of the most effective ways you can use to improve your trust in people is to give them the benefit of the doubt. So, if something has two possible outcomes do not immediately assume that the negative outcome will occur. You have to change your won outlook and your own assumptions. And you have to work very hard at this because it is very difficult for us to actually change our basic assumptions about what will happen. So try to focus on not immediately focusing on the negative, but try to give people the benefit of doubt. Also when somebody has done something that has affected you negatively attempt to see the good things they have done. So maybe you had an appointment with somebody and they were five minutes late. You can look at this and say, well, people are always late. Again, this person let me down by not coming through on what they promised. Or you can say, well, they did their best. They tried their best and they actually did come here to meet me, which is looking at the positive side of things. So, by giving people the benefit of doubt and then looking at outcomes in a positive way, you can begin to build trust in people.

Some methods we can implement that allow us to trust people are: THINK GOOD OF OTHERS, TELL THE TRUTH, BE UNDERSTANDING, THINK LOGICALLY, and FORGIVE.

Much more important than being able to trust others is the quality of trustworthiness. Trustworthiness is the quality of a leader. It is quality which prevents the requirement of your being given the benefit of doubt. How does one become trustworthy? Three ingredients make up a trustworthy person. Firstly, develop integrity, that is, say what you do and do what you say. Don’t make promises that you cannot keep and keep your promises. Secondly, enter every situation with a win-win mentality. Your intention must be good and the best intention is win-win. Then certainly, you will be able to keep your word. This requires the third quality, that is, Competence to build up which, requires hard work and sincere: Hard work and sincerity will surely produce positive results which will ensure your trustworthiness.

I don’t know how many of my listeners realized this: The steps that I have listed out, is the basis of our school motto – truth, trust and triumph!!!! Build trust and be trustworthy and you will triumph, materially and morally.”

The School Assembly closed with the rendition of the School Anthem by the Std. IX choir.