‘With great power comes great responsibility’. Who would expect to learn life-lessons or gain insights for tackling ‘real-life’ situations from a fictional movie called ‘The Amazing Spider Man’? Well, surprisingly this quote is very true and apt for the newly appointed Head and Deputy Head Prefects.
Following Sarith Fernando and Saai Syvendra’s departure, Janidhu N. Dela and Liam M. Pereira were appointed Head Prefect and Deputy respectively. Janidhu, is a multi-talented sportsman excelling in hockey, rugby and football. He is also a modest and approachable leader, who will be respected by, and inspire, the student body. ‘I love that College has such rich traditions which come hand in hand with its deep history, and moreover the outward beauty of College is unparalleled by any other school I have ever seen. S. Thomas’ takes young boys and moulds them into strong decent young men’, said Dela.
Liam is a hard and strategic worker with a strong academic record, and has been the backbone of several clubs and societies such as the United Nations Club, ICT Society and the Aeronautical Society (in keeping with his interest in aviation).
One of the main challenges Dela and Liam will face is post-Covid school life. As was pointed out by many senior students of the school,during the past few Covid threatened years, the younger generation of Thomians missed out on school life. “A lot was lost during the pandemic. When school reopened, it was extremely sad to see that the Thomian spirit we once had was lost. Our boys need to be reminded once again of this. The support our sports teams need at matches to keep their morale high needs to be fueled by our Thomian Spirit. The Thomian Legion will play a key role in this,” said Pereira. Well, we certainly have the right duo to reignite the Thomian Spirit. With the inter-house sportsmeet around the corner, Dela and Pereira will be able to reinvigorate Thomian competitive spirit among the Houses.
“My credit balance on my phone has been quite low lately,” noted the Head Prefect ruefully. Jokes aside, Janidhu mentioned that adjusting to his new role of leadership hasn’t been smooth sailing. However, it is something that he’s looking forward to every day. Janidhu stated that the most important part of being the Head Prefect is to always remember the person you were before the appointment, and ‘not get carried away’. Both Janidhu and Liam are humble and deeply committed young men and would definitely continue to lead in humility and by example.
Taking things one step at a time Janidhu Dela said, “Definitely one of the main concerns is reigniting the school spirit and the love for the school among the middle schoolers and getting more students involved in school activities.” Liam made it clear that he and Janidhu hoped to ensure that the students have as much a normal school life as before the pandemic. He added that they hoped to maintain a good relationship between the prefects and students and act as mentors to the young Thomians, especially through the ‘Mentoring system’.
The field is set before us. Therefore let us the sons of the school by the sea, give our fullest support to Dela and Pereira in achieving their objectives for the betterment of College.
“As the call of duty sounds,
We will answer clear.”
Congratulations Janidhu and Liam! You have answered the call clearly and we now look forward to supporting you achieve all objectives set for this new term of office.
Nimthaka Hewawasan,
Editorial Committee Member,
The Ternion.