Over the course of Term 3, our Senior School students will work through a consultative decision making process to select their subjects for the forthcoming academic year and our Year 12 students will review their tertiary options to ultimately complete their VTAC application forms.

At this time, it is common for students to hear the proverbial phrases “do what you love”, “follow your dreams” or “find your passion”. But according to a new study by psychologists at Stanford and Yale-NUS College, telling someone to find their passion may not be the best advice.

The research examined whether interests are inherent and thus hidden until we find them (a fixed theory), or whether they are something to be developed and nurtured (a growth theory). The researchers theorised that the often more popular belief that interests are inherent could in fact stifle the experiences of young, impressionable people. For example, they noted that people with a fixed theory assume they will experience ‘limitless motivation’ in the pursuit of their passion, meaning they think the journey will be easy. Of course, the path toward one’s passion is not always easy, and the study revealed that a person with a fixed theory is more likely to abandon their interests when the going gets tough, as if “the topic was not their interest after all.”

Alternatively, those with a growth theory will expect periodic roadblocks and may even embrace the tumult. The results of such a study have significant implications for those mentoring young people, such as parents, teachers or employers. For example, telling people to find their passion could suggest that it is ‘within you just waiting to be revealed’. Telling people to follow their passion suggests that the passion will do the lion’s share of the work for the individual.

A key component of the St Catherine’s Careers Guidance involves our Year 10 students completing a very detailed psychometric testing conjunction with an interest’s questionnaire. Completed as part of the Morrisby Report, the resulting data can provide confidence to the selection of future plans. The Morrisby Test reveals students’ strengths and outlines aspirations. The Morrisby Test is also the perfect tool for careers consultations and to encourage discussions at home with parents.

The lead researcher, Paul O’Keefe, suggested that whilst we should not discourage people from pursuing the things that they are passionate about, we should view the idea of passion more broadly. Indeed, it is important to encourage realistic thinking, and “a growth mindset makes people more open to new and different interests and sustaining those interests when pursuing them becomes difficult”. In particular, we should remember that one’s interests can evolve, and that one should expect challenges in the pursuit of their passion.

Student Achievements

Over the course of Term 3, St Catherine’s students continue to flourish across a range of activities:

Music
Congratulations to the St Catherine’s girls who participated in the Victorian Schools Music Festival 2018. Three choirs participated in the competition: Sherren Singers, Epstein Choir and the Year 6 Choir. The Sherren Singers commenced with How Can I Keep From Singing. The Year 6 Choir engaged their audience with a comical piece called The Cactus and an arrangement of Hushabye Mountain. The Epstein Choir performed as the final choir and I extend my personal congratulations to the Epstein Choir for receiving the Platinum Award, the highest award possible at the Festival and the Year 6 Choir and The Sherren Singers who each received a Gold Award. Well done girls!

Snowsports – Victorian Inter Schools Cross Country Championships
Congratulations to all students competing at Mt Buller on Sunday at the 2018 Subaru VIC Interschools Snowsports Cross Country Championships. The windy and wild weather did not dampen the energy of our competitors with our Senior School girls finishing top of the Victorian table and our Junior School team finishing second place by the narrowest of margins. Congratulations to the Division 3 Team (Year 7 and 8 girls) who proved to be unstoppable on Sunday with all three Skate Relay teams collecting bronze, silver and gold in their division. Congratulations to Matisse Stafford (Year 7) and Zara Bongiorno (Year 8) who also won gold and silver (respectively) in the individual Classic Race.

Chess Tournament
With the 2018 commencement of our Senior School Chess Club under the guidance of Language teacher, Mr Chris Zuccala, many students entered their first ever Chess Tournament on Monday 6 August at the Marcellin College 2018 CV Zonal Secondary Open. Lillian Lu (Year 9) was the highest scoring girl, winning six of her seven games and Paula Chen (Year 8) winning 4.5 from seven games.

Sailing
Over the coming weeks, we look forward to hearing the progress of Lucy Gray (Year 11) who is currently representing Australia in Sailing at the 420 World Championships in New Port, Rhode Island.

Fencing
In July, Mayuri Muralidharan (Year 9) was selected as a member of the Australian Fencing Team to represent Australia internationally. While Mayuri is very young to be selected to represent Australia, she is more than capable of achieving with her determination to succeed. She travelled to China in July to compete in the Asian Cadet Circuit competition. During this time, she also spent time training with the Australian Senior World Team. As one of the younger fencers, the China tournament proved challenging but she managed to place 20^th out of 71 fencers. An extraordinary start towards her ranking in the region.

University of Cambridge
I received news this week of the achievement of St Catherine’s Old Girl, Daisy Irving-Hyman (’13), who recently received First Class results in her exams in the Natural Sciences at St John’s College, University of Cambridge. As a consequence, Daisy will be made a Scholar of St John’s College. She was also awarded a college prize and a Lister Scholarship.