The Last WordLeadershipYear 13Assembly
Angus Perkins, 13 October 2026
The Last Word
For those who don't know me, I'm Angus, and I'm the Aspinall House Captain this year.
For those who do, you might be wondering why I'm up here giving the Last Word, seeing as it's normally the prefects who do it. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure either, but I thought I'd make the most of the opportunity and share a bit about my time at OBs.
When I first came to OBHS in 2022, I don't think I really knew what to expect. I came from Millers Flat Primary School, which had two classrooms and about 30 students. There were only two boys in my year, so coming to a school like OBs was a pretty big step up. Growing up on a sheep and beef farm in the Teviot Valley, moving to Dunedin was a big change. I went from knowing pretty much everyone to being surrounded by hundreds of people I'd never met. Then I had to get used to living in a hostel with a hundred teenage boys.
As a junior, I wasn't exactly known for keeping my head down and staying out of trouble. If someone told me not to do something, sometimes I took it as a challenge. I'd get in trouble, get a lecture, think I'd learnt my lesson, and somehow end up doing something stupid again a week later. I'm not saying you should follow my example, but I have learnt a few things along the way.
The biggest thing I've learnt is how quickly your time here goes by. When I first arrived, being a senior felt miles away. Now I'm in Year 13, getting ready to leave, and I honestly don't know where the five years went. When we look back on our time here, I doubt many of us will remember every class, assessment or early morning. It'll be the mates, the stupid conversations, the hostel antics, the sports trips, getting in trouble as juniors and the times we were laughing about absolutely nothing. At the time, most of it probably just felt like another normal day, but I reckon those are the things we'll look back on and miss the most.
In a few weeks, Year 13s be heading off in different directions. Some will go to uni, some will get jobs or apprenticeships, and others will head back home. I'm looking forward to becoming an old boy of OBs, but it's strange knowing that a big part of my life is coming to an end. When I first arrived from Millers Flat, I was just a country kid keen to make some mates. Now, I'm getting ready to leave with a group of mates who've become more like brothers to me. We've had plenty of laughs, got ourselves into trouble and made memories that probably won't seem like much now but will mean a lot more when we look back on them.
I think about Charlie Marsh, who gave his Last Word as Head Boy back in 2019. Like me, he went to Millers Flat Primary before coming to OBHS. It's pretty cool to think that years ago, he was standing here reflecting on his own time at school, and now I'm getting the chance to do the same.
I reckon the biggest thing I'd want you boys to take away from this is to make the most of the time you've got here, because you don't realise how much it means to you until you're getting ready to leave. It's easy to spend your junior years wanting to be a senior, then spend your senior years wanting to finish school. But somewhere along the way, the place that once felt new becomes home, and the boys you barely knew become some of your closest mates.
That's what happened to me. I came here from a tiny school in Millers Flat hoping to make a few friends, and I'm leaving with brothers I hope I'll have around for the rest of my life. So enjoy the ordinary days, have a laugh, get involved and look after the boys beside you. One day, those are the days you'll wish you could come back to.
Thanks for a great ride, fellas. Whatever comes next for all of us, I hope we can look back on our time at OBs knowing we made the most of it.
So, in true OBs fashion, I'll leave you with a quote. As Charlie said in his Last Word back in 2019:
“Good mates don't say goodbye, they simply say see you soon.”
So I guess I'll see you all soon. Cheers, fellas.