The Last WordLeadershipPrefectsAssemblyYear 13
Sam Holborow, 27 April 2026
The Last Word
Hello boys, I’m Sam Holborow and I am one of your Arts Prefects for 2026.
I would like to talk to you today about an idea called Enouement. Enouement is the philosophical concept of sadness from having arrived in the future and learning how things turned out, but being unable to tell your past self. Basically it's a word that tries to capture that feeling when you wish you could go back and change something you did and you can’t. It can be something big like wishing you had bothered to try something out in year 9 and now it's just too late, or that you had tried to keep in touch with that person who moved away. But it can also be for little things too. Trivial stuff like wishing you’d bothered to get a haircut before the ID photo, or that you’d tidied before you went out. Regardless of how small, that small tinge of regret can endure.
I know for me something I've always wished I could change was taking more opportunities during year 9 and 10. This seems like a pretty classic issue that everyone in here has experienced for at least something. But I unfortunately spent most of my junior years dodging most opportunities that came my way. I still did some stuff, but the majority of opportunities that were handed to me like filling in for music acts when asked, or doing any sport through the school just didn’t happen. Instead I spent both years planning on doing that all when I was a senior. Of course, once I was older and did all these things like production and rockquest or social sport, I had a great time and just wished I'd bothered to do it sooner. Leaving me regretting that I hadn’t, and once I realised that, I experienced Enouement in full force.
So the next question, as usual, becomes what can we do about it. Unfortunately, the answer is nothing. The problem with Enouement is that none of us are able to change the past. The feeling stemming from the fact that we’re unable to tell our past selves means that all we can really do is to just try and live with the feeling and come to terms with it, which is something I'm sure you’re all capable of doing, but it still kind of sucks.
Instead, the solution for Enouement is to try and go through life in a way that lets you look back on it without regret. Now the key with something like this is to ensure that you aren’t just committing to a couple dramatic changes and leaving it at that, because that's not what this is about. This is about doing the little consistent things day by day to let yourself be able to look back and feel fulfilled. Whether it’s something like stretching before you run, actually telling your loved ones that you do love them, or maybe for year 13 as we get closer and closer to graduating and going our separate ways, let yourselves appreciate the time you’ve got with your mates and make sure to keep in touch once we all do go off. Don’t let the people you’ve shared your life's experiences with so far become another feeling of regret later down the line. If you make the effort to do these little things for yourselves and others, then one day from now, you’ll be able to look back on how far you’ve come, and instead of nit-picking and thinking what you could’ve changed to make it better, you’ll be able smile, and keep moving forward.
In true OB’S fashion, i’ll end with a quote: “I don't regret the things I've done I regret the things I didn't do when I had the chance” - Lucille Ball