Donors’ Remarks by Matthew Lyn, Class of 1997

Not so long ago, on a September day in 1992, I entered through the gates of this prestigious high school for the first time. For five years, this was my home away from home and the fond memories of the people and time here are too much to recant or reminisce about this morning. I remember the successes, the failures, the friends, the foes, things that I did and I didn’t do. I recall vividly how my parents had wanted me to be a rounded student – to do extracurricular activities and develop other skills apart from just the learning the books. Seeing as I was proclaiming to be the next Perry Mason or Matlock since I was about 8, they suggested that I join the debate team to develop the knack for public speaking. The only problem is that at the time I was much too shy for this kind of activity and put me on any stage and I was likely to just shrink. So this is one of those things I did not do, but in retrospect wish I had. So today, although you may think that you are here to celebrate the opening of a Physics Lab, or to hear about a donation to the Vision 2020 campaign, or something about the future of our school, let me assure you that today is simply a well contrived plan on my part to finally overcome that public speaking at Campion and finally close this chapter in that book. All the events that lead up to this day, was purely part of the strategy to bring some closure. True True!

Of course, I’m joking. We are here because today represents a proud occasion for our family and I believe that the great honour on speaking on behalf of the family has been bestowed on me because….well simply because I was told I had no choice. End of story.

In any case, it is indeed my honor to speak on the family’s behalf as we are proud not only to be a part of this revolutionary project to transform ( for many of us at least) our alma mater -Campion College, but to be part of a movement that will hopefully go well beyond this school compound to many others. We hope the success of the Campion Alumni will inspire other alumni and schools across the island to take up the challenge and actively assist in redeveloping our schools and entire educations system. After all, the better equipped our students are and more prepared for the real world will be the better Jamaica is in the long run.

It is very fitting in my eyes at least that we are here tonight to officially open the newly improved Physics Lab as indeed Physics was one of my favorite subjects when I was here. I could not wait to get to Physics class each week. Not because I was exceptionally keen on hearing about Galieleo, Enstein, gravity, ohms, jewels, vacuums and what not, but I do remember the very pretty girl, who shall remain nameless for the purpose of this story, that used to sit beside me in class and that was always something to look forward to.

However, not to give you the wrong impression, I was not a slacker at school and I did my work and paid attention in class and to this day I can remember what was taught to me so many years ago in this very room. Now, I realize that there are teachers present who should feel free to correct me on the this, but I dare say that much of the fundamentals of Physics is based on Newton’ s Three Laws of Motion.

Everyone remembers this, right?

Easy stuff, right?

Anyone care to list them?

No?

Ok, let’s be honest, I didn’t remember them either, but I googled it because I believe that Newton’s Laws of Motion are actually aerfect analogy for this Vision 2020 Campaign.

The first law states that an object will stay at rest or in motion in a straight line until an external force is applied to it. So if put an object on a table, the law says that object will never move, unless some external force, essentially forces it to move, such as if I pick it back up.

Now just imagine that Campion is that object at rest and it then follows that we will forever be at rest, will never move and forever be the same product until an external force is applied to it.

Do you see where I’m going? To me, it is quite clear who this external force is? It is you, it is me, it is every alumni, every student and parent and donor out there who collectively, as a group, have the ability to apply that external force and move this object from rest. We collectively can change our school.

However, how much we contribute or how much force we apply will dictate how far from rest this object moves and how far it will travel.

And this is where the second law comes in, as it says that the rate of change of momentum is directly proportionate to the resultant force acting on it – the further you push the pedal down, the faster the car is going to go!

Could we, as alums, have asked for a stronger force than the leadership team of the 2020 Campaign to act on this change?

Andrew, Ashley and the entire team, you are the one who have had your foot on the gas and the force that created the momentum to make the change. Had it not been for your tireless and selfless efforts to make this dream a reality, could we really have raised all this money in such a short period of time?

On behalf of all the alum, the students and future students, – Congratulations to you! Job very well done! And thank you!

And speaking about Momentum, the initial challenge grant by Mr. Butch Stewart, Adam and family was the kind of start that this project certainly needed. Congratulations to you for making that bold step and. taking the lead on this project and challenging the rest of us to get involved and give back. You started the momentum!

The third law – For every action , there is an equal and opposite reaction

Some of you may consider that the Vision 2020 campaign is the action and we await the reaction from what lies ahead in the future. However, my personal feelings, is that it is the other way around. The campaign and its success is the reaction, the reaction to the actions taken by the people we owe so much to in life – Our teachers.

Without them, where would we all be and had it not been for them, their knowledge, their dedication, their patience and their heart, could this Campaign really have succeeded? The fact that we were able to raise these funds in such short time shows that the alumni see value in this school, and saw value in the education they received when they were here. It certainly was the one of the driving factors for us.

It is for this reason, why the family has chosen the words we have and though this lab may bear our name it is dedicated to the teachers who have served this institution of academic excellence over the past 50 years and who have taught 11 of us spanning two generations over those years.

Campion has been an invaluable experience and learning center for so many of us and we hope it continues to improve for the generations ahead. As a family, we have always recognized that for institutions to offer their students the best educational opportunities, there will always be a need for investment in the actual physical infrastructure of these institutions. We see this gift as an investment in the future of Jamaica, through the children who will benefit, and it is our hope that in their receiving support for their educational pursuits, they will, in turn, feel compelled to assist in a similar way for the next generation, when it is their turn to give back, creating and sustaining a culture of philanthropy.

Andrew, Ashley, Grace, The Board of Trustees and all the Campion community…we are proud to be Campionites…let us all continue to give back to our school so that it may continue to lead from the front!

Thank you.

Share