Dear students,

St. Jude’s School is now almost forty- five years old. It has been a pioneer in Education in Gorakhpur, but is still laying the foundation of its future traditions, not yet having reached its full maturity. Today we have achieved the high- school status. You too are still at a stage of development where your future is being influenced by your present environment.

You can have knowledge; if you will take it. You can develop courage; decency and self confidence; together with a real tolerance of others if you strive hard enough. You can gain the lasting values of life and a realization of those worthless things which should be discarded. Indeed; you can be an asset to your country and society as a whole; which will make you into the finest character you are capable of being. Be a leader; if you are capable of leading. If not be a loyal follower; but always discriminate between who is worth following and who is not. To your school motto “Nihil Desperandum” meaning ‘Never despair’ one could safely add “sauviter in modo, fortiter in re” which could give you a good philosophy of life: “gentle in manner resolute in deed”.

It is only after leaving school that one really appreciates the feeling of having belonged to the school. This general feeling of “belonging”, of being wanted, is so necessary to our happiness, but here at school, now, we seem to take it so much for granted, whether we are a part of a sports team, or class or cultural club.

Just as every pupil gains something from school, so he or she gives something in return-either good or bad-depending on it.. This tradition which grows up within our school is the “accumulated giving” of all pupils, present and past. So each of you should contribute, in some way, to the good name of the school. See that what you give to the school is worth giving. Work hard, play hard, give your best at all times-do nothing which will harm your school’s good name. Establish your school in your hearts and in your minds as something of which you can be really proud.

I wish all our students, present and past, every success in all their endeavours and trust that the years that follow it will give them that happiness and success they truly deserve.