Year 12 Graduation Celebration 2020

CMC celebration commends graduates for their achievements

On Wednesday 2 December, the Class of 2020 gathered in the late afternoon sun at St Mary’s to finally celebrate their Graduation. Students and staff then moved into the Marian Centre for a formal, COVID-safe, Graduation Ceremony.
For the first time, the ceremony was streamed live, and this enabled parents, carers extended families and friends to be part of the celebrations from across Bendigo and beyond. There were well over 3,000 viewings of the livestream and messages of heartfelt congratulations flowed in throughout the ceremony and into the night.

“Congratulations on an awesome effort to all the students on finishing Year 12. You have done an amazing job in ‘The Unprecedented Year of 2020’. Good luck to you all for the future. Also, to CMC teachers and staff for supporting students through such a tough year.”

“Congratulations on a tough year of school. You made it. We are so proud of you.”

“What a year to complete and graduate Year 12, you tackled this year with resilience, determination and hard work. Absolutely amazing! We are beyond proud of you!”

The ceremony began with a reflection from Cailin Green and Joshua Prowse. They looked back at highlights of their six years at our College, starting as bright-eyed Year 7s, and finished with their thoughts on this year:

“Writing this reflection has allowed us to fully comprehend the astonishing year that has been 2020 … All this year we have heard nothing but the word COVID, so today we wanted to create new meaning for all who are here. We have taken the letters of the word COVID and tried to select words that we think truly represent this the year… Courage… Opportunity… Virtual… Imperfection… Different…”

Students then led the liturgy of prayers and readings, “Merciful God, our creator, source of all blessings, you delight in the happiness of your people, hear the prayers we offer for our graduates, for all people and for your Church throughout the world.”

Following the liturgy, Principal Mr Brian Turner, together with the Year 12 Year Level Learning Leaders Ms Suzie Kemp and Ms Fiona Bell, presented each student with their Graduation Certificate and gifts.

To end the formal part of the evening, the College Captains, Will Edwards and Tess Keating addressed their fellow students for the last time and Will played the guitar and sang, as he has throughout his years at CMC.

‘What have we learnt? What are the opportunities?’ This was the focus of Brian Turner’s final address, finishing with a blessing for all our 2020 Catherine McAuley College graduates.

Afterwards, students enjoyed refreshments and catching up on the lawn and in the Marian Courtyard.

To our graduates: to have completed Year 12 in 2020 is a badge of honour that you will take forward in your lives. We are proud of your resilience and strength of character, together with the care and support you have shown for each other during your final year. We wish you every success in the future.