By: Blonde One

(Pictured here are Esme and Toby (not Prefects) showing their support with their Chiefs t-shirts.)

The recent Prefect Dinner at school was a very post affair, with students dressed in dinner jackets and post frocks, a three course dinner served by fabulous waiting staff and a very interesting guest speaker. We were lucky enough to have the Exeter Chiefs’ rugby player Will Chudley join us for the evening and he did not disappoint. He spoke for quite some time and gave students encouragement and optimism through his own experiences. He showed us that he was just a normal person, like them, who had worked hard to get where he is now.

There were numerous examples of how he inspired us all but here’s what I think are the best ones:

Will talked about mistakes and rather than pretending he was infallible he taught us that he has a system of ‘letting go’ of those mistakes. Often we dwell on them and let them bother us unnecessarily but he shared how he taps his leg two times as an act of moving on from the error. Other players apparently pick some grass and throw it away as a symbol of letting mistakes go.

Will admitted to being nervous and way out of his comfort zone talking to us. He suggested that in any situation where you feel the same you just need 3 seconds of confidence to get started and the rest sorts itself out. He was entirely right. 3 seconds of confidence will get you through that first step of doing something scary.

The last thing that will stick in my memory from the evening is him telling our very fine Prefects that they could achieve anything that they choose to with hard work and courage.

It was an evening to remember for me and gave our Prefects, who are about to enter the next phase of their lives, a boost in confidence to help them in their next journey.