Stephanie is the New Blog Editor for 2018/19.

Last week, when an interviewer asked me what word my friends would best describe me as, I stuttered what first came into my head: “chaotic”.

“Careful now,” she laughed, looking up from her notes, but I somehow managed to twist it to my advantage. Despite the risk, I knew what I said rang true, and that is how they would describe me; my room is chaotic, my schedule is chaotic, and I am more often then not waking up before dawn to do work due in for that day because I am too tired to do it when I get home from school. If any of my teachers are reading this now then they’ll probably be sweating right now, one finger on the outlook app ready to email me and attempt to change those methods, but the chaos is what keeps me feeling vitalised. It seems that I do myself no favours by creating unnecessary stress when I could be relaxing, but it is through that stress I create my best work. With summer schools, a Saturday job, working for Tolethorpe Shakespeare, attempting to organise MUN, finally write this blog and on top of that piles of school work due, I have been as chaotic as ever, and yet it has all been worth it.

If you view this school as purely somewhere for you to work and eat, then I doubt you understand the benefits of participating in as much as you can, pushing your boundaries, taking the step from comfort to chaos. This blog should mirror all the stories that we have to offer, and as a generation growing up in a world changing as quickly as it is, the chance to document it is one not many have, purely as they are more focused on just surviving through it. This blog will be an academic help, a mental support and most importantly a creative outlet for those who want to push beyond what the curriculum has to offer. As Stamford prepares you for ‘life beyond’, whether that be at university, work or traveling, I want you to use this blog as a means to which you can document that experience so that future Stamfordians can read your stories and become inspired themselves. While it may seem slightly daunting and you all have lives separate from school, I hope you use this opportunity to your advantage. A blog shouldn’t feel ike newspaper or magazine, because it is organic, truthful and constantly changing. I can only hope that Beth, Lara and I do it justice.

Stephanie Kelly