'The New Chapter'

The bittersweetness of the farewell party strikingly contrasted with the sanguine swiftness and novelty of the ISC icebreaker session. It seemed as if life, like a restless reader, eagerly flicked through the treasured pages of secondary school days and paused at the beginning of 11th Grade, pausing to catch its breath before exploring it.

The Farewell Party not only artfully commenced the end of secondary school, but it also

unfolded a fresh start. As we stepped across the threshold of new beginnings, hand in hand, a sense of wistfulness pooled in our hearts. The girls, adorned in scintillating sarees, and the boys, dressed in immaculate suits, smiled, danced and laughed, knowing that whichever path they walked, Scottish would be their eternal home. A beacon of hope to anchor them against the rough waters of life. The memory of our batchmates, the moments captured on camera, the blessed journey from Jr.Kg. to Grade 10 will remain a part of our souls forever. Dancing with teachers, our lifelong mentors, walking the ramp with fellow peers, and revising old jokes made throughout the years instead of classroom notes, were snippets that made the Farewell truly heartwarming and beautiful. The melancholy chords of the farewell party held on 4th April,2025 brimming with nostalgia carried the undertone of a new beginning seamlessly giving way to the upbeat, overwhelming rhythm of the ISC icebreaker session held only four days later, stirring trepidation and excitement in equal measure.

The ISC icebreaker welcomed us into the unfamiliar realm of Senior Secondary School, helping us find our footing among new faces. The icebreaker session for 11th graders was planned to forge relations and initiate engagement between our old Scottishites and the newcomers. The seniors, 12th graders acted as peer mentors and conducted small groups of students at once. Each student was given a bingo sheet with random, quirky statements and was expected to fill out names of students under each. The goal was to interact with new people and glean new and bizarre information about others. The statements ranged from, “is left handed” to “has climbed a tree”. This lasted for about 45 minutes and was quickly replaced by a scavenger hunt wherein teams raced against time itself to fulfil all the tasks placed before them. The scavenger hunt took groups all over Scottish’s sprawling campus and was aimed at showing the new students the various facilities while giving them a tour of sorts. During the session, connections were made, friendships were sparked, and the next chapter quietly began to unfold.

Although these new beginnings have their fair share of anxiety, awkwardness and uncertainty; breaking the ice with others helps us alleviate these fears. During this session, we learned to carve our own path and write our own stories - meeting people we might have not known and finding comfort in the ones we might have known for seeming centuries. As we walk into the new classroom, the lights may seem far too bright and the air might feel far too thick but as soon as the ice breaks the entire glacier seemingly starts melting. Sometimes the hardest part of the story isn't the climax, the unexpected twist or the emotional payoff but rather the opening scene where the cameras start rolling and you may not know what to do, in this moment —we decide to embrace it.

Written by : Zeitgeist Editorial Team