Another September, another School Prize Day – and this year was not one to be missed! Following all the formalities of awards and applause, the time had come to settle down for our ‘Guest of Honour’ – past pupil Rebecca Edwards BEM, OLY, BA(Hons) and 2x Team GB Olympic Rower is about to deliver an inspiring speech, linking greatly to her time in school.

We heard about all her great experiences at RSD, including her eager studies of French and Spanish at A-Level, sporting achievements and even acting as a ‘Dancing Dog’ in the school musical! Then the time came for Rebecca to move onto Queen’s University, Belfast to study. This is where her love of rowing began – in fact she made sure to tell us of an inside family joke about her achieving a degree in rowing rather than what she studied.

Wearing her official Team GB gear, fresh from the recent Paris Olympics, Miss Edwards was quick to inspire us through her ‘nothing to something’ rhetoric, coming from normal beginnings in Aughnacloy, to representing her country on the world stage. We also learned of the struggles she has faced over the span of her career so far, with sickness and injury inhibiting her from achieving a place on the ‘Women’s Eight’, but she held the RSD motto of ‘Persevarando’ close to her through this turbulence and qualified for the Olympics alongside her friend in the ‘Women’s Pair’.

Amazingly, Miss Edwards spoke without a script and was the perfect person to represent success achieved by current pupils this past year, both academic and extra-curricular. It was an honour to listen to Rebecca’s words, which filled us with the motivation to work hard and build up confidence in our abilities for this new academic year ahead. We take these words of encouragement to fuel us and know the sky is the limit when it comes to our future.

Thanks to Jonathan McKenzie (Year 13) for this report.