The statement for discussion at the Year 12 Academic Discussion Supper was “Tell me about resilience.” The conversation was hosted by Dr Jones, Head of Library & Enrichment and support by Dr Bowdrey, Head of Sixth Form.

“This supper has allowed me to reflect on how different people have differing opinions and interpretations about resilience. I learnt that listening to others is a dominant part of a discussion and self-reflection, as I am able to hear ideas that I wouldn’t think of and this showed me the importance of being open-minded on my learning journey.” Caitlin
“This was a very engaging and thought-provoking discussion, where everyone had the opportunity to present their research and share their personal views on the significance of resilience. We covered a wide range of topics, including resilience in sports, depictions of resilience through art, photography, and music, and how these creative outlets can serve as therapeutic tools to help us become more resilient. We also explored how mental health, race, gender, and age can influence resilience, additionally discussing varying perspectives on resilience due to experiencing harsh circumstances versus privilege, touching on politics, and examining resilience as both an evolutionary advantage and a natural part of personal growth. We also contrasted the difference between the idea that resilience is needed to overcome occasional adversities, versus that resilience is required to challenge broken systems or, in extreme cases, to survive. Finally, we examined the psychological phenomenon of minority influence, where I argued that for minority influence to succeed, the minority must exhibit extreme resilience. For example, inspirational individuals like Rosa Parks displayed immense resilience when challenging the majority’s views on racial segregation in America.” – Claudia
“It was great to be included in an extremely insightful supper where we all engaged to discuss resilience and how each of us interpreted the title ‘Tell me about resilience’. Learning about what resilience means to each person was very interesting, but what I found most intriguing was realising just how powerful your mindset is and how a positive outlook on life can make such a drastic difference to your perception of life.” – Kasey
“The Somerville Supper discussion left me thinking about what being resilient meant to me. It made me think about whether resilience can be simply defined as, ‘the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties’, needs a more in depth and specific definition, or if the definition is different for everybody. I was also very interested in our discussion about people we know who have been resilient, such as Lewis Hamilton, and how they didn’t just overcome their difficulties, but also matured mentally setting them up to be even more resilient in the future.” – Imogen
“During the Somerville Supper this week, we talked about how different people around the world experience resilience in their everyday lives. What stuck with me was the difference in magnitude between the hardships I face in my everyday life and those others in less fortunate situations face. I realised that countless people demonstrate ceaseless resistance on a daily basis.- Ruby