28 Mar An Unforgettable Time with Chris Eubank
Blog written by Alesha. S, Year 10 student reporter,
edited by Mrs Nguyen
Chris Eubank. You may know him, you may not. Chris is a former British professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1998. He held the WBO middleweight AND the super-middleweight titles between 1990 and 1995 and is ranked by Box Rec as the 3rd best British super-middleweight boxer of all time! I know, amazing right? This internationally successful boxer visited our school on Monday 14th March 2022.
At 11:30am all the year 9 and year 10 students quickly filled all the available seats of the spacious auditorium. As soon as Chris Eubank arrived at the dark green door, he was welcomed with a HUGE burst of applause. All of us stared at his outfit which was unique to people but represented his personal choice and his confidence in himself to express his own dressing style.
To our surprise, Chris started off by talking about how he may look tough on the outside, however inside he is soft and gentle. This was a clear example of why we shouldn’t judge people by their looks and why appearance isn’t the most important deciding factor in a person’s personality.
On the topic of his personality, he gave us a message of being humble. Chris described why being humble to people around you is so important and that even after all his success in life, when speaking to an audience you “should not act higher but lower or the same”. He responded to this with a bow to the audience to show his respect and that we all are of the same level.
“When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself,
And see what THAT man has to say…” (from The Gal in the Glass poem)
Chris continued the conversation by explaining to the students especially the girls in the audience about “The Gal in the Glass”. The poem represents us all as people and how we see ourselves. He then proceeded to explain why being friends with ourselves is the most important as it impacts your mindset and what you choose to do with your future.
“Why does it matter how I feel about myself?” you may ask.
Chris answered this with the word LOVE, not love between two people but loving yourself: self-love. Love, as he told us, is a positive thing and so we should be positive with everything we do, and how we treat others as this will come back to us regardless the reality we may encounter. Chris went on to say why negativity will never work in any circumstance and that positivity is the only way forward. What a powerful message Mr Eubank had given us!
Furthermore, Chris expressed why he believes discipline and independence is so important. Discipline for ourselves and discipline from others is the way to achieve our goals because it takes time and hard work to get what we want; it takes discipline to be successful. He went on to explain why we should be passionate about what we want and that we should be ‘our own pillar’ using ‘our own brains’ and not relying on others.
Persevering is another way to reach our goals. This is how we stay on course and not to get lost. However, as Chris explained, facing failure doesn’t mean losing your own ‘coolness’. Even Chris himself had lost a number of matches and he used it to his advantage to learn from his mistakes. Chris mentioned a lot about the ‘poise’ when he was inside and outside of the rings. Chris has earned the respect of the people.
To end this motivational speech, Chris shared with us a poem he has memorised to follow every step of his life – Keep Going by Edgar Guest:
“When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
And the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns.
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than it seems
To a faint and faltering man.
Often the struggler has given up when he
Might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems afar.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit.
It’s when things seem worst that
You mustn’t quit.”
Some Q&A from the Whitley students:
“What career would you have chosen if not boxing?”
– A gymnast, however, even though I became a boxer the journey I took wanting to be a gymnast helps me now as it gives me balance while fighting.
“You spoke a lot about positivity but how did you manage all the negativity after a lost?”
– The negativity after a lost can only come if you are ill mannered to losing and so you shouldn’t be even if you didn’t get what you want, so even when I’ve lost, I stayed positive”
“Who are your idols, who do you look up to or have you looked up to throughout your life?”
– Nelson Mandela, Gandhi and Bob Marley.
“What is one thing you would tell your teen self to do if you could rewind the clock?”
– Everything I’ve told you, if I had known when I was a teenager would have given me so much potential to achieve more. So, if you are to take anything from this, remember my words to be kind, be considerate, be generous, be humble, be open and be cool”.
Within just one hour with Chris Eubank, we learnt so much and we will remember his words and the importance of love and positivity for the rest of our lives.
Thank you to Mr Baillie, Executive Headteacher of the Finham MAT, and Mrs Pettman, our Headteacher, who organised this opportunity for the students and of course Chris Eubank himself for taking his time to speak to us all.
Thank you for reading this blog and I hope you have learnt something about yourself like we all did.
March 2022
