ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓
╰┈➤ ❝ i don't wanna look at anything else now that i say you. i don't wanna think of any else now that i thought of you. ❞
IN WHICH emmeliah williams and neil perry, students at the prestigious welton a...
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— daylight ! chapter one ; welcome to welton
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THE HALL IS ALREADY FILLED WITH BOYS AND GIRLS WHEN I WALK IN. Some people are still taking their seats, some are standing around and chatting, others are silently seated, waiting for the assembly to start. Some children have their parents with them, some did not. I am one of the latter.
I tug at my blazer, the cuffs slightly itching my wrists, and I make my way to my appointed section. Lots of girls are chatting and giggling, making lots of noise as they sit down, but I stay silent, taking my seat at the very end of the row.
Soon, we hear a bagpipe beginning to play, and everyone takes that as a clue to silence themselves. Everyone looks behind them towards the hall's entrance, where three students, two boys and a girl, walk down the aisle, followed by a person playing the bagpipes, a man carrying a candle, and four boys holding four flags, each with a word on them. The four pillars.
They make their way to the front, taking their places. Mr. Nolan, Welton's headmaster steps forward, front and centre, to address everyone in the room.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the light of knowledge," he says. The man with the candle steps forward, lighting a boy's unlit candle, and a girl's unlit candle. The audience applauses, so I follow along. The boys and girls both go down their line, until each of their candles were lit.
Eventually silencing the audience, Mr. Nolan speaks again. "One hundred years ago, in 1859, 41 boys and girls sat in this room and were asked the same question that now greets you at the start of each semester. Students, what are the four pillars?"
Each student stands swiftly, reciting, "Tradition, honour, discipline, excellence," before sitting down again.
Nolan continues, "In her first year, Welton Academy graduated five students. Last year, we graduated 51. And more than 75 percent of those went on to the Ivy League." Again, the audience, both students and their parents and teachers, clap.
