Malachy O'Rourke, the guest speaker, told the attendance at St. Eugene's prizegiving that the Roslea community had special significance for him as his late father came from here and played on many successful Roslea teams in the 50's, as did his uncles.
Members of his family taught in Roslea and, so he felt it is ironic to be back there all these years later speaking at the annual prizegiving.
Talking about being manager of the Fermanagh senior football team, he said he saw a lot of parallels between managing a football team and running a school.
'The first thing we are all looking for is the word 'success' but in school, as in football, we have to be careful about how this word in interpreted. It is not something which should be judged just by the number of prizes won, or on exam results."
He went on: "Success to anyone should mean you, as an individual, reaching your absolute potential. And, if that means terrific exam results or for others who are not academically gifted, it means that you finally get on the cross-country team after five years of trying, of if somebody earns a part in the school play, then that is success."
He advised the pupils not to get into the habit of judging their success by other people but, instead to concentrate on maximising their own potential.
"If you want to give yourself the best chance of achieving success", he said, " there is no substitute for hard work. I encourage all the pupils sitting here to challenge yourself to be better. To not be content with where you are but instead to keep pushing."
Malachy O'Rourke also talked about how important he felt it was for pupils, and teachers, to have an open mind, and went on to illustrate this with a couple of anecdotes.
He told the pupils they were very lucky to be part of St. Eugene's College, 'a school which challenges you to make the most of yourself'.
From experience of inter-school sport, he said that whenever his school (St. Joseph's College, Enniskillen) came up against St. Eugene's in any type of sport, he knew it would be a tough, sporting encounter where teamwork would be at the centre of everything.
"Of course, it is important to remember that for all of you this is only the beginning of the journey. You have your whole life ahead of you, and now is the time to reset you goals. The last thing I will say to you is this - always have self-belief. Never think that things are impossible to achieve.
"You have so many talents inside you that haven't been tapped into yet. I recommend one of my favourite sayings, that 'Nobody defines the limits of what you can become but yourself'.
"Nobody can decide how good you can be at something. The only person that decides that is you. You can study as hard as you want, you can practise as much as you want in order to get better."
"To all of the young people gathered here today, that should be your mindset. There are a lot of opportunities in today's society, make sure you grab them with both hands. You have the ability to achieve a lot - make sure you make the most of it.
