News - Administration
Reconnecting
By Nancy Heuston, Head of School
On Monday the 26th of December, we held our Alumni Holiday Dinner in the Concert Hall Gallery. As in past years, our returning students are as we remember them, and so much more. I suppose that is to be expected; I know it is to be relished.
Our delight is in reconnecting beyond the screen image and the abbreviated message. Meeting new spouses and children now out of arms and taller, hearing about completed degrees and professional training, peering ahead into their hopes for the future is the best part of the evening. To spend time with these fine adults is a gift.
Our graduates are interesting people. Their resumes are impressive — with Brandon working towards his PhD at MIT, Andrea running a business with her husband Jason, and Mika a lecturer in Sweden. Conversations reveal that they are as we remember them — persons of great curiosity and energy, and a desire to give back.
Universally, they express a deepening appreciation for their years spent at Waterford. They want to know about what is new at the School, how the students are serving, and how a particular program is developing. They speak of having learned how to work hard, without ever realizing the gift this would be until they compared their work ethic with their roommates’. They speak of a wish that they had taken greater advantage of the opportunities here — this articulated most often by the very students who were exploring right through the end of the senior year! And they speak of their continuing admiration for teachers who cared that they exert themselves and discover the richness of learning.
There are moments when we as parents experience the payback, when we see our child step beyond what we have taught or even what we have hoped. Every parent cherishes these gems, and holds them near.
For us as faculty, the moments with our past students are gem-like. These are good people, traveling the roads they set in place while in your homes and on this campus. As they construct their futures, they continue as begun — to learn and to build, to serve and to give.
We all can be justifiably proud of them. Every one.
At the start of 2012, we share with you our pleasure in anticipating the part your children will play as Alumni amidst the world of humankind. We wish for each of you a year of health and peace.