January Reflection
Whether you prefer beginnings, middles, or endings, you are in luck. For both teachers and students, January is an opportunity to take stock on accomplishments as well as areas for improvement and to pursue our ideal image of a successful second half of the school year. We find ourselves at the end of one semester, middle of the school year, and beginning of the annual year. There is an electric charge in people’s steps as we arrive at 74 Hart St. and cross a threshold, into the world of possibility.
Goodbye, first semester! Goodbye 2025! No matter how you experienced the first half of the school year or recent calendar year, Winter Break tends to be a time when people reflect. Midyear report comments are written and families share holiday cards with summaries of adventures and milestones. Media sources like Spotify and Oura each deliver “your year wrapped” or “in review.” At this point we all have a clear understanding of what strategies and routines work for getting ready in the morning, completing homework assignments on time, and the like. Sure, it is a human tendency to pass judgement, but this ending can serve as a launch pad into the present.
You may have already considered the meaning behind the word “present.” It is a gift of the here and now. Though it is ever changing, it is the only certainty we have to grasp onto. Here we are, smack dab in the middle of the school year. We carry the knowledge and understandings of the first semester and have a chance to apply these lessons to our principles of the Glen Urquhart School motto: Mean Well, Speak Well, Do Well, Do Better. Life is an ongoing experiment, as is the pursuit of a quality education. Traditions withstanding, new ideas and approaches emerge, ready to be explored. Now is the time for us to set our intentions into motion, communicate with clarity, and act honestly, even when the truth poses difficulty. There is always room for improvement, and this is the time to make it happen.
The bricks we lay in the present set the foundation of our future. The lessons a GUS student learns are not contained within the property grounds, just as our learning experiences are not confined to campus, or a boxed curriculum. As you are reading this, eighth graders are preparing for their upcoming White Shirt Projects, Spring Musical, and considering where they want to continue their education after graduation — public school or independent? They are at the beginning of the end of their time as GUS students. This step toward young adulthood is appropriately daunting for them as it is for their parents and guardians, I’m sure. Even if you are not embarking upon your final semester at GUS, January marks a new beginning for the calendar year and semester. Personally, this is my favorite time of all. The momentum and discoveries I’ve made from the first semester are still fresh in my mind, and I feel a greater sense of creativity and excitement for what waits ahead. On this day in January, we hold a beginning, middle, and end; we truly have it all.
Kate Doyon ’01
Grade 6 ELA + Grade 7 English Teacher