I’ve man年龄d to live my adult life in various educational institutions, so I really have no comparative basis for the claim I’m about to offer, 但似乎没有什么比一个学年过得更快了. (This would not be quite so disheartening were it not also true that I, 太, seem to be aging at approximately the same rate as the school days tick by.) One day it’s August and plans are being formulated for the opening of school and in the next moment, it’s Open House and then Thanksgiving and then the holiday break and then spring break, 然后马上我们就开始计划毕业晚宴了, 毕业, 还有最后的教员会议，然后, 又一年过去了.
Spring seems to always find me reflecting on this phenomenon — perhaps because we locate in close proximity to each other an intersection where the past and the future meet. The past revisits us in big and small ways during Solebury’s annual Reunion Weekend, 上个月刚刚发生的. Solebury alums from across the decades returned to renew old friendships, 分享他们的故事, 唤起他们对那个时间和地点的记忆, 对于许多, 现在是很久以前了吗. Every year I look forward to my annual chat with 1941 alum (that’s 78 years ago!)汤姆·库珀, who regales me with stories of a 韦德娱乐app下载地址 in a very different 年龄, but clearly a school with the same essential DNA as the school I lead in 2019.
就在我们追忆过去的同时, 我们进入了一个与未来——我们的前辈——关系相对紧张的时期. 在过去的几周里, there have been a slew of dangling participles that were tended to: final decisions on colleges; efforts to help with scholarships and financial aid pack年龄s; AP exams; senior projects. 今年, Rebecca and I had a sharper lens into the various matters that drain the oxygen from the waning days of the year: senior Sofia Iriarte, 从巴塞罗那, 在我们家寄宿了一年吗. 一眨眼的功夫, 我们又开始为人父母了, 帮助选择课程, 备考建议, 送她去参观大学, 提醒她高三实际上并没有在3月结束, 在我写这个博客的时候, I’m also adjusting my calendar so we can take her next week to her new student orientation program at Marist College, 她的第一选择.
当然, 凭借经验和后见之明的优势, 当我们看着我们的高年级学生慢慢走向毕业, 形形色色的情绪纷至沓来. Happiness for their achievement; wonder at what the future holds for the 62 lives we’re about to untether from the rock that is Solebury; relief that we are handing them off — by and large whole and healthy and educated and ready; and of course, 一丝悲伤. 悲伤是因为我们会想念他们. They arrived, young, kids for the most part; they leave on the edge of adulthood. We have watched them 成长; helped them 成长 — nurtured and nudged, 鞭策和拉扯, 鼓励和表扬. 基本上，我们的角色已经结束了.
所以，春天在学校是一个有趣的时间. 回忆和梦想交织在一起, 在我们拥抱历史的同时争夺关注, all the while pondering the future of those about to embark on a new journey that will take them away from us.
因为索菲亚, we have developed close ties with so many of her senior friends that have shared our home for dinners, 为过夜, 去当地的餐馆. It is truly an amazing class that has provided the kind of leadership that elevates a good year into a great year. As they prepare for their final two Solebury moments — tonight’s senior dinner and Saturday’s 毕业 — I am proud of them, 为他们感到高兴, 想到他们的离去，我很难过, 我在想78年后, what reminisces will the next Tom Cooper share with the then Head of Solebury about their experiences in 2019?
向2019届毕业生致以最热烈的祝福. 享受结束. 享受今晚. 沐浴在明天将笼罩你的骄傲和爱之中. 作为校友回来拜访.
P.S. 索菲亚，打扫你的房间.