Jae-Yeon ’11, Student Head of School for 2010-11, welcomed students and parents with these comments at Convocation, August. 27, 2010.
 

Welcome aboard new girls, returning students, faculty, parents, grandparents and friends! I am thrilled to see you all here today. As someone who had been in your seats three years ago, two years ago and last year I can comprehend what you may be feeling right at this moment: anxiety, excitement, worries, and perhaps even fears about what you may face in the future days of your high school years.

I knew I would love Foxcroft. My sister, Emma, is a few years ahead of me, so I was already comfortable on the campus, and around the students and teachers. At Emma’s soccer games, her classmates and faculty cheered the whole team so I knew the community would be supportive of me, too. The teachers are more than just instructors; they are available to help during study hall, after school, before exams. They want to see each student do her best.

Even though I knew all this, and was sure I would be happy at Foxcroft, I was pleasantly surprised by a couple of aspects, too.

No one was more surprised to see Cameron called up to the podium to receive two awards at the 2007 Athletic Association Banquet than Cameron herself. “I had never thought of myself as an athletic person, and neither had anyone else,” she says.

A brilliant scholar -- National Merit Scholarship Commended Student, Cum Laude Society, etc., Cameron had never played a sport before the fall of 2006. For P.E., she took yoga. She danced a little and took walks but that was pretty much it on the physical front. Then, the yoga teacher moved away and a Cross-Country Team was formed. “I decided it was time to try something different,” she says. “Running was a new challenge.”

As a four-year senior at Foxcroft, I have had the opportunity to be involved with a number of charitable projects. I have been witness to the tremendous benefits giving back to one’s community has on both the giver and recipient of such acts of kindness. It was not until the fall of my senior year, however, that I truly grasped the tradition of helping others which is so much a part of Foxcroft School.

Tselmeg '05, who came to Foxcroft as a sophomore from Mongolia, said Foxcroft has helped her open up and become a valuable member of a community.

Since she moved to Foxcroft from California, Claire has explored field hockey, a brand new sport to her, and art as well. Both areas, she said, have not only been valuable to her but ones she may never have tried if she had not been at boarding school.

Upon graduation and preparing for the next four years on academic scholarship at the University of Richmond, Tiffany is now a self-confident student who has been an active member of the school. She was Hound captain and has been recognized by the Independent School League for her achievements in varsity tennis.

Sierra feels lucky to have had the opportunity to attend a school like Foxcroft. As the community has supported her, she has realized the importance of giving back.


Hear more Student Voices by viewing the videos in the Media Lbrary.