Patrick Donohue
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy
After four years, I have realized that the most influential people in this class, the ones who changed me the most, are those who were entirely themselves. In a world that prizes normality, whatever that is, refusing to be categorized is actually an act of wisdom. It’s a refusal to pretend you have all the answers just to make other people comfortable.
So never trade the complex version of yourself just so it is easier for people to understand. If you walk into a room next year and feel like you don’t fit in, never assume you’re …
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Patrick Donohue
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy
After four years, I have realized that the most influential people in this class, the ones who changed me the most, are those who were entirely themselves. In a world that prizes normality, whatever that is, refusing to be categorized is actually an act of wisdom. It’s a refusal to pretend you have all the answers just to make other people comfortable.
So never trade the complex version of yourself just so it is easier for people to understand. If you walk into a room next year and feel like you don’t fit in, never assume you’re the problem. Assume the room is too small. Keep doing what we did here: Be the person who stays curious, stays authentic, and stays relentless until the room has no choice but to grow.
Sebastian Small
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy
As we’ve grown together, we’ve been shaped by five specific words that SCH loves to talk about.
[Integrity] is the pillar that actually tests you when the caffeine wears off and the deadline is at midnight — the stuff that happens when the lights are off, the library is empty, and no one is watching. It’s easy to have integrity when you’re being graded or a coach is staring you down from the sidelines. But I’ve seen the real version in this class. I’ve seen it when you guys spent three hours on a FaceTime call helping a classmate study for a brutal physics exam, knowing full well the class was being curved. You knew that helping them might actually lower your own rank, yet you did it anyway. In those moments, you made a choice that isn’t on any rubric: You chose the person over the grade.
