Hewitt News

Good morning, fellow graduates, loved ones, and esteemed Hewitt faculty. We are Yara and Goldie, and we were, with the greatest pleasure, Hewitt’s 2024-2025 student council presidents. 

This year’s graduation theme asks us to consider the indelible mark that Hewitt has made on us as students, mentors, leaders, daughters, sisters, friends, advocates, and problem solvers. 

How Hewitt has "changed us for good?" If Hewitt has bettered us into any condition, state, or character, it would be that of a tea bag.

Eleanor Roosevelt sagely said, "A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong it is until it's in hot water." Hewitt students are certainly no stranger to the metaphorical tea bag. We have each had our moments in hot water - moments of self-doubt, pressure, or imminent deadlines. But those instances were crucibles. They refined us. We did not crack. We steeped. 

We have learned about our personal tea bag-like natures many times over the years. 

Goldie realized hers in the days leading up to a pivotal interview - one that required her to speak in French. Feeling unprepared, she sought out her two French teachers, Madame Vysosias and Madame Goycochea, whose steady guidance aided her in pushing past doubt. On the day itself, despite inevitable nerves, Goldie did not dissolve. She drew on the knowledge and resilience awakened by Hewitt, allowing her the inner strength to steep through the challenge. 

Yara learned hers while reading her tenth grade student council candidacy speech. While she spoke, the paper noticeably shook in her trembling hands; her voice shook, too. But she stuck it out. She steeped in the fear of public speaking. Afterward, she sought out advice from the trusty Mr. Riddick, eager for a few of his renowned public speaking tips. Today, Yara is giving this speech at graduation with confidence and stability 

Hewitt has pushed all of us toward hot water, supported with the resources to thrive in it. We did the math. Over these past four years, the Class of 2025 has sat in approximately 188,100 classes. That's a lot of hot water. 

You may be thinking, Don’t all high-school students take classes? Isn't this kind of hot water universal? Yes, but what differentiates Hewitt students is the way we have been taught to approach such steaming struggles. We acknowledge the challenge, admit that it will be difficult, but remember that, as teabags, hot water is where we belong. It is where our flavor – our power and strength – steeps best. 

And, without a doubt, we have our teachers to thank for the deliberate and effective infusion of these controlled challenges. In fact, they do their jobs so well that eventually we learn to throw our teachers in hot water too, by challenging their lesson plans with questions that sometimes no one can answer.

Remember, teabags do not sit passively in hot water: they leave something behind that was not there before. And just as Hewitt has changed us for good, Class of 2025, each of you has changed Hewitt for good. Through our artwork on the walls of Stillman Hall, our commitment onstage or backstage at the Theater at St. Jean, our team spirit for Hewitt Athletics, or our participation in clubs, sustainability, service work, and social justice, all 57 of us have infused Hewitt with our personal flavor. Through every hardship we have faced — every moment of “hot water” we withstood, we left traces of ourselves here. 

As we head into the future, we hope we maintain this ability to not just endure the heat but to infuse it with our unique spirit. Let’s face it. Life won’t always be lukewarm. The world will always present its own kettles, its times of intensity. And so, 2025 graduates, may we always embrace the boil, knowing that within each intense moment there lies an opportunity to reveal our most potent selves. 

Thank you, Class of 2025. Thank you, Hewitt faculty and staff. Thank you, parents. And once again, congratulations!