Hewitt News

Good morning, everyone! We are your student council president and vice president, and this year we learned more than we ever have before. We learned that the third phase of meiosis is Anaphase I. We learned that the volume of a cone is ⅓ pi radius squared times height. To be honest, we will probably forget those things, but there are a couple of Hewitt lessons we will always remember and Hewitt moments we will never forget.

This year, the seniors got very nostalgic wanting to capture each moment of our “lasts” at Hewitt. Taking mental photos has taught us to be present during these moments, and over time, we began to realize that the mental photos were a necessity because we might not know that we wanted to remember something until it was already over.

One day this December, as a rain storm was happening outside of the windows (and inside of ourselves in the college decision world), we squeezed together on the floor of the senior lounge. When one person quietly began to play music, another one told them to turn it up. Before we knew it, a spontaneous sing-along to nostalgic pop songs broke out in the lounge. We clapped and sang, and for a moment, we forgot about the stress of senior year. Suddenly, our brains registered that this was a moment we would want to remember.

After that, we began to take mental photos of moments like these. The mental photos of hanging out with our fellow seniors on the playground — drawing with chalk, dancing, and climbing with our kindergarten buddies — or skating together at the ice skating party this winter, have helped us embrace good moments knowing that we had limited days left together before graduation. 

Now that we have reached the end of senior year, and have taken an abundance of mental photos, we can string them together and create an evolving and dynamic series of images in our brains. Think of a film strip — a long, winding series of dark photos. Each photo by itself is important, but it is only by stringing them together that we realize the impact of their connectivity. When these photos are played back to back at a fast speed with light shining behind them, they are no longer just static images or moments in time. They are dynamic and moving. They are meaningful and changing. They are a movie. 

Our memories, our mental photos, are each just a shot in time. It is only now that we have reached the end of senior year that we have shone the light back on these photos, illuminating the film strip and projecting it onto the screen. It wasn’t until we looked at all of the photos and memories together that we realized our legacy. The series of small moments that made up this year have created an evolving and continuous legacy that we will leave to Hewitt. An image is only one frame of a moment. A legacy is the collection of them. 

The Class of 2024’s legacy is inviting people to help us create the middle school musical programs and then watching as 20 people joyfully show up to staple and fold over 600 programs. Our legacy is playing trivia games at town halls and watching each senior embrace their inner competitive child. Our legacy is turning the Hewitt lobby into a red carpet on senior prank day, then watching all the students enter with style and pose for the paparazzi, even at 8:00 am. Our legacy is sitting at a table in the library with a person from every grade, each studying something different. Our legacy is understanding how special our deep connections are to the communities we play a role in. 

As we attempted to leave our legacy on this school, we realized that Hewitt also imparted a legacy back to us. This is another thing we didn’t understand until it was over. Even if we didn’t realize it, and even if we tried to fight it at times, The Hewitt School has its ways of imparting invisible life lessons on us, lessons we will carry with us once we’ve long forgotten the stages of meiosis or the area formulas for three dimensional shapes. From Hewitt, we have gained the ability to create meaningful bonds and learned how to be creative, innovative leaders. We understand how to listen and amplify small voices to make change, and how to be unapologetic in the bold choices we make. 

From our senior class, we have learned how to create a support system built on accepting each other and celebrating each other’s accomplishments. And, by seeing the same peers show up exactly one minute before class starts every single morning or with their signature coffee order, we’ve learned the importance of consistency. But seriously, our grade has taught us that the race of life is long and we’re only competing against ourselves. We are much stronger together than we ever could have been without each other. What bonds us and connects us is the mutual support that we show each other, our desire for each other to succeed. 

It is impossible to mention the legacy of Hewitt without mentioning our teachers. From them, we gained not only a plethora of knowledge across subject matters, but also what it means to be an inspired and attentive learner. Thank you to all of the Hewitt teachers, administrators, and staff members whose lessons and enthusiasm for education gave light and turned these hallowed halls into our home. 

And to our parents and families, thank you. We would not be standing here today without your constant support and love, which radiates through all of us. Our teachers, our friends, our families, and everyone else who supported us on our high school journey have left a lasting impact on us. We appreciate you all and will never forget the love we have received from each and every person that made today’s graduation possible.  

In Hewitt’s halls, there was always someone to support us, motivate us before taking a test, or celebrate us on a college acceptance. Seniors: If you are a little terrified of losing that support, know that you always have your president and vice president in your corner. We believe in every one of you. Even if we are hundreds or thousands of miles away from one another next year, we know that you all will impart a lasting legacy and make meaningful change. One day, you will be doctors, filmmakers, actresses, mathematicians, writers, engineers, athletes, and artists. Even if you don’t yet know what your future holds, remember the words of Natasha Bedingfield in what became the theme song of our senior class: “Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten.” 

Now, we thought this moment was too important to be just a mental photo, so let’s take the final shot for the film of our Hewitt legacy. Congratulations to the Class of 2024, the 50 students that make up the biggest senior class in Hewitt’s history! We love you guys. The best is yet to come. 
 

Interested in reading more 2024 commencement remarks?

Read Commencement Remarks to the Class of 2024 by Dr. Tara Christie Kinsey