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Weekly Message from Head of School 2023/1/15-2024/1/19

2024-01-22

Dear Keystone community, 

   

Friday Greetings to you! This week please make sure you don’t miss the fabulous article about an alumni panel we recently hosted on campus for our students (shared today on WeChat and our website and linked in this “Loop”).   


The reflections from the recent graduates invite our students to consider reframing uncertainty to possibility, which is an idea that holds great promise for each of us, whatever stage of life we are at. The specifics of the discussion were around IBDP course selection and responding to the reality that for our students, the pressure to choose the “correct” courses can be daunting. Our graduates shared vibrant stories about twists and turns in their own young lives that made me think of the hopeful and optimistic English phrase “hey, you never know!” For non-native English speakers, this phrase usually uttered with a smiling shrug of the shoulders, can be interchanged with, “hey, anything is possible!”   


Reflecting carefully on the wisdom of these young people, some just a few years out from their own DP course selections, certainly left our students with at least a hint of confidence that everything will work out fine and there really are no wrong choices when it comes to choosing what to learn in high school.   


I believe this brings us back to the important cognitive work of broadening our definitions of success. If you happen to perseverate* on picking the “correct” courses, to get you to the “right” school to get the “right” job, you are narrowing the definition of success in a way that can have multiple pernicious* consequences.   


First, it can lead you to be more likely to perceive that lack of success in any of those things going just as you planned represents a failure or fundamental flaw of you personally. For example, if you choose “the only DP” course that you think can lead to success and end up not loving one of your courses, that might feel very high stakes.   


Second, and more importantly, if you mistakenly believe that there is only one right path to anything, you are going to miss so many opportunities to veer off that course. Life is not a straight line, for anyone, and the myth that it is can lead to lots of unnecessary heartache.   


As parents and teachers, it is meaningful for us to talk about the pivots, and even 180-degree changes in our paths and to share those with our kids to normalize this constant state of fluidity that is a life well lived. This can not only deepen our connection to each other, but help remind us of the enduring truth that, hey, you never know!  


Wishing you all a peaceful and restful weekend,   

Emily 


P.S. If you are using this letter to support and extend your English language learning, here are some things that Poe (AI assistant) mentioned might need further explanation for English language learners. The first 5 students to use one of these words, phrases or expressions in conversation with me, in person and on campus next week get a prize. I’ll be at the south gate at 7:30 am on Monday. ????  


1.     Complex Vocabulary: 

·     Alumni: Referring to former students of a school or university. 

·     Reframing: The act of changing or looking at something from a different perspective. 

·     Daunting: Intimidating or overwhelming. 

·     Perseverate: To obsessively focus on something. 

·     Pernicious: Harmful or having a negative effect. 


2.     Figurative Language: 

·     Twists and turns: Refers to unexpected events or changes in one's life. 

·     Hey, you never know!: An idiomatic expression meaning that unpredictable or unexpected things can happen. 

·     Veer off course: To deviate or change direction from a planned path. 


3.     Idiomatic Expressions: 

·     Friday Greetings: A casual way of saying "hello" or "greetings" on a Friday. 

·     Anything is possible: An expression indicating that there are no limits to what can happen. 

·     Narrowing the definition of success: Restricting or limiting one's understanding of what constitutes success. 

·     Enduring truth: A truth that remains constant or consistent over time.