Giving Thanks for Trinity
During Tuesday’s Thanksgiving Program at Trinity, Sixth Grader and Student Council President Julia S. shared the following reflections about her nine years at Trinity.
I have been a student at Trinity School for almost nine years—I started at Trinity in the five day Threes. My Threes class had two sixth grade buddies, Jonathan and Jordan. I would sometimes mix up with their names and call them “Jordathan.” Each time I saw them walk into our classroom, I would light up with joy. I had so much fun spending time with them and playing with them outside. They would always watch me push my friends on the tire swing, or play in the sand box. Our whole class thought the world of them.
Now that I am in Sixth Grade I have a Pre-K buddy class, and I have a blast playing with them. Emma and I have PE with our buddies so we get to play games with hula hoops, scarves, bean bags, and spots. When we are doing “The Trinity Run Around” the Pre-Kers chase us around the gym and try to grab on to our hands. I wonder what my buddies think of me. Do they think of me in the same way I thought of my buddies?
As I have moved up from Threes to Sixth Grade, my thoughts towards Jonathan and Jordan have changed. I now realize they were Sixth Graders just like me. Just because I no longer think of them in the same way I used to, doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate having had them as my buddies. In fact, I know that how they treated me has helped me be a better buddy to my Pre-K buddy class.
There are other things in addition to the “buddies” that I think about differently now than when I was in the threes. For example, I think about teachers differently. They aren’t nearly as scary as I first thought they were. I think about public speaking differently. At first it was hard, but now it’s actually kind of fun. I think about team sports differently. Now, I can’t imagine not playing lacrosse.
There are things that I have done at Trinity, like the Greek Olympics, the Pre-K Olympics, Colonial Times, the Living Museum, Camp Will-a-Way, Highlands, the Wagon Train, and Jekyll, which I think were really fun and great learning experiences. In another nine years, will I look on them in a totally different way? Knowing that how I look at things now changed over the last nine years, I know that I will think about Trinity differently in another nine years. Right now, I can’t tell how that will be, but from already seeing my appreciation towards some things change, I know that my view on many things will change.
Some people think that the things that stand out to them now as being fun or important will be the things that they remember most about Trinity. I’m not so sure. I think all of those fun things have helped to make us who we are. But it won’t be all the little details we remember many years from now—we won’t remember that Margaret won the marathon in the Greek Olympics, or that Jack busted his lip doing the high jump, or that Peyton broke both arms running into the wall, or that Henry and Ellie collided playing basketball, or that I beat Mrs. Berry arm-wrestling at Jekyll (although I might remember that), it will be how those things changed us and contributed to whoever it is that we will be in the future. I can’t tell who I will be ten years from now, but I know that what I have learned at Trinity will always be an important part of who I turn out to be.
