The start of a new school year brings familiar rhythms, new classes, new challenges, old friends, and the opportunity to begin again. At this year’s Convocation, Middle and Upper School students, faculty, and staff gathered around a fitting message for the year ahead: finding the courage to use your voice, listen to others, and step into something that may initially feel uncomfortable.
Associate Head of School Sue Teyan opened the morning by asking students to consider why we sing the GFA Alma Mater together. Singing together requires each person to contribute their own voice while also listening to those around them. She connected that practice to daily life at GFA, where students learn to do the same around a Harkness table, in a lab, on stage, and on the playing fields.
“Your voice matters here,” she told students. “And GFA would not sound quite the same without you.”
Student Council Chair Will B. ’27, a Lifer beginning his final year at GFA, picked up on another part of that experience: learning to lean on the people around you when something feels difficult.
Will recalled nearly dropping Dr. Kuhn’s physics class after the first day last year. His teacher, Ms. Ibarcena, encouraged him to give the class and himself more time. He stayed, and the course he had been ready to leave became one of his favorites. This year, he is taking the next level.
“This was the support I didn’t know I needed,” Will reflected.
His takeaway was simple: support doesn’t always mean making a challenge go away. Sometimes it means having someone help you stay with it.
Head of School Bob Whelan carried that idea forward, challenging students to consider what happens when we encounter something difficult, unfamiliar, or uncomfortable. Our instinct may be to retreat, but our brains can be trained to make the uncomfortable leap. Our capacity to do hard things grows each time we practice.
And then the community put that idea into action.
At Mr. Whelan’s signal, senior Jose T. ’27 began playing guitar, and students, faculty, and staff joined him in song, turning the morning’s message into a shared experience.
It wasn’t about singing perfectly. It was about being willing to join in: listening to the people beside you, adding your own voice, and becoming part of something larger.
A fitting way to begin the year and a challenge for the months ahead: when something feels unfamiliar or difficult, discomfort doesn't always mean step away. Sometimes, it means keep going.