I was happy to be on a recent parent panel for prospective families, although I worried I might flashback to the moment a student host picked up my daughter, a then prospective student on the verge of tears clearly feeling uncertain about her night away from home. Having returned the next day to find that she had a great night and was excited about her Saint Mary's experience, I hoped I could do my part in on the parent panel to help new families find the same excitement as they explored all that Saint Mary's has to offer.
Since the Q&A with boarding parents was only thirty minutes, I thought I should be prepared to succinctly explain what a Saint Mary's education is providing my daughter. I mentally reviewed a list of great teachers, the community of faculty and day parents who treat your child like one of their own, and the opportunities for leadership, service, and exploration. I felt armed with two and a half years of experiences filed away. I hope that at least one thing I came up with was helpful to the visiting parents.
I like the quote "we often don't see things as they are – we see them as we are." As it turned out, the best part of the evening for me was the opportunity to see Saint Mary's through the lens of other parents. Parents of students whose interests and personalities are different from my own daughter's, helped me appreciate the way Saint Mary's offers many pathways to success and fosters an appreciation for the contributions of each student to their collective community. I haven't seen my daughter sing in public or act on a stage since elementary school. But I love that the close-knit nature of the Saint Mary's community brings her out to support her friends in Chorale, Ladies in Blue, the spring musical and Orchesis. Small classes allow her to see that it's not just the person whose hand goes up first making meaningful contributions to a class discussion. And, the end of year awards celebrating friendship and honor as well as academic achievement send a clear message that these are traits to be valued. Success at Saint Mary's is both diverse and personal.
I'm quite sure overnights and visitation days aren't organized so that parents of enrolled students walk away feeling great about the education their daughters are getting. But in this case, I walked away feeling great about the education all our daughters are getting, both from Saint Mary's and from each other.
Erin Russell
Parent of Mary Hunter '19