18th ANNUAL BISSELL GROGAN SYMPOSIUM

Balancing School, Self, and Life

By Sue Cuyler, Director of Marketing & Communications

On January 17, the Brimmer community came together for our annual Bissell Grogan Humanities Symposium. While our Virtual Speaker Series over the past two years was a wonderful and engaging way to reimagine the Symposium during the pandemic, we were thrilled to join grades 8-12 once again in the Corkin Theatre for a keynote address on Balancing School, Self, and Life. Following lunch, Upper School students participated in related workshops across diverse fields of interest, including nutrition, hiking, brain science, and the art of ikebana, to name a few. “Every year, I continue to be impressed by the relevance of the topic and the quality of the speakers and workshops selected by the Symposium committee members,” remarked Symposium namesake Kennie Grogan ’76. “This year’s superb keynote address by current Brimmer parent and author Rebecca Pacheco P ’35 was particularly relevant to this year’s School theme, Finding Balance, Finding Joy. It was engaging, uplifting, and such a positive way to kick off 2023.”

Symposium Committee members included (L-R) Assistant Head of School and Head of Middle School Carl Vallely, Director of DEIB Jessica Christian P ’33, ’35, Head of School Judith Guild, Keynote Speaker Rebecca Pacheco P ’35, Kennie Grogan ’76, Director of Development Elizabeth Smith P ’17, and Head of Upper School Joshua Neudel P ’30.

Keynote Speaker Rebecca Pacheco P ’35

Meeting the Moment: A Talk & Meditation for Balance & Joy

Renowned author and mindfulness practitioner Rebecca Pacheco P ’35 brought the perfect blend of energy and wisdom to her keynote presentation, bringing students literally to their feet in the process. Mixing wise advice with hands-on meditation and yoga exercises that had students out of their seats and stretching in sync, Pacheco shared how people of all ages can find balance and joy in their lives, something we strive for every day.

Having spent decades exploring the topic of mindfulness, Pacheco understands how challenging it can be to find balance and joy in a world filled with mounting stress and anxiety, especially for young people. “Where shall we look for these qualities,” she asked our students. “Do we look inward? Do we look outward towards family, friends, and those who bring out the best in us? Perhaps we seek it onstage, on an athletic field, in a lab, in an art studio, or in nature?” The difficulty, she noted, is that most people are either trying to relive memories and events or they are speculating about what might happen in the future. “The answer is simpler than that,” she shared. “The presence of balance and joy can only be found in the present reality.”

While Pacheco has been using mindfulness for decades to decrease stress and increase resilience, she hasn’t always had such clarity. As a struggling teenager overloaded with the pressures of high school, she gravitated towards yoga at a time when most Americans had never heard of it. “I started practicing yoga before it was popular and cool [in this country],” she laughed, adding that yoga studios and even yoga pants, for that matter, did not yet exist. It took years before she could connect the dots between the stress she was experiencing and the relief of the mindfulness she was practicing. Seeking out the origins of the practice, through Eastern philosophy courses on Buddhism and Hinduism, helped tremendously to ground her and draw her in.

MINDFULNESS:

The awareness that arises from paying attention on purpose to the present moment, nonjudgmentally.

After leading the audience through a oneminute meditation exercise, Pacheco read an excerpt from her book, Still Life: The Myths and Magic of Mindful Living, sharing some of the benefits of meditation. “You feel less stressed, you sleep better, your blood pressure goes down, you make better decisions, you become a better listener to yourself and to others… you live your life rather than life living you.”

Offering students the opportunity to get up and try a little yoga, Pacheco modeled a series of stretches and pointed out that these examples of mindfulness are accessible and available to everyone every day. Just the act of pausing to breathe in and out for one minute is both simple and impactful. “Our minds can be like a glass jar full of muddy water,” she described. “When shaken up with the events of the day, our minds get cloudy. But when we pause, the silt settles to the bottom and our minds clear.” Acknowledging again how difficult it can be to find joy in today’s rage-filled world, she reminded the audience that joy is out there. “It will find you as long as you are paying attention,” she promised.

Pacheco closed her presentation by sharing a loving-kindness meditation from the Buddhist tradition. Prefacing that the words should first be turned inward and then shared outward, she repeated the following: May you be safe. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you live with ease. ■

THE BISSELL GROGAN HUMANITIES SYMPOSIUM WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2006 IN HONOR OF KENYON BISSELL GROGAN, FORMER CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND BRIMMER GRADUATE OF THE CLASS OF 1976. THE GOAL OF THE SYMPOSIUM IS TO BOTH EDUCATE AND ENGAGE STUDENTS IN RELEVANT TOPICS OF TODAY. AN ANNUAL EVENT ATTENDED BY STUDENTS IN GRADES 8–12, IT COMMENCES WITH A KEYNOTE SPEECH AND IS FOLLOWED BY WORKSHOPS THAT EXPLORE A DIVERSE RANGE OF SUBJECTS ON A CHOSEN TOPIC.