welcome from the head of school Reflecting on Resilience in 2020
“Resilience is ultimately about the choices we make. Do I give up or carry on? Do I choose to look for the bright side and silver linings or focus on the hardships and unwelcome change?”
Over the past year or so, I have been writing fairly regular reflections for the weekly newsletter that Harvey sends out to our families. As you might imagine, many of my pieces focused on the pandemic and our school community’s response to challenges and changes it brought. In keeping with the theme of this magazine, I often highlighted the resilience demonstrated by our students, our faculty and staff, and our families in the face of these unprecedented times. We commonly think of resilience in this way, as the ability to confront difficult situations and adapt and persevere. We imagine people struggling with hardship and not giving up, falling down and getting back up, or failing repeatedly before finally overcoming adversity. In this context, resilience equates to grit. Toughness. Tenacity. Indomitable spirit. Although those are certainly all accurate and useful descriptions of resilience, I want to explore a more nuanced aspect of the concept that has emerged during these past months as well. In my last reflection for 2020, I shared a story about an interaction I had with a student in November when I was meeting students as they arrived on campus to start the day. The first student I saw that morning had been forced to quarantine for two weeks because of a positive case of COVID-19 on campus. As I welcomed him back to campus, he greeted me and exclaimed, “I will never take this place for granted again.” Most likely this student, like other students, had imagined over the years all the places he would rather be than in school. How many of us have not at one point or another longed to be somewhere other than where we are? But living through this pandemic has turned our world upside down and taught us how tenuous our grip can be on all that we take for granted. As I have reflected on the genuine sincerity of his utterance, I have come to understand his words as expressing another aspect of resilience. Resilience is not just about overcoming adversity and continuing on. It is also defined by an ability to see light inside of darkness or find value and beauty in the previously commonplace or mundane. Resilience is ultimately about the choices we make. Do I give up or carry on? Do I choose to look for the bright side and silver linings or focus on the hardships and unwelcome change? Resilience is about finding ways to thrive even when simple survival may feel like enough. During these past months, I have watched our students and teachers come together to push through the challenges and disappointments brought by the pandemic to find community and learning and even joy. As you read through the pages that follow, I hope you are struck as I have been by the many faces of resilience at The Harvey School. With kind regards,
William J. Knauer, Head of School
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