Ali Schwartz: Thoughts for the Day

August 27th 2022

Westchester Country Day School opened the 2022-2023 school year with a Convocation ceremony on Aug. 24.

Senior Ali Schwartz, student government president, shared remarks with the school community offering a "thought for the day" for students, parents and teachers. She encouraged members of the school community to seize the day, be true to themselves, savor the moment, enjoy the little things, and build trust in simple gestures. The full text of her speech is reprinted below.

Students, parents, faculty, and Westchester community, happy first day of school! I am Ali Schwartz, the student body president, and I want to welcome you to the 2022-2023 school year.

Three years ago, I sat up in those bleachers as a freshman, trying anxiously to remember my locker combination and class schedule. I never thought it would be three years until we gathered together again to celebrate the first day of school, yet here we are. The past three years have been a rollercoaster, filled with unexpected twists and turns. This is why it feels so comforting to be together again, as one family. As I look out, I am filled with immense joy seeing familiar faces and new ones.

Today we are standing at the starting line of our year and I am so glad every single one of you is along for the race.

Over the past three months, I have been a camp counselor at Camp Seafarer in Arapahoe, North Carolina. I lived in a cabin with sixteen people and taught countless kids how to drive boats. My days were long but filled with sunshine, laughter, and smiles. At camp, in the dining hall every morning, our director shared a thought for the day with the camp community. Some of these thoughts were short, some long, but all of them gave me something to think about. They made me take a moment every morning to reflect and craft a mindset for the day. So, to start our school year off right, I am going to share a few of these “thoughts for the day” with you all.

Like a compass on a ship, a thought for the day can help us set our course.

Firstly, I want to share a thought for the day with our Lower School students. This quote comes from the famous children's author, Dr. Seuss. To every student in pre-K through fifth grade: “You’re off to great places, today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so…get on your way…You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself any direction you choose.”

Today is such an exciting day for you all, one to be celebrated. You’ve finally made it to the first day of school whether you’ve been dreading it or it couldn’t come fast enough. Today you will be in a new classroom with new teachers and you will get to see old friends and meet new ones. Put Dr. Seuss’s words into action and “get on your way.” Show us your excitement as you race down the bleachers to meet your new teacher.

My thought for the Middle School students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade is a Camp Seafarer classic: “Life is not waiting for the storm to pass, but learning how to dance in the rain.”

Sometimes in middle school, life can feel like a turbulent storm. Instead of waiting for your troubles to pass by, I challenge you to dance in the rain. Embrace middle school, be your true, authentic self, don’t be afraid to be different and be kind to everyone.

Middle school is a time when you are becoming who you want to be, so don’t be afraid to be you, and if that means dancing in the rain, show off your best moves.

To the Upper School students, I have a quote from one of my favorite movies, "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off": “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around every once in a while, you could miss it.”

Seize every moment in high school, every early morning class, every lunch spent laughing with friends, every Friday eating Grannies Donuts with your advisory, and every Blue-White Spirit Day. Although four years can seem like an eternity, it will be over before you know it. Don’t let these four years pass you by and take advantage of every opportunity in high school whether you are a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior.

To our parents, I have this thought for the day: “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”

Today is a special day for every parent, whether your child is starting pre-K or senior year. So for today, enjoy it. Be present in all the little moments, take in the goodbyes this morning and then the hellos this afternoon. Take a million pictures of your kids, whether they are smiling or not. One day you will get to look back at this day and these memories and it will be a very big day.

To our teachers, “Trust is not built in big sweeping gestures. It’s built in the tiny, everyday moments.”

As I think back to my many first days of school here at Westchester, the small, simple gestures from teachers are what I remember most. In Lower School, the warm hug from Mrs. Horney, the laughter of Mrs. Driver, and the beaming smile of Mrs. Hawley. In Middle School, I remember the comforting words of Mrs. Keever and the pure excitement and energy of Mr. Morelli. In Upper School, I remember the individual “hellos” from Mrs. Albert and the sweet smile of Mrs. Moye. All of these moments have impacted my first days of school, the small gestures and kind smiles are what made my day. Every teacher at Westchester has made a lasting impact on me as a person and has helped me grow. So to our teachers, thank you!

To the new students joining Westchester this year, I hope you can already feel the Westchester family welcoming you in. My camp thought for the day for all of the new students is, “Allow yourself to be a beginner. No one starts off excellent.” Being a new student is exciting and today is the start of something completely different, so don’t be afraid to be new. Ask people questions and get to know our school community, we were all beginners at one point.

You will find your place here, so don’t feel like you have to have it all figured out today.

Lastly, to my fellow seniors. I can’t believe that today is our last first day of school. For some of us, we have experienced 13 first days of school at Westchester together. To all of my classmates, “Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the becoming. When nothing is certain, anything is possible.”

Today we are seniors, today is the starting line of our final race, and mile by mile, day by day we will pass milestones and experience many lasts together. In a few short months, graduation will come and we will be at the finish line. We will all gather once again to celebrate our time at Westchester, but for now let us enjoy today, our last first day of school. A lot may be unknown about our futures, but for today we are here, together; so let us enjoy the becoming.

I’d like to leave you with a final thought for the day. This one comes from our beloved Track and Cross Country coach, Tim Anderson: