“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover.” —Mark Twain
I’ve always loved this quote, and it always seems to come to mind as another school year at Collegiate begins to wind down and I see our seniors begin their goodbyes to the school they have known as a home away from home for the past 4 or 12 or even 16 years. As we all get a bit misty-eyed thinking of a campus without their laughter filling the hallways next year, we also smile remembering all the discoveries they made during their time on our campus.
During the month of May, our seniors walk our hallways, rope in hand just as they did as two-year-olds whenever they needed to get from one spot to the next. As they peek inside our Early Childhood, Lower School, and Middle School classrooms, they will be reminded of all the lessons they learned along the way – and even more importantly – remember all of the educators that taught them those lessons so many years ago.
Whether learning phonics or mastering how to tie a shoe or even how to masterfully debate a side of an argument, our teachers have taught them skills they will take with them for a lifetime. Even more importantly, our teachers have shown them how to know when a friend needs a hug and when it’s time to give yourself a time-out and especially when we should cheer as loud as possible for those we love.
Annual Senior Send-Off
Cheering each other on is perhaps one of my favorite traditions of our school, and it’s never more fully on display than our annual Senior Send-Off. Our entire campus gathers in our gym, and one by one, each senior’s name is called and their college destination is announced. Students, parents, and teachers cheer as loud for the first name as they do for the last, while our youngest students wave their handmade signs honoring the seniors they’ve selected to celebrate personally.
It’s a cathartic, emotional, and triumphant moment as each senior crosses the gym signifying the completion of a decade-plus long journey as they prepare for that next great chapter. The pride every adult has for those seniors ripples through the packed gymnasium, while the pure joy emanates from every student cheer.
And in that gym, we know that each of those Spartans is ready to set sail from the safe harbor that Wichita Collegiate has provided them. As they have already explored so much, making discoveries and memories along the way, it seems only natural that they would continue exploring, continue discovering. They just now get to do so in a much larger sea, chasing down their dreams.
To the Class of 2025, proba te dignum, evermore!
To learn more about Wichita Collegiate School, take a virtual tour here or check out the school calendar of admissions events.
Sponsored by Wichita Collegiate School.
Kathy Rukes, Director of Community Engagement at Wichita Collegiate School, has worked in education for nearly 20 years. The daughter of a long-time educator, a youth volleyball coach, and a mother of three boys, she loves welcoming people into their school family. If interested in learning more about Wichita Collegiate School, contact her today at [email protected].
