On June 13th, our LS Closing Ceremony invited Cora ’30 to the podium to give the valedictory address on behalf of her class. The fact that Cora was a new girl at Hawthorn just this year speaks to the environment of warmth, welcome, and friendship that our community extends to all of its members. Cora felt at home so quickly chez nous, and we couldn’t be happier to have had her speak for us about 2024-25. Describing highlights of a year ‘filled to the brim with precious moments and memories’, Cora acknowledged how painful goodbyes point to well-loved people and experiences, quoting A.A. Milne: ‘How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.’ And, delightfully, she invited her class to look forward to the next act of their lives, where they can say ‘Hello, darling!’ as they lithely step into the Upper School.
Thank you, Cora, for the spark of your presence that has brightened our year together, and for toasting ‘the year that was’ in your wonderful valedictory speech. We can’t wait to see what you and your class will do in ‘the next chapter’!
Cora’s Valedictorian Speech
As A.A. Milne once said, “ How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” This quote from the author of Winnie-the-Pooh, though humorous, is extremely insightful, because it reminds us that the origin of a painful goodbye is a person or experience well-loved. This year has been a marvelous closing period for my class’s time in the Lower School, and I believe I speak for all my peers when I claim this departure to be a bittersweet one, but the memories we made with each other and our teachers will be appreciated far more than any farewell could hurt.
This year was filled to the brim with precious moments and memories, such as sharing inside jokes from prior years like our beloved class ghost Jeremy, the stressful activity of setting up playing cards like dominoes only to have the slightest movement knock over all our hard work, or running rampant at recess with both my classmates and the younger grades. Even feeling overwhelmed together forged surprisingly cherished memories that I hope to hold dear throughout the portion of my life in Upper School. From sweaty memories with Katrina, Paola, Aila, and Katelyn on the volleyball team, to chillin’ with my fabulous divas Mary, Wanyi, Maru, and Clare, or just laughing over the wacky antics of our canine companions with Valentina, every moment with friends this year has forged a cherished memory that I know will be
appreciated throughout our many years together in Upper School.
In addition to these memories I’m also extremely grateful for all my new teachers, and the numerous areas they have helped me to grow in. Learning from teachers like Madame Petre, who sparked my creativity, while aiding me in the technical side of my artwork by restricting my ‘overuse’ of water, was a true gift, and I couldn’t have asked for a better art teacher to start my first year here. In the same way, Ms. Kim taught me and my classmates not only the mechanics of language, but also the immense importance of true, good, and beautiful literature in this day, helping me to discover my true passion for writing, which is an area I hope to continue to grow in throughout not only my academic journey, but my entire life. Although many of my classes were filled with serene and astute students, not all my teachers can say the same; Ms. Lim for instance, constantly put up with my class’s noise (specifically mine) while still creating deep personal bonds with all of us. I’m dearly going to miss all my teachers, and the delightful memories I have made with them. From dancing and singing karaoke with Ms. Szalados, to losing to Ms. Fernandez in Slap multiple times, or creating simple, yet amusing dances with Ms. Douros after attempting to string together French words into some sort of wacky sentence with Madame Cayetano, all these moments have formed irreplaceable memories that my classmates and I will never forget.
All these memories and people are the primary reasons why im so disappointed to depart from Grade 7, but I’m so grateful I joined my class, and got to experience a year in Lower School, My class was so heartwarmingly welcoming not only to me, but to all the new students in my class, and I dearly hope this is a quality in my class that never runs dry throughout this next chapter in our academic lives. It is my firm hope that my class will continue to use their individual abilities, and the varying skills we have learned from our many beloved educators, to the aid of others, and to grow in the admirable characteristics that have made this year so unique and enjoyable. I am so grateful for every person in my class, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to say “Hello, darling” to Upper School with a group of such amazing people, with
whom I dearly hope to continue to grow in everlasting that we will maintain for many years to come, and like Lower School, forever hold a beloved place in our hearts.