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LANTERN Presentation High School Parent Newsletter | April 2018
Perhaps, though, the greatest example of “resurrection and hope” came from our keynote speaker on Student Development Day. Jessica (Class of 2001) told her story to our student body. “I am supposed to explain to you how I became a survivor, rather than a victim, of domestic abuse and sexual assault.” When she was a junior in high school, she was drugged and raped by a stranger, and the scars of that experience were acutely visible for years. But hers is an Easter story! I believe it important to hear some of the insights she shared with your daughters: “The truth is that no matter what type of pain you have gone through in your life—and all of us, not just those who have been assaulted, are wounded and live through pain—no amount of advice will help you until you come to understand and really know one simple, fundamental fact. And that is that your worth as a young woman, as a person, is immeasurable and immutable.” “It means that we are loved, infinitely. That not a single wound, no matter how miniscule, goes unseen or unattended to by God... what happened to me was a crime; it was not my fault and did not make me any less deserving of goodness or happiness or God’s—or anybody else’s—love. Dear Parents and Friends of Presentation, It is no small irony that Easter this year fell on April Fool’s Day. Seemingly blasphemous at first glance, perhaps it is not. For believers all over the world, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a joke; it is no hoax; it is the solemn promise that death does not win but rather is the gateway to eternal life. Each year, I am reminded with great joy what a promise this is. It has been a long winter, and we are in need of spring. It is here, and we only need to look around. The daffodils and tulips are in bloom, the trees have buds, the grass is green—the earth is awakening as it does each year. Signs of hope are everywhere! Last month we saw at Pres so many signs of what Camus called “invincible spring.” The entire student body came together to raise funds for the Presentation missions in Central America—to give hope to the poor and vulnerable. We welcomed the new arrivals— the Class of 2022—who brought with them the spirit of new beginnings and promise. Our students marched in solidarity with the youth all over the country to bring forth a new message: we demand change and an end to gun violence. Hundreds of Pres donors gave generously on our crowd funding Day of Giving to show their support for the students of Pres; in one day, over $140,000 was raised.
“The most dangerous consequence of silence is that you will transfer the burden of shame onto yourself instead of onto your attacker, where it wholly and rightly belongs...Because the truth— always—is that it is not your fault; It is never your fault. Believing this...is the surest way of survival.” “The only way out of pain is through the pain.” “I will not stand here and tell you that all hardship is a gift, because I struggle still with understanding all the suffering in the world. But I can promise you, because I know from experience, that it is through suffering that we are broken and remade into stronger, more compassionate people. It is through suffering that we learn our own endurance and our own capacity to love.” Thank you, Jessica, for your insightful message of hope and resurrection God Bless you all; have a safe and relaxing Easter break. Mary Miller ’72 Principal