From the SAIS President by Debra Wilson

Earlier this year, I had the good fortune to participate in a professional development event offered by the Palmetto Association of Independent Schools in Charleston, SC. Unbeknownst to me until a week before the event, a good friend’s daughter was scheduled to participate on the PAIS student panel.

This young woman is everything we all strive for in an independent school graduate. She is kind, thoughtful, articulate, capable, discerning, curious, and loyal. She seeks out and engages in exciting opportunities and strives to always do her best. And yet, she has also experienced the hazards of being a teenager today. She experiences anxiety and worry, stress and self-doubt. Her world on paper and the world in her head do not always align. While this has always been the case for teenagers, the mental health profiles we have of students today tell us that their experience is much more intense than what most of us managed. Indeed, watching my son in his junior year tackling AP physics homework makes me wonder what I was doing with my time in the ‘80s.

This young friend wanted to stay for my talk on student health and wellness at PAIS. She has heard me talk about this issue many times while helping her think about high school — around a table and around a fire pit — but never in full color with visuals. So, she stayed.

Afterwards, her mom shared with me what concerned her most about my presentation was not the data on students in our schools, but the data on the lives of highachieving parents today. The idea that as she gets older, the stress and anxiety continue and might actually get worse was daunting and perhaps tainted the rosy glow beyond college.

That insight made me reflect on my year thus far and this issue of the SAIS magazine. As I have transitioned into the role of SAIS president and the staff have been working hard to absorb me into the culture and stream of all things SAIS, we have tried to be deliberate in thinking about and talking about change and the stress and anxiety it can cause. As someone who can move a bit quickly, regularly recognizing this reality has been a good regulator for me. When you purposefully transition, as I have done and as David Padilla writes about on page 4, you are deliberately choosing discomfort. Those around you have often not chosen that path but are in it with you, nonetheless. For some, that shift is exciting and an exploratory journey; for others, it is less than welcome. When I think about our students, like my friend on the panel or the ones Nina Kumar and Suniya Luthar write about on page 6, it strikes me that our adolescents live change constantly, and most of it is thrust upon them as they grow in our schools. It never fails to amaze me how often many of them throw themselves deeper into brave scenarios — such as participating in a panel in front of a room of educators — when almost every day is already teeming with demands and confrontations of confidence.

I write this note to remind us all, as we head into spring, the 100 days of May, and the seasonal transitions in staff, students, and parents, that this season is often filled with high emotions related to the changes ahead. As you confront the challenges that these charged interactions can cause, remember to take a moment to embed your response with empathy for that person’s shifting sands and to take the time for your own transitions.

–Debra Wilson, SAIS President