On Tuesday night this week the iCentre hosted a Celebration and Signing Party for Lynette Noni’s 3rd book, Draekora and it was a FANTASTIC evening. We had approximately 90 people attend, and our Launch Committee girls represented themselves and the college extremely well; we are very proud of their efforts! However, this is not a post about the event (I might write one of those later) but rather a post about a conversation I had with a parent during the evening and some observations I have made about my wonderful students over the year so far.

Basically, I am in awe of the young women that I get to work with.

A few things have lead me to wanting to write about this:

• The conversation I had with the mother – we were talking about her daughter and how she does her own thing and doesn’t care what others think. We were specifically talking about how at a recent school event her daughter was the only student dancing to the band that was playing and she was having a great time.
• Remembering the reenactment of the new Beauty and the Beasts “Gaston” scene that the Launch Committee girls treated me to while we were setting up – it was the most entertaining thing I have seen in a while and they did it with such a care-free “I don’t care who’s watching” attitude. (For those that don’t know the scene, watch the video, you won’t be disappointed!)

• A video that came up on my social media feeds this week of a young boy that does ballet – he gets teased for it but still wants to tell other boys that doing ballet is fun and quite challenging. (Again, if you haven’t seen it, you should! It warmed my heart.)

These three things had me thinking: “what is it about these young women that I work with that gives them this care-free, I-don’t-care-who-sees attitude?”

To answer this I compared my experiences here at Mt A to my previous co-ed school experiences, and I have got to say on that alone I have noticed that the girls here are far more willing and free to be themselves then I have experienced anywhere else. I then got to wondering if that was because:

• We’re a girls school and they’re not worried about making a fool of themselves in front of boys.
• We have a great sense of community.
• We are a school based on relationships and those relationships allow the girls to feel safe.

Or perhaps it is a combination of all of the above. As far as I am concerned, I am so fortunate to be able to work with these brilliant young women, to watch them develop into the adult women they will become and to know that the experiences we give them here are part of that.

In short, I don’t think I ever felt this free when I was growing up and attending school, its not something I experienced until I become a 3rd year university student or later. To see these girls participating in so much and having so much fun while they do it is incredible and just one of the many reasons as to why I LOVE my job.