The first Friday of March. It’s a monumental day when you are an eighth grade girl waiting to find out if your first choice high school sent you an acceptance letter and that much anticipated email! The email with a video from energetic students congratulating you on admission to their school. The email that makes you feel accomplished. The email that makes you feel accepted. It is the first glimpse of your all girls’ school education experience and your undiscovered sisterhood.
I’m not amazed at all by the vast number of girls who choose single sex schools. There is plenty of talk and an abundance of Instagram posts demonstrating just how much fun it is to attend these schools. Little do these newly admitted students realize, there is much more to look forward to than plaid skirts, dances and photo ops! They are about to embark on a journey that will bring them experiences and relationships that will guide, nuture and support them for the rest of their lives.
I have no recollection of my own application process to FSHA back in the day. Ok, waaaaay back in the day. Someone drove me up the Hill on a Saturday to take the entrance exam (no private tutor, no practice test, no HSPT prep book to study) and the next thing I knew, I was in a carpool heading up to Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy for my first day of classes. I was a true freshman in every sense. My skirt was practically down to my ankles (which we all know didn’t last long). I didn’t want to go home when the school day was over. Day one was the best experience I’d ever had at school and I didn’t want it to end.
From my own experience, I can check the boxes of most things that research articles have to say about the benefits of an all girls’ high school education. I excelled in the classroom, participated in sports, extended myself out of my comfort zone, held leadership roles in both student government and youth ministry, I went on to graduate from a university, studied abroad and entered the professional world with confidence. And yes, with my personality, most of my accomplishments sadly would have been far less had I attended a co-ed high school. I truly believe that. I would have lived much closer to the vest.
I do attribute so much of her growth and success to the all-girls’ education.
Fast forward 25 years and I found myself racing Carly, our eldest daughter, home from school on “admissions Friday,” the day that local eighth grade students receive their high school acceptances. I’m not sure which of us was more excited when we found the oversized envelope bulging out of the mailbox. She played it cool and I played it … well, less than cool. A sense of gratitude, and possibly a few tears, came over me as she read her acceptance letter to us. I realized what this meant for her, this gift of a Flintridge Sacred Heart education and experience.
Carly discovered so much about herself over the next four years. She learned what she was capable of, she became confident, she found her voice and learned how to express it, and she was armed with tools to navigate the path that was ahead of her. She was inspired and mentored by the upperclassmen, she rose to the challenges that were set before her, she took risks, developed incredible friendships among both her peers and her teachers, and received support from the faculty and staff who both nurtured her and challenged her. And yes, I do attribute so much of her growth and success to the all-girls’ education.
While I believe that FSHA has the best formula for educating and developing young women with faith, integrity and truth (humility, compassion and strength), it would be fair to say that her general experience was probably similar to many other girls’ experiences in the same type of environments. However, there is something that I didn’t realize when we started Carly on this educational journey as a 14-year old girl.
I didn’t realize it because I’d never been married and in my mid 40’s before looking down the heart of forced retirement (from my career as a stay-at-home mom). As my three children were relatively close to leaving home, it was time to figure out what the future looked like for me. Gone were the days that they depended me. My “job” was phasing out.
The Flintridge Sacred Heart sisterhood reminds us to continue living what we learned as young women: to find the strength, faith, confidence, ability and intellect within ourselves to be empowered, informed and compassionate contributors to our communities, families and professions while building relationships that bring life long benefits and richness.
Now what? Ha! That was the million-dollar question!
“Now what?” was answered by leaning on the sisterhood that began for me nearly 30 years ago at Flintridge Sacred Heart. Reentering the FSHA community reminded me of what I was armed with since graduating from high school. It was time to utilize those tools and believe in my capabilities, my strengths and my value. Networking and engaging in the FSHA community gave me the perspective to acknowledge what I had already accomplished and the confidence and encouragement to take the first steps down my new path! And yes, I do attribute my successful re-entry in the workforce to what I learned at FSHA and, just as importantly, to the community that I became a part of the day I became a Tolog.
It is this type of community among women that has immeasurable personal and professional benefits. This is the priceless jewel of being educated in an all girls’ environment.
The Flintridge Sacred Heart sisterhood reminds us to continue living what we learned as young women: to find the strength, faith, confidence, ability and intellect within ourselves to be empowered, informed and compassionate contributors to our communities, families and professions while building relationships that bring life long benefits and richness.
I’m looking forward to the fall when my youngest daughter becomes my Flintridge Sacred Heart sister too!
