Head of School

This One's for the Girls

The following article by Head of School Trudy Hall appeared in the spring/summer 2007 issue of EMMA, The Bulletin of Emma Willard School.

This one’s for the girls who’ve wished upon a shooting star; you’re beautiful the way you are.

o croons Martina McBride, the country music sensation, on her CD Martina (RCA/2003). Her album happens to be my workout music, as I pound my way through another morning session on the treadmill.

Oh, all right, I confess: I adore country-and-western music. I recently spent a glorious afternoon at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. And yes, I have been to the Grand Ole Opry more than once. Honestly, a great day for me is any day I get to ride in the car alone with the local country-and-western radio station blaring. (You know that wonderful joke, don’t you? It goes something like this: What do you get when you play a country music song backwards? You get back your house, your dog, your best friend, your farm, your barn….) Well, here’s an even more stunning confession: I often find inspiration for
my work as an educator in the lyrics of a country-and-western song.

As I was hitting mile three, Martina’s voice surged into my headphones.

This one’s for the girls who love without holding back, who dream with everything they have.

I’m transported to scenes from Emma Willard. It’s Revels, and the student body is screaming at eardrum-damaging levels. It’s Honors Convocation, and the student body is cheering Cum Laude and EW recipients. It’s the dance assembly, and the student body is stomping to encourage each dancer in the recital. I pick up my pace.

This one’s for all you girls about 13. Hold on to your innocence. Stand your ground when everyone’s giving in.

I picture the eighth-graders I have been speaking with at open houses all year long, many of whom have not yet contemplated the advantages of single-sex education. If they were to come to Emma Willard, a big change would be in store for them. I love imagining how they would discover their strengths here. I think about all the bright girls from across the globe who find in Emma Willard a place that will teach them to honor their intellects and hone their voices so they will be heard. I’m up to mile four and Martina has swung into another verse.

This one’s for all you girls about 25, in a little apartment, just trying to get by. Living on dreams and SpaghettiOs, wondering where your life is gonna go.

My mind goes to our young alumnae “about 25.” I know these young Emma Willard women. I handed them their diplomas on a June day not all that long ago. They are poised, articulate, and empowered. They have big dreams to make real. They may have already changed majors, changed jobs, changed boyfriends, and changed living spaces, but they are on a mission for good. They may not know precisely where they are going, but they have the conviction to make their mark. I am really hitting my stride as I think about them. Martina keeps singing, and I find myself hoping she is not going to stop at every decade.

This one’s for all you girls about 42. Every laugh line on your face made you who you are today.

I have met these Emma Willard girls, too, at reunions and alumnae gatherings around the country. Not only have they laughed their way into loveliness, they have lived their way into wisdom. They have already made a difference in many people’s lives, and there is much more they intend to do. I admire their strength and grace. They and their counterparts from earlier decades are my role models. Heart pumping, I step off the treadmill. Martina is definitely not as breathless as I am right now.

All around the world, this one’s for the girls. We are all the same inside, from 1 to 99.

Well, I’m not so easily swept along in that lyric. In fact, in the coming day’s work I am about to witness something striking, something more and more apparent to me: although Emma women “dream with everything they have,” their dreams are more colorful; their dreams are more ambitious; their dreams ignite sparks.

A five-mile workout with a country kick and I’m ready for another great day at Emma Willard. Thanks to Martina’s reminder, I know that, for me, this day—just like the ones before and the ones after—is for the girls. n