Earlier this September, PDS held its annual convocation ceremony, where the entire community gathered on Colross to celebrate the beginning of the school year. The event, led by Head of School Dr. Kelley Nicholson-Flynn, featured speeches from student representatives of each division, all of whom reflected on their personal experiences at PDS and what the school means to them.
“It was a huge honor,” senior Danny Rozenblat noted, recalling the moment when he was first contacted to be a speaker at convocation. “Ms. Castellano called me into her office and said, ‘You’re not in trouble,’” he added, chuckling. “Then she told me, and I was definitely taken aback.” Having attended Princeton Day School for thirteen years, Danny has been through almost all that a student can experience. “The prompt they gave me was ‘What do you love about PDS?’… but I wanted instead to morph into my own thing,” choosing to give advice and tips to the school.
For example, Danny reflected on his time as both a Summer Program Counselor and a participant in TAP (the Teacher Assistant Program). “I think [it’s] super important [to find] those opportunities in general just to give back to a community that offers so much to you.” Additionally, he also noted over 30 different faculty members throughout his speech, showing again the importance of acknowledging those who support one another along the way.
Dr. Nicholson-Flynn also spoke about the significance of the annual tradition, noting, “Hopefully it provides an opportunity to reflect on the sort of like phases of life. And then I think for the younger students, it’s a sense of what lies ahead for them.” As the theme of this school year is “joy,” she mentions the pursuit to cultivate moments of joy throughout the year. “Joy is a more profound idea than happiness,” she explained. “Happiness feels a little fleeting… whereas joy is a little bit deeper, like satisfaction in a job well done.” With this in mind, convocation can be seen not just as a celebration for a new year, but one of many moments of meaningful, communal joy.
