We’ve made it! Every new year comes with excitement, but I think most of us welcomed this change of the calendar even more than usual. Here’s to 2021!
As we enter a new year, we also enter a new semester at Berea. Semester grades are in the works, and teachers are preparing for the second phase of the school year. Mrs. Musick is gearing up to give her annual “tabula rasa” lecture. For those who haven’t heard her lecture, I’ll explain. Tabula rasa is a theory that traces back to Aristotle, which suggests that the mind begins as a clean slate. In terms of Berea, it refers to the clean slate of the new semester. Like the new year, it’s a reset button.
Clean slates don’t stay blank for long, though. John Fortescue writes, “Therefore, Prince, whilst you are young and your mind is as it were a clean slate, impress on it these things, lest in future it be impressed more pleasurably with images of lesser worth.” Your slate will be written on with something- the key is intentionally choosing what. When I begin a new semester or a new year, I ask myself how I want it to look on the other side: what do I want to achieve? How do I want to view my year? As we go into a new year, I welcome parents, staff, and students alike to ask these questions. How can we grow together this semester?
Wishing you a happy New Year, Berea family!