on Oct 18th, 2009Altiora Peto
The harmonious melding of 100 female voices echoed off the weathered, stone walls of St. Bede’s chapel, prompting a flood of memories of joys and sorrows, friendships and departed sisters.
For anyone who attended Rosemary Hall, as I did, St. Bede’s holds a very special place in the heart, as it was the heart of the campus. For four years, every girl – Protestant, Mormon, Catholic, Buddhist, atheist, all alike — attended morning chapel services every day before classes. Many graduates were married in the chapel under its wax candle chandeliers, others celebrated the christening of their children there. It was the site of the 6th form Nativity Play and the place you could escape to for quiet, solace or just to be alone.
St. Bede's
Yesterday we gathered to celebrate St. Bede’s Chapel centennial. In a strange twist of fate, our former campus and chapel are now the home of the Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy. But nothing has really changed. The wrought iron doors and huge statues still adorn the front of the gym. Mlle. Jucker’s classroom is still right next to the chapel. And Jessup house is still a long, cold walk from study hall.
Yesterday, as we sat under the ceiling inscribed with the names of the school’s graduates and raised our voices in often-sung hymns, we were all young again: 14, 15, 16, 17. Grey hair and wrinkles disappeared as red-trimmed blazers and brown oxfords returned, if only in our mind’s eyes.
As part of the service, we were called upon to share reminiscences of our days at Rosemary. Some were humorous, others nostalgic. But perhaps most of all, we stood up and gave thanks to the teachers who nurtured us during the years we spent behind those – yes – ivied walls. An all-girls’ school might have been nothing more than a “finishing” school. Rosemary Hall was not. In fact, cooking, sewing, and typing were not even offered. Calculus, AP English, history, and Latin were. Uniforms, good manners, and structure were expected.
I suppose all graduates remember their high school with fond memories, but we remember Rosemary as the place where we were encourage to find our voices, and to use them. And to see every task and endeavour to the end, no matter how difficult, tiresome, or distasteful. These are lessons that have served us all well throughout our lives – a fact we were reminded of yesterday by the 93-year old alumna who “popped up” during Reminiscences to remind us of how much of who we are, we owe to Rosemary Hall and the dedicated teachers and headmistresses who guided us.
Altiora peto!