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Here is the speech that Head of the Upper School Kirsten Adams delivered to the Upper School at Convocation. She spoke of the daily excitement she feels to come to work and urged students to give their all to McDonogh.

I am so excited to see each of you on this beautiful fall day. My daughter walked outside on Monday morning and said “Brrr… does this mean fall is here, Mommy?“ She had no idea how right she was. I am thrilled to feel the energy of the first day of school; everyone is reconnecting with old friends, meeting new ones, and setting goals for the next year.

I have one story to share this morning with you and I promise to be quick. The dew was just evaporating off the turf field at Trenton State University on a morning in May of 1995. Here I was as a senior about to play Princeton in women’s lacrosse in the NCAA final four. This was what I had been working toward for four years, and we were evenly matched. We had beaten the Tigers in overtime the week before to clinch the league title, but we knew this had fired them up even more to beat us.

As the starting goalkeeper, my coach brought me out early that morning to get me used to the turf and to get me mentally ready for the big game. As we pulled up to the field, Amy, my coach, looked at me and said “Kirtie—this could be your last game in a serious lacrosse program. You will never feel this way again. Soak it in as much as you can.” She went on to say that coaching is great, but the sense of team, victory and defeat are never as palpable as when you are playing. To be honest, she was right. I miss that pit in my stomach before the big game or big performance or big fill in the blank.

That said, I haven’t totally lost it. Last spring, Mr. Britton and I were about to enter a meeting we both had been thinking about for a few weeks. I know I had a pit in my stomach and I am pretty sure Mr. Britton did as well. Mr. Britton looked at me and said, “It’s game time. This IS why we got into this after all.” At that moment, I realized that I have been lucky enough to find a way to replicate the emotion I felt on the field during the final four. Sure it is not quite the same, but I wake up every day fired up to come to work. The sense of team I find every day working with the deans, teachers and students is something very similar to that which I felt with my teammates; the sense of victory when a student succeeds when they did not think they could; the sense of defeat when someone makes a really bad decision.

I love my job. I think everyone at McDonogh loves his or her job. This is what I want for you. I want you to find something that you believe in so strongly that you have the same rawness of emotion that I find on a daily basis at McDonogh. Find time to explore what you are passionate about. Go for it even if it is not what is expected.

So let’s get back to that game for a minute. Unfortunately, we lost and it did end up being the last game of my college career. I shed many tears that afternoon, but not really about the loss of the game, but more about the loss of being part of something bigger, the pride I felt wearing my Dartmouth lacrosse sweatshirt or eating dinner with my teammates after a really tough practice or telling a friend at a party that I was not going to drink because it would impact my team. I loved seeing the lacrosse program alums in the stands cheering us on. I was part of something bigger. It is hard to find something bigger to belong to, to believe in, or to be a part of.

I have been looking for it since that day in May when we lost our game. I have found it at McDonogh. The boys who came here in 1873 certainly had something bigger to belong to. They gave their lives to this place. They arrived and walked up Woods Road, just over there, for the first time and became part of something much bigger than themselves. They worked hard—not only in the classrooms, but also in the cornfields or in the barns. There was great pride in being part of McDonogh.

I want each of you to feel that sense of living up to something bigger than yourself, and not just your sports team, your play, or your club. It’s McDonogh. Be proud to be part of this place. Wear your uniform with pride. Make those who have gone before you proud that you are part of their school. Embrace McDonogh and all that we stand for. The raw emotion of giving everything you have to someone or something else is pretty amazing. Go for it so after you play your last game, dance in your last dance concert, hang your last show, debate in your last tournament you will know that you gave all that you had to McDonogh. Welcome Back and here’s to a great year.