Fortitude requires hard and tedious work – it means reading what the text says, and then wondering what it means. It is slowing down to tackle a math problem, looking at all the details of it, or practicing over and over the new language skills – whether it be the French in Lower School or Latin in the Upper School.

In this world of AI summaries, trite book reports, and Googling answers, knowing has become a thing of fortitude – of facing the thing we do not know and digging deeply into it. Fortitude helps us develop expertise – it’s what allows us to fail without coming undone by it. It is what allows us to try, do our best, and be OK with the outcome.

Let me remind you that our value does not change based on what adversity we face. Attitudes change, perspectives change, after all, the freshmen were once kindergarteners and the kindergarteners will be highschoolers someday.

Opinions change, your value is constant – face the adversity of knowing. Struggle and have the courage to push forward even if forward is a couple steps back here and there. Let your teachers help you struggle, be humble enough to struggle, and bold enough to not let it crush you – that’s when courage thrives.