By Adam C. Rohdie
There was an old advertisement—I think it was for Head & Shoulders shampoo—with a tagline that went, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”
At this time of year, I find myself sharing that line often. Sometimes I share it with new teachers about to begin their first year at GCDS, and often I share it with students. Logically, and even scientifically, this is true. However, what is interesting about schools is that, in a way, they actually do give you a second chance to make a first impression.
Every year, school starts anew.
It is the cadence of the school year that drew me to education in the first place, as it is an opportunity to refresh each year—a chance to turn the page and begin again. This yearly opportunity has been, in part, what has kept me in this field. More importantly, this fresh start is a gift we should give to all of our children as they head back to school.
If last year was difficult academically, this year can be different. If turning in homework consistently eluded your eighth grader last year, he or she has the chance to begin again and become a different kind of student this year. If a student struggled socially, they can return to school with a new strategy for introducing themselves to classmates or for meeting peers that are interested in the same things.
Our children cannot control everything that happens to them at school, but they do have control over two important things: the effort they bring each day and the attitude they carry with them.
Perhaps unhappiness on the basketball team left your son discouraged last season. The next season promises him nothing. But if he begins the year determined to be the hardest worker on the team (thus showing effort) and brings a “Yes, Coach” demeanor each day (highlighting his positive attitude), he gives himself the opportunity to have a completely different experience.
That is one of the great gifts of a new school year.
So, while we may all lament the end of summer in one way or another, the start of school also provides a special inflection point. It is a moment when our children and, for that matter, all of us, have the power to change the narrative, rewrite the story, and make a different impression than the one we made the year before.
Maybe that old advertisement had it only half right. In life, we may not always get a second chance to make a first impression. But every fall, schools give us something pretty close.
I wish all of our students, families, and educators a wonderful new school year.
Adam is the Head of School at Greenwich Country Day School.
