Head of School’s Notebook | What We Do

October 27, 2018

Fall is travel season at Cate. Already we have spanned the States, holding events for alumni in cities like Chicago, New York, Boston, Seattle, and Portland. In September we were in Florence, Italy, and London and in a few weeks we’ll be in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Seoul. It is immensely gratifying to take Cate on the road, to see familiar faces, enjoy the hospitality of each distinct place, and savor the stories of so many incredible lives.

It is fascinating, too, to appreciate the paths we each take – how distinct they are. I talked to pastry chefs, financiers, programmers, counseling psychologists, doctors, lawyers, teachers, recruiters, athletes, environmentalists, marketers, researchers, carpenters, artists, even a transportation specialist helping Amazon find a way to get purchases from fulfillment centers to our doorsteps. All of these folks share a common path. They came through Cate and from here they have followed their passions to so many careers, distinctions, and destinations.

Said one young alumna working in New York, “I joined a consulting firm because I’m not sure what I want to do ultimately. But at least in this job, I’ll gain exposure to a variety of industries.” Clearly, the education doesn’t stop when a student leaves our Mesa, and there is something altogether inspiring when we hear about the continuing search for purpose and fulfillment.

And, of course, there are lots of serendipitous discoveries – a college history major who ended up somehow at Microsoft where he helps with logistics and strategy, an environmental science major who spent two years in the Peace Corps and now is searching for a way to use his fascination with botany, a Biology major who is getting a second BA in computer science because he wants to code, and an entrepreneur who studied philosophy and circuitously ended up in private equity.

And yet each one will trace the genesis of their respective current pursuits to something that happened at Cate. Maybe it was a class or a teacher, a convocation speaker who caught their attention, a classmate, or an alumnus who graduated before them but offered an internship or a job out of college. One was inspired by a human development class, another by a physics experiment, a third because of our motto, “Servons.” One young alumna in Portland said she wanted to impact lives in the same way that her teachers at Cate supported and guided her. She works now helping economically disadvantaged kids find their way to schools who will serve them well and help them help themselves.

Yogi Berra was right. “Predictions are tough … especially about the future.” But I feel a certain confidence in the work that those who experienced the “steadfast light” that is our school. It seems to illuminate the way still, long after graduation. And it is taken up by our alumni in ways that enrich other communities, industries, ideologies, and opportunities. The journey through and to Cate is rich indeed. But the journey from Cate is just as remarkable as are all of those who once called our Mesa home.