Now a senior at Harvard College, Maddy Stern studies American History and Literature. She graduated from SCCS in 2008 before attending the Williston Northampton School. Currently, she is writing a thesis on the intersection of legal and cultural development in 19th century Alabama. She plans on taking a few years after graduating to work at a law firm or non-for-profit before going to law school. She remains very grateful to her time at the Campus School for giving her the foundations to be self-confident and critical. Below, she shares her memories of playing football during recess at SCCS.
My strongest memory of the Campus School comes, not from the classroom or theater, the engaging curriculum or wonderful teachers; instead, it took place on the small makeshift sports field at recess.
I can’t remember what pushed me onto that field, but I do remember that it was just me out there. At eight years old, I wasn’t particularly concerned with what people thought of me. I wore the brightest colors, always blurted out the answers in class and had the boldest—read worst—haircuts. And yet, the first time I felt like I didn’t fit in was when I decided to play football with the boys.
Every recess, a group of boys would head down the sloping hill and stop before they reached the basketball courts. Then they would line up and choose teams. It was a ritual that I was perfectly content not being a part of, until I wasn’t. I had played countless games of kickball on the patchy field and knew precisely where all the bumps, indents and boundaries were. But. while standing alone and teamless in the midst of a football game, the dips transformed into canyons and the bumps into mountains. I did not take well to being ignored and embarked on afternoons of backyard football practices, throwing and catching, because even in third grade I knew that I would only get one shot.
In an uncharacteristic bout of patience, I waited. Months of silent frustration passed until, one promising spring day, I got my opportunity. I was wide open on the pavement, but that was nothing new. This time, however, my friend took a chance and the ball came right to me. Three years later, I pulled enough weight on that tiny grass field to make the boys let my friends play too. While I may not have been the captain, I definitely got picked first.
This experience has served as a touchstone for me. A reminder that if I could carve out a space for myself on the football field in third grade, I could do so in countless other contexts. I also recognize the ways in which SCCS allowed me to create that moment of self-discovery. As I move forward into other schools and communities, I remain eternally grateful for the first place that gave me the chance to discover what can happen when you challenge yourself—a school whose teachers ensured that I felt comfortable in certain situations and let me choose my own battles.
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