At the end-of-year Rose Ceremony at the Berkshire Waldorf School, Aiden gave this brief talk to the all the students. Next year, she plans to major in the history of art and design with a minor in museum studies at Pratt Institute in New York City.
“Hello, my name is Aiden Zuckerman Hood. The first day I walked into Berkshire Waldorf High School I had a mask on and so did everyone else. I sat down at the back corner desk and took out my notebook. I had moved from Washington DC a month prior and I had no idea what my new school would be like. I had a difficult assignment the first night, “What is beauty?”.
As a freshman, the first thing that came to mind was modern beauty standards and my own insecurities and perception of myself. From then on in my various seminars I learned little bits and pieces to add to my own definition of beauty. I have also experienced profound moments of beauty with my classmates and teachers. The first seminar you take at Waldorf is History through Art, which shaped my image of beauty for the rest of my high school experience. I was introduced to the beauty of Fra Angelico and Giotto and decided that Art History was something that could occupy my mind for the rest of my life. At the time I didn’t think it could be my career. Another profoundly beautiful moment I had those first few weeks was studying for the History through Art final on an unusually sunny mid-September day with my classmates. I have discovered beauty in dissecting pieces of literature with Ms. Robbins, following Dante through hell and out. In my recent Philosophy seminar with Ms. Stier my classmates and I had passionate and beautiful discussions of free will, truth, morality, and ethics.
Before I joined Waldorf I was unsure of myself. I was unsure of my intelligence, unsure if my friends really liked me, unsure of how I looked. This is common for most middle school students unfortunately. There are very few times I have been in a class at Waldorf and have questioned my own judgment or intelligence. My teachers at this school have taught me that I am capable of anything that my peers are and more. The teachers at this school have also shown me that simply because I was a child it didn’t mean I was any less deserving of respect and it didn’t mean my ideas and thoughts were any less valuable than theirs.
Something I always thought I was naturally untalented at was art. So of course I was nervous to join Waldorf. In my first year at Waldorf I discovered printmaking was a medium I excelled at. I remember flipping through a collection of Audubon paintings and finding an image of two sparrows. I still have the print in my room to this day. And while it’s not my life’s work I intend to take a few printmaking classes at college this fall. As I move on in the world to study my passion Art History and Museum Studies at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn this fall I will be prepared for whatever is thrown at me. Whether it be a class I feel challenged in, or a fork in the road I meet where I don’t know which path to take, I will be uniquely prepared to handle it.
I feel honored to have been able to have this high school experience and I wish more people could, I think it would bring a lot more truth and beauty into the world. I want to thank my teachers, especially Ms. Robbins, Dr. Sagarin, Ms. Steir, and Dr. Brossard for knowing I was a capable human being before I did. And to thank the school for allowing me to speak. I hope you all have a wonderful day. Thank you.”