|
Five hundred sets of eyes are on you. Some are familiar, others not. You're surrounded by your peers who’ve become like family. Over the past few months, you’ve been spending more time with them than you’ve been spending with your own family—late nights, shared emotions of all varieties, and intermittent tests of your growing confidence. You sense it now—a big moment has arrived.
This is what the pressure to perform looks and feels like.
How two Sequoia students responded to these circumstances inspired me last Thursday night. In vastly different arenas, these students validated what we do as a school community and dazzled me and my fellow spectators. For educators, few things are as rewarding as watching kids step up to meet a moment.
Twelfth grader Sydney Martin’s moment came late in the second act of this year’s Fall Musical, The Lightning Thief. Her character, Percy Jackson, was set to cross the stage at a pivotal plot moment. Unexpectedly, a costume malfunction held her up at stage left. This being a comedic, action-packed, musical show, the cues are complex and precise. A second here or there can throw the lights, scenery, music, and ensemble choreography into disarray.
Two castmates reached from offstage, fiddling with her prop backpack as she calmly stretched out her dialogue to stall without undermining the action. She didn’t break, she didn’t fret. Once the snag was fixed, she took a breath to sync back up with her musical cue and charged across the stage to finish the climactic scene. She belted out the triumphant chorus. It was grace under pressure. A clutch play.
Across campus in Gym One, about 45 minutes prior, a packed crowd cheered as the Sequoia Girls’ Volleyball team executed a series of clutch plays to secure a quarterfinal victory in the Northern California CIF tournament. Every player on the court contributed—each dig, block, and smash more exciting than the previous.
In this venue, it was a ninth grader who astonished me: Yanely Rodriguez. When I sprinted over from Carrington Hall during intermission of The Lightning Thief and arrived at the game, Sequoia AVP Sophia Olliver told me to watch #21. Immediately, I clocked what she was talking about. Between serves, there was joyous chest-bumping, high-fiving, hand-clapping, encouraging teammates after a missed point, and celebrating every great play.
When she came out of the game, Yanley’s energy and positivity on the sidelines were unwavering. Every player on the team stepped up to give Sequoia the win, but for me, it was Yanely who met the moment, if not so much for the plays she made, but for what she brought out in her teammates. When Yanely says, “You’ve got this!” you feel a little bit taller and can jump a few inches higher.
Like Sydney, Yanely’s clutch performance lifted those around her up, carrying the team across the finish line. The ovations shared by their respective teammates were a little louder because of them. Bravo, Sydney and Yanely!
Have a great week!
Best,
Sean
| 
