Convocation 2025: Head of School Julia Wall empowers students to live with courage, confidence, and purpose

Welcome back to a brand-new school year! It is so good to see all of you gathered here—students, faculty, and staff.. Whether this is your first day at Stuart or your very last first day as a senior, I want you to know that you matter here, and this community is stronger because you are part of it.

Every new school year feels like a fresh chapter, one we get to write together. There’s excitement, of course, but also a little nervousness—what will this year hold? What challenges will we face? What new adventures will unfold? Those are the questions that make the first day so powerful.

This summer, I kept returning to the same thought: What does it mean to truly say, “I was here”?

[A brief pause to watch "I was here," by Beyonce at the 2011 UN World Humanitarian Day performance]

We just watched Beyoncé’s performance of “I Was Here” at the United Nations, and you saw how powerful those words are. To say “I was here” is to say: I mattered. I made a difference. The world is better because I lived in it.

And at the very end were the bold words: “What will you do?”—a question meant for each of us.

That question is not new—it’s the very heart of our Sacred Heart mission. Over 200 years ago, Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat—at just twenty years old—looked at a world that told her “it can’t be done” and she said: I am here. I will act, with courage and confidence. I will educate. I will trust in God’s love. She opened schools for girls in a world that didn’t think education for women mattered. She didn’t shout or demand. She listened, loved, and took action—one classroom, one relationship, one student at a time.

And because she did, we are all here today.

This summer, I had my own “What will you do?” moment. On my birthday, I joined a group of strangers to paddle 100 miles down the Salmon River in Idaho. No phone, no comforts, no hiding—just big rapids, tents, and the river. At first, I was afraid. But then I learned the secret: you chart your path, and when the big rapids come, you paddle hard. You don’t look back. You move forward with your team.

That river reminded me of our year ahead. It will have calm stretches and choppy waters. And like Beyoncé sings, each of us is here to do something that matters. To use our gifts. To work together. To leave our mark.

That’s why our theme this year is: Impelled to Act! With Courage. With Confidence. With Purpose. 

• For our youngest students, that might mean raising your hand with a brave idea or being kind to someone who feels left out.

• For our middle schoolers, it might mean trying something new—even when it feels uncomfortable.

• For our upper schoolers, it might mean leading with integrity, standing up for what’s right, and helping shape our community for those who come after you.

• And for our faculty and staff, it means remembering that every unseen act—every lesson, every moment of care—matters deeply in the lives of our students.

Over the summer, when I thought of you (which was often!) I kept coming back to the power of Beyonce’s song because it sounded like how I describe a Stuart girl — living with purpose, leaving  a mark, knowing that it is your job to make the world better.  

Isn’t that exactly what Sophie wanted for you? Isn’t that exactly what you want for yourselves? 

Like the big rapids on the river, like Sophie, like the images in that Beyonce video, our work here is not accidental. And it is certainly not easy! It will take a lot of hard work, and our conviction that we are here on purpose and with purpose.

And so, when the video asks “What will you do?” we answer: (repeat after me!)

We will live with courage! 

We will live with confidence. 

We will take action. 

We will make a difference.

So as we begin this year together, let us paddle hard. Let us live with courage and confidence. And when you are long graduated, (although, Seniors, that’s right around the corner for you!) let’s make sure that when we look back, we too can say with conviction:

I was here.

Here we come, 2025-2026 school year! Let’s have a great one!