Written by Allison Bombardier and Illustrated by Yuji Wu, both 8th graders at Hess Academy
In a world of chaos and neglectful learning, where your child is drowning in confusion, here comes a bright, shining refuge crashing over the wave of doubt. It’s not just a place; it's a haven. It’s a tight, long, forgiving hug. It's an overwhelming sense of care and devotion– a lifeboat coming to save students from the hardships of schooling. It’s Hess Academy.
Many have been the ones drowning in confusion. As a 3rd grader, I had been brutally overlooked by schools. I didn't even know how to read, because every school deprived me of opportunities to thrive.
I was a little girl as innocent as a rose, so eager to learn, but seen as just a number on a sheet. I carried the weight of having to pretend I knew everything. Pretending I understood was like running down a tunnel with a boulder inches away. If you were not in the most extreme need of attention, you didn't get any attention. Everyone had to be “normal.”
What is normal? I am just me.
Then, when school couldn't get worse, the world shut down. My world crumbled. It all slipped through my fingers, and it knocked me down hard. I stayed down. Waiting as time went by, as the clock kept on going. Others seemed to just keep going. Why couldn't I? Why couldn’t I be like my friends?
With the dark sky above me, the waves crashing over me, I gave up, and sank to the bottom of the deep, devastating dark hole. Then it came– a small, blinding light. Suddenly I could see around me. Looking up at the light, I realized that I didn't want to sink anymore.
It was a glimmer of hope, a way out. Without a second thought, I rose, gasping for air with flailing arms. The world took a pause. The ocean went flat and the sun stopped hiding. My spark was back! Helping hands pulled me up. Only one yank, and I was out.
Hess Academy was my lifeboat. I felt it in my gut that I had found my place.
The first day I walked straight in not knowing anyone or anything, but my nervousness dissipated in seconds. The butterflies in my stomach seemed to expel into the atmosphere creating a magical haze- a haze of all the new, typically overwhelming things. But the balance in the community that I'd just met could only be described as harmonious. Every student, every teacher, every class, and every feeling. How could I have gone this long without this wonderful school?!?!
That afternoon, I got back in the car with a classroom full of friends and a new way of learning. Within the first month, I had taken in the amount of information that I had absorbed in over two full years at my old school. Hess was the only way I survived COVID. It saved me. Hess Academy was my own personal haven.
The relationships between not only peers, but also teachers, are unmatched. Through times of mental health struggles, through physical struggles, and moral struggles, the community is always there for support. Handling these problems seems challenging to grasp but I can assure you the Hess community has mastered it. The illusion of stability in schooling becomes a reality.
The small class and high volume of teachers make each day fun. Every question asked will be answered. If you don't understand a concept, it will be explained. In every way, and on every single day, this haven of a school Hess Academy will save the day.
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