ASB Officers Address the Community at Convocation

Convocation Recap: Welcoming the 2026-2027 School Year

On the first day of school, our four ASB officers addressed the entire school community, marking the start of Forest Ridge's 119th year. President Yiting H., Vice President Naomi B., and senior officers Karissa H. and Maddie A. each shared reflections and words of encouragement to kick off the new year. Their full remarks are below.

Yiting H., ASB President
Hi everyone. My name is Yiting H., and I'm so honored to be serving as your ASB president this school year. I will start by sharing a couple of things about myself. I love music, like singing, piano, guitar, and my favorite subjects are science and math. I'm slightly optimistic than average, I like being creative (notice that I didn't say I am creative), and I'm fiercely competitive. Actually, I'm a little too competitive.

Since middle school, I thought the most important thing about school was getting a perfect grade. I could study the entire day and night before a final exam—which I definitely do not recommend—and I could sacrifice almost all of my free time just to beat that one girl who was always incredibly smart. But as I've grown older, I've realized something.

Of course, grades matter. They are part of our responsibility as students. But our transcript is not the full record of our lives. Think about moments that will never appear on it. Saying "you too" when your teacher says, "Have a good weekend." Reconciling with your friend after a stupid argument. Trying to explain a TikTok meme to your teacher and immediately regretting it. Or clinging to your mom in tears after you got a terrible grade on a math test. None of these moments will earn you a higher GPA. These moments won't win you a competition. They probably won't even make it onto a college application. But I think these are the moments we should cherish the most.

The moment you feel joy. The moment you feel proud. The moment you feel loved.

Because these are the moments that remind us why we work so hard in the first place. They give us something to look forward to today, tomorrow, and in all the years ahead. You can earn another good grade. You can improve your results with enough time and effort. But you cannot earn back an afternoon with your family once it has passed. You cannot redo the conversation you had with your friend. You cannot buy back the time you chose not to spend with the people you love.

And as we begin a new school year, I hope we don't forget that. I hope you work hard. I hope you challenge yourself. I hope you chase the things you're passionate about and become proud of what you accomplish. But I also hope that, somewhere between all those things, you leave room for your family, for your friends, for teachers, and for everyone around you, because we are all human beings who feel, who worry, who connect, and who heal.

Naomi B., ASB Vice President
Hello everyone, my name is Naomi B., and I'm so honored to be serving as your 2026 to 2027 Vice President.

As we enter a new school year, things can feel a little overwhelming. We have new classes, new responsibilities, and new goals. We're constantly thinking about what comes next: grades, sports, and I know my fellow seniors can agree with me on this one, college.

But I want to remind you of something today: You don't have to know what happens next, and that's completely okay. We put so much pressure on ourselves to have everything figured out, when none of us really knows what's going to happen. Sometimes we get so caught up thinking about the future, that we forget to actually enjoy where we are right now.

Some of my favorite memories at Forest Ridge are the little ones, like playing grounders on the playscape, time spent with my friends before practice starts, or even walking around campus when the sun is out. You really don't know which moments will end up meaning the most to you because at the time, these moments didn't feel like anything huge. But when I look back, they're some of the moments I took the time to enjoy.

And of course, not everything is going to go exactly how we want it to. You'll have a few bumps in the road, but one bad day doesn't mean everything is going wrong. We can trust that we'll figure things out as we go. Take those L's as lessons, not losses. And when things don't go according to plan, don't let yourself get so caught up worrying about what's next that you forget to appreciate where you are right now. We don't need to have everything figured out today. There's so much ahead of us, but there's also so much happening right in front of us. Give yourself permission to make mistakes, learn as you go, and enjoy the moment instead of stressing about what the future might bring.

So, as we start this school year, I encourage you to be present in the moment. Look around. Notice the people sitting next to you. Enjoy the little moments, and don't rush through this year just because you're excited for what comes next. Time flies by so quickly that the future will be here in the blink of an eye. So instead of constantly worrying about what's ahead, take the time to slow down, appreciate where you are, and truly soak in the present.

Thank you, and I hope you all have an amazing year!

Karissa H., ASB Officer
Good morning, Forest Ridge! My name is Karissa H., I'm a senior here at Forest Ridge and I'm so proud to be an ASB officer this year and I'm really grateful for the amazing opportunity to help make this year special for everyone.

I want to start with a thoughtful question: How often do we actually stop and realize what we have? Truly, we realize when we're stressed about a test. We realize when we have a game, a performance, or a big deadline coming up. We realize when something goes wrong. But how often do we stop and realize the little things? The friend who saves you a seat at lunch, the person who knows you're having a bad day before you even say anything, the teacher who stays after class to help you, the girls you pass in the hallway every day, even if you don't know their names yet.

We get so used to these things that sometimes, we stop noticing them, and I think that's one of the easiest things to do in a community like ours: take something extraordinary and let it become ordinary. Because here at Forest Ridge, we have something that is really special. We have a school where people celebrate when one person succeeds, where we show up for each other when things get hard, where our traditions connect us to the girls who came before us, and where the people standing beside us today will become some of the most important parts of our memories.

It's so easy to think that this is just what school is supposed to feel like. But it isn't. There is something incredibly rare about being surrounded by people who are growing alongside you, challenging you, supporting you, and becoming a part of your own story.

I think being a part of a community also means being willing to give back to it without expecting anything in return. Helping someone doesn't always need to come with recognition, a reward, or a benefit for ourselves. Sometimes, the most meaningful things we can do are the things that no one notices. Holding the door for someone, checking in on a friend, helping a classmate, including someone who feels left out, or simply being there for someone who needs it. We may never get thanked for those things, and that's okay. What matters is that we made a positive impact on our community.

One day, we're going to look back and realize that the moments we barely noticed were some of the moments that mattered most. So, this year, I challenge all of us in this room to notice. Acknowledge the overlooked parts of your life. Notice the little moments. Notice the people around you. Notice when someone needs a friend. Notice when your classmate does something worth celebrating. Notice the traditions, the laughter, the chaos, the conversations in the hallways, and even the moments that seem insignificant right now. But most importantly, notice the opportunities you have to help someone else, even when there's nothing in it for you. Because someday, we may realize that we were living through the moments we would miss the most, and that the small things we did for others were what made our community stronger.

We have an incredible community here at Forest Ridge, and there truly is nowhere else exactly like it. So let's not wait until we leave to realize how special it was. Let's realize it now. Let's make this year one that we don't just remember, but one that we are grateful we got to experience together, and one where we all did our part to make it better for the people around us. Thank you, and welcome back!

Maddie A., ASB Officer
Good morning, Forest Ridge Students and Staff. My name is Madeline Joelle Arceo A., but Maddie for short, and I am a senior officer on the ASB 2026-2027 team along with these three amazing girls that I stand beside today. What a blessing it truly is for us to be gathered here, together, on the first day of school! Summer truly passed in the blink of an eye. I mean, who is ever ready for summer to come to an end? One moment you're relaxing in your bed with the window wide open letting in that cool summer air, and the next, you're sitting here on your first day of school. As I stand here and look at everyone in the room, I cannot help but take in that collective feeling of excitement coated with a bit of anxiety. I remember feeling that same way my first day of freshman year at Forest Ridge. My worries intertwined with my doubts, and as I sat in this room, I continuously asked myself one single question, "Am I ready?" The more I thought, the more my anxiousness took over, and soon enough my mind was plagued with, "What ifs?" What if I'm judged? What if I make a mistake? What if it doesn't work? What if I am not ready? I'm sure you could already see ninth grade Maddie getting all worked up over these thoughts, and as I say these things, I'm sure they bring you some uneasiness as well. So, before I continue, I would like to ask you if you're able to, to do a very quick exercise with me. If you could, sit up a little straighter, relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw, and take a deep breath in, and out. The next time you feel you are not ready, and the thoughts begin to get too loud, remember to stop and breathe. But as you let out that breath, do not be afraid to also take a step forward, and embrace the change. Because yes, there is fear in changing, but there is also fear in remaining the same.

Do not let the anxieties, worries, doubts, or fears hold you, because at the end of the day, those will always exist. There will always be something in the back of your mind asking you, "What if I take this jump, and fall?", but do not be afraid to then ask, "What if I take this jump, and fly?" If the opportunity is in front of you, do not be scared. Go for it. And if you can just get a tight enough grip on it, run with it, and do not be afraid to see where it takes you. So, this school year, I encourage you all to look past the doubts and instead take a leap of faith, because who knows [like a raven], you might just fly. Thank you.