Molly Price, Emma’s top notch director of alumnae relations, and I just returned from our second annual trip to Asia. So many highlights made the list this year. There was a special “splendor feast of Taiwan” with forty-six items that required tasting from Wanluan pork knuckles to Tamsui iron eggs to Budai shark fin meatballs to Donggang salted mullet roe. The entire event taught us much about the role food plays in the Taiwanese culture and provided a serious lesson in the etiquette of a formal Chinese dinner. In Korea we discovered Changdeokgung, the hidden gardens of the king and queen, and soaked up some Korean history in the process. In Hong Kong there was the ride up the world’s largest outdoor pedestrian escalator. Of course it only goes up, so the walk down was quite interesting. Any successful visit to Asia includes amazing gastronomic adventures, historic sites, and just plain marvelous adventures, but this trip included important lessons as well.
Our travels took us to the Sook Myung Girls School, the oldest girls school in Korea, much younger than Emma of course—a mere 100 years; the Stella Matutina Girls School, one of the best Catholic schools in Taiwan; and the Affiliated Senior High School of the National Taiwan Normal University, one of the largest co-ed high schools in the country. My tour guides for each were current Emma students who had transferred from these superb schools to travel around the globe to attend Emma Willard. It was a busman’s holiday to share tales of parental concerns, faculty priorities, pedagogy and more with the principals to whom I was introduced. While these were all fine, important schools, the differences could not have been more stunning. Each offered new lessons in alumnae involvement, teaching personal responsibility to adolescents, and implementing experimental curriculum. I am still processing all that I saw, grateful for the time these educators devoted to showing me “school” as they “do” it. And here is an unusual tidbit: several years prior to our visit, the teachers of the Stella Matutina Girls School gathered around to view The Emperor’s Club and discuss the moral questions it raised. Who knew?
It was my privilege in Korea to assist Molly in hosting the first ever young alumnae function in Korea. Did you know we now have over twenty Emma grads living there, including a captain in the U.S. Army? This is clearly a growing chapter!
It was my honor in Taiwan to experience an evening of Emma excellence during which our current students hosted our Taiwanese prospective students, demonstrating their musical talent between the many courses of a formal Chinese dinner. The surprise there? When our girls were asked by a prospective mother why they chose Emma, the number one answer way…drumroll…because it is all girls! And to think it is often suggested that being a single sex school is a liability in America….Perhaps there is much to be learned about marketing our school on the other side of the world.
It was a proud moment in Hong Kong when current students and parents and alums from 1978 to 2005 gathered around to see the view from the Peak and talk about the enduring strengths of the Emma Willard experience. I could feel the traditions of Emma binding us together even as the challenges we discussed rallied us to think creatively about the future of our school.
Of all the sights we saw, all the incredible food we tasted, and all the amazing people we met, do you know what stands out for me? The Emma Willard experience is a known entity in these corners of the world—known for intellectual rigor, superb faculty, extraordinary extracurricular opportunities and lifelong friendships.
Where in the world were you recently where you discovered an Emma Willard connection? Perhaps you were wearing your ring and someone noticed. Perhaps you were on a trip and you discovered the connection. Perhaps you bumped into someone who knew someone who knew of Emma Willard. Is there a story you can share that connects Emma to another corner of the world?
There are many privileges that come with leading a community of and for smart women who are forever intellectually curious. Near the top of that list is that I am the fortunate recipient of great book suggestions. One alumna introduced me to the intrepid and tireless Maisie Dobbs, who accompanied me on vacation to the Outer Banks. Several others sent me Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea, and those of you who pay attention to our web site know where that led our entire school community last year. The recommendations come in all categories from spiritual reading to educational innovation, from inspirational tales to leadership lessons.
