Passing strength to next generation

Jonah Alves, upper school counselor

As much as we are caring for the students and the faculty here, it’s continuous because we care for people here and then we go home and care for the people at our home too. And then there’s a sense of care for your home and taking care of your home, and then at some point you lie down at the end of the night and you’re like, “Okay, let me just care for myself.”

My children are little, they’re three and six. They can’t feed themselves, so caring for others is a 24-hour thing — from when we wake up to even after we clock out.

I have two daughters, and I instill in them, “You can do anything. We don’t have to stick to these gender norms.” My mother used to always say, “You don’t need a man. You just do your own thing.” That’s something that I’ve always carried with myself, whether wanting to play sports or do things that maybe a woman wouldn’t typically do. That’s just something that I would encourage anyone to do: not to feel like they have to be confined to these expectations but to be able to explore and do something as long as they have a passion for it.

From the perspective of being a mom and raising two little girls who have very open aspirations, I am able to say, “This is a great time for you to do what you want to do.