This year’s theme is Bruins Stand Together. So, what exactly does Bruins Stand Together mean? You can interpret this in many different ways, so I’ll just tell you how I interpret it. The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the theme is part of our school motto, RUC: compassion.

Why is it important to have compassion? One of the best things that you can do is to be compassionate. Everyone has their struggles. We all have a burden to carry. Sometimes the burden is too heavy, and you need help. When you are compassionate towards others, you can be the light to someone’s darkness. For example, I’m not a very social person. I have social anxiety and I’m kind of an introvert. It’s not easy for me to be social with others, so I often sit alone at lunch. I go and sit where other people aren’t. I would sit alone while others would pass by. I wouldn’t mind it most of the time, but sometimes it felt lonely. I would feel this darkness come over me. That feeling would come and go very often. One thing that would brighten my day was when these two people from one of my classes would join me or invite me to lunch. Even if it’s not every day that they sit by me, it definitely makes a difference. Their names are Shaylee Mcniven and Tristen Juggert.

Shaylee is so friendly and is a great example of our theme, Bruins Stand Together. She will sit by people who look alone or sad. She does her best to be positive towards others. She’s not afraid to help others, or at least she doesn’t show it. There are other people just like her and Tristen in this school. You just have to look around and you will see them. If you don’t see them, then you should strive to be that person. You can make a difference in someone’s life. Just a simple thing like saying hi to someone. The simple thing of Shaylee coming up to me when I was sitting alone at lunch meant so much. She was there for me when I needed it, and she probably didn’t even know it. That really made a difference. This school needs more people like her. Then we can truly say that the Bruins Stand Together.

I would like to invite you to look for others to help, and for you to look inwards and see how you can make a difference in someone’s life. We all need to strive to be better. Bruins, let’s stand together!