Many students, including myself, are stuck in complicated situations as the days progress towards the opening of school in September. In the midst of all these questions, however, is some great news for Stuyvesant High School, a specialized school in New York City. Seung Yu, previously the Senior Executive Director of the Office of Postsecondary Readiness and a founding principal of the Academy for Software Engineering, has been chosen as Stuyvesant’s next principal. Approved by School Chancellor Richard Carranza, Yu was first chosen through the Department of Education’s C-30 process and later interviewed by Superintendent Vivian Orlen.
I, personally, am thrilled to see all the new ideas and beliefs Principal Yu will bring to my school, especially after watching Stuyvesant’s second town hall on August 6. In this webinar, Yu gave students and parents a brief overview about his beliefs as a principal. His three main ideas were to believe in students, faculty members, and the intersection between the students and the faculty members in an educational environment. Principal Yu’s speech inspired me, and encouraged the voices of the student body so that we can grow and become exceptional.
Principal Yu has also inspired many other students at Stuyvesant High School with his quote, “I believe young people want to be inspired. They want to be influenced. They want to be impacted, and mostly, they want to be acknowledged… and when they feel that way, you see extraordinary things.” Ziying Jian, a 10th grade student at Stuyvesant High School, responded to the quote by stating, “the most incredible ideas come to actualization and fruition through sincere motivation and support from a wonderful community.” Furthermore, Paul Kolomeyer, another 10th grader at Stuyvesant High School stated, “I, as a young person, feel that Principal Yu understands the motivation that we as young people need to perform at our best. By surrounding us with awe inspiring teachers and staff in our learning environment, we can achieve things that we couldn’t have even imagined without positive role models.”
While we students at Stuyvesant High School are lucky to be in a remarkable community where we can succeed, I believe this message also goes to students around the country. To grow, we can’t stay quiet, or hide when your community doesn’t support you. We need to louden our voices and put ourselves out in the open so that we can be acknowledged by people, be able to impact others, and most importantly, be able to inspire ourselves. It is in this way that our generation will do extraordinary things.
