Senior Reflection

William Jiawei Huang ’24 believes that the diminishing house and school culture at Lawrenceville is mainly due to the loss of mutual respect on campus. While I don’t respect Jiawei, I do agree with him—just kidding. I’ve learned in my three years at Lawrenceville that respect matters more than anything else. 

As a new sophomore, the prefects and IV Formers in my house were supportive, helping me integrate into Lawrenceville, and our friendship was founded upon the respect we had for each other. I looked up to those who had the experience and knowledge, while they helped me without asking for anything in return.I still remember walking from Kennedy to the KAC parking lot with my prefect every day; I felt compelled to join him because he often walked alone, and although he reminded me that I shouldn’t feel obliged to follow him, I accompanied him out of the kindness and respect I carried for him. Thanks to this, I got to know him as a close friend; I had the chance to share my personal experiences with him, and in turn he provided me with guidance and wisdom. Although my prefect has graduated, our friendship still endures. So even if traditions don’t endure, I hope that mutual respect is preserved. Underclassmen, it’s your job to shape the future of Lawrenceville, and it shouldn’t be one filled with mistrust and animosity. 

It’s easy to show respect for the people we care for just by taking a few minutes out of our day to catch up quickly or by shooting them a text asking how they’re doing. Jiawei has claimed that his daily greetings of classmates in the hallways improved the energy on campus and fostered shared respect between fellow Lawrentians. It would be wonderful if we could all learn to be like Jiawei and reach out to people we aren’t familiar with.  Ultimately, we want to build a community of trust and kindness, and that all starts with respect.