Page 1 - Flares Issue 5

Flares Issue no. 5 - October 2021

MAP Newsletter

What it Means to be A Monarch

Monarchs Ascending
The road to excellence is not an easy one. It is paved with trials, challenges, and obstacles designed to test us. There
will be times when we will feel tired and drained. We may feel like giving up on our goals and throwing in the towel.
We might even convince ourselves that we never really wanted whatever it was we were working towards in the first
place. But just because something is hard does not mean it is not worth it. Rather, it is in the persevering that we
become capable of ascending.

Monarchs Becoming
In the process of working towards our goals, we must learn to adapt and to evolve if we are to become successful. We
see this in nature. Koalas have adapted to eat only the leaves of eucalyptus trees which are toxic to many animal
species, thus ensuring that they have a food source for which there is little competition. The caterpillar digests itself
using enzymes and is encased in a cocoon for a period of time in a process called metamorphosis before it becomes
a butterfly. Desert plants have adapted their root structures so that they can survive and thrive despite limited rainfall.
Human beings are no different. Each new adventure that we embark on, the failures we endure, and the hurdles we
overcome all come together so that we can be better versions of our old selves. We find new meaning in the world
which changes us, and that which we change as well. We are becoming.

Monarchs Transcending
As we continue on our path, we have a responsibility to ourselves and to those around us to go beyond our own
comfortable circles. To reach out, to influence, and to make significant contributions. However which way we choose
to do so, we make sure that we leave our own little marks that others can build on, thus creating ripples of effect. We
go the extra mile and we do not stop there. Only then we can say that we are truly transcending.

It is in the spirit of ascending, becoming, and transcending that we pay tribute to our student achievers and
the teachers who supported them in their journeys. Their perseverance, hard work, and commitment to
achieve have made it possible for them to continue pursuing their goals. They have come to know that it is
not the destination but the journey itself that is important, and it is this knowledge which allows them to be
more than what they were yesterday. It is their passion and compassion that enables them to Make a
Difference.

May it inspire all of us to focus on the miles ahead of our own personal roads, to rise when we stumble, to
take advantage of the rest stops as we come upon them, and then to start back up when it's time to go again.
May it inspire us to never stop aiming high. May it inspire us to always Be Amazing.

About the Artwork In this issue:
Faculty in Focus: Get to know Ms. Lalie
Louis Wain was a prolific illustrator from England who usually
featured anthropomorphized cats in his drawings. Rather than his The Wind Beneath Our Wings - People Awards 2021
drawings though, Wain is immortalized more for his mental health "It's the Hard that makes the Great!" - Passing the Written
struggles. While never officially diagnosed as having
Comprehensive Exam
schizophrenia, his portrayal of cats, particularly during the later
Oh, the places [your papers] will go! - Achieving Research
years of his life is often used to demonstrate the progression of
Excellence
the disease. As his conditioned worsened, his drawings became
On Spotlight: Ms. Rea Villa, Alumni Achiever
more abstract eventually becoming unrecognizable as cats.
Conquering Addiction Where Care Happens by Oscar "Gio"
Fuentes III
Today, Wain's drawings are scattered throughout different
MalaPSYCHkit for the future generation - Balik-Eskwela 2021
museums in England, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in
MAP Events
London and Bethlem Museum of the Mind in Beckenham.