With last week’s advisory conferences, I’ve been thinking more frequently about our Portrait of a Graduate. I asked each of my juniors to consider this vision and how they still want to grow over the next year. It’s something that resides in our handbook and on our website, and recently, I’ve been searching for the living version of it in each of them as they are quickly approaching senior year.  

At Ursuline, we care deeply about investing in the formation of our students. One way we wanted to lean into this more this year was through the formation of our student leaders. As a new initiative, Ursuline Athletic Director Stefanie Hill helped orchestrate a Saturday Leadership Retreat open to any student leaders, whether they be ambassadors, club leaders, team captains, committee leaders, student council members, etc. The day was structured around the charisms of St. Angela Merici, and at the end of the retreat, Stefanie invited students to share their takeaways on a poster. Students wrote that they learned how to delegate, handle confrontation, and make people feel valued. As I read through them, there were two that I would like to highlight.  

I learned… 

 “To focus on who I am and not what I do” (Ursuline Student Body President, Ellie K. ‘25) 

 “Success does not equal significance” (Community and Inclusion Leadership Team Member, Titania V. ‘26) 

I encourage you to read the statements of these two students again and think about the magnitude of their words. As we work with our students on what it means to be an Ursuline leader, we keep rewriting the narrative that leadership is about having an official title or a position. The leadership qualities defined in our Portrait of a Graduate point to the truth that the end goal is more about who she is than what she does. Our vision for our graduates stretches beyond worldly success of accolades, awards, and recognition; our vision is about living a life of significance. 

In every single year of our 151-year history, you will find evidence that the most profound, heroic, and genuine leadership often does not earn its place on a resume, or have a microphone, or show up in the most polished moments. The testimony of God-centered leadership often happens quietly in the background and sometimes is barely noticed. It’s the living witness of girls who care bravely and lead by example. Ironically, the greatest moments happen when no one else is watching, when she quietly does the right thing – picks up trash, leaves a kind note, does a small helpful act. It’s seen in how she responds with grace and goodness to her own moments of messiness, struggle, and failure. It happens when she can take a healthy risk or accept tough feedback because she cares about her growth. It’s when she makes Ursuline a place of belonging by looking out for her classmates, recognizing when people are excluded, and kindly extending an invitation. It’s when she chooses to be brave by being honest. It’s in her daily practice of thanking the SAGE employees, the facilities team, her teachers, and all those around her. It’s seen when she holds true to her faith and values, even when she worries that she will stand alone.  

Ursuline needs this kind of leadership, and I want to fill our school with these kinds of leaders. 

As I reflect on the fast four years we have with our (your) girls, I look at this vision and ask, how do we take the Portrait of a Graduate from words on a page to a lived reality? As you look over the Portrait, I’m wondering what you notice in your daughter. In what areas has she fully embraced those traits? In what areas is she still growing? Even if she doesn’t have a formal leadership title or role, encourage her to keep showing up and remind her that what she does and, more importantly, who she is matters and has eternal purpose and significance to God and to us. 

With gratitude,  

Mandy Briones