Last night I was out walking my dog after a long day at home with my sick eighteen month old son. Our walk takes us down our dirt road and out through hayfields. The outgoing path is due west and since we were walking at dusk the sun was beautiful as it melted into golden fall leaves. We passed, and ultimately chased off, six grazing deer. As I walked into fall and passed through the warm and cool pockets of air I felt the stress and mental fuzziness from a day spent inside, watching the cartoons I swore my son would never watch, melt away. My mind cleared and solutions to problems I had been thinking about all day flooded to mind, it all seemed so obvious out in the fresh air and golden leaves.
You may be wondering what any of this has to with a blog about Wakefield by the director of admissions. Space and natural beauty have long been connected to thinking. Thoreau often sought the refuge of the country to write and reflect (Walden or The Maine Woods, anyone?). I think it is because literal space away from the chaos of everyday life, be it nineteenth century or twenty first century chaos, gives the mind the freedom to roam to the places that spark creativity. The fresh air seems to spark neurons to fire more rapidly and productively. Wakefield students are fortunate to spend their days learning and thinking nestled among the hills and meadows that make up the Virginia piedmont. Upper school students can find a quiet place to study under the tree, teachers can hold their classes on the hill overlooking the many surrounding horse pastures. Lower and middle school students can study tree and plant identification right out the school’s front doors. Our cross country teams even run through a meadow, true cross country. The Wakefield Parents Association has started a morning walking group to take advantage of the views, and the challenging hills, for some morning camaraderie and exercise.
Why do I think that the setting is significant enough to spend time writing about in this blog? Because almost no one comes to the campus without remarking about the breathtaking views and sweeping vistas but it is only after students have been here for some time that they begin to appreciate the real impact the setting has on their scholarship. As I sit at my desk I wonder how anyone could go to school in a setting as beautiful as this and not be inspired to think great thoughts and wondered “why”, which is one of the hallmarks of a Wakefield education.
I hope you will come out and visit our beautiful campus one day soon, if you have not already. Our next open house is Nov. 16 at 9 am.
Happy Halloween!
Sarah
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