Camila Capdevila ’25 reflects on her journey from first-generation student to All-American athlete at St. Paul’s School.
June 11, 2025
Heading into a complicated world, this year’s 154 graduates take with them the tools they need to flourish.
BY KRISTIN DUISBERG
More than 100 of them arrived in Millville wearing masks in the fall of 2021, but when the 154 members of the Form of 2025 crossed the stage on Graduation Lawn on Sunday, June 1, to collect their St Paul’s School diplomas, each one of their broad smiles was on full display.
“What an incredible future beckons you on this beautiful, fresh morning by the pond, and what opportunities you’ve had to grow up here with the challenges and delights and hard times and good times, with people who love you and see and expect the best of you,” said Fourteenth Rector Kathy Giles in opening remarks that offered reflections on what it means to flourish in an uncertain and ever-changing world. “Yes, you are leaving, but you can bring all of this with you throughout your lives.”
As a crisp breeze carried across Lower School Pond to the graduating form and family members who had come from as nearby as Concord and as far away as the other side of the globe, Giles spoke about the manner in which St. Paul’s School prepares its graduates to do hard things well, to nurture community, and to truly believe that the we is greater than the me. “What we make together is so much greater than the sum of our parts,” she said. “And here at St. Paul’s School, when we invoke that beloved School Prayer, we embrace the inspiration of the Love Divine with us, among us and between us. Just because your chapel days are over doesn’t mean their inspiration is any less valuable.”
Later in her remarks, Giles noted that she is often asked what the value proposition of a St. Paul’s education is. “It’s kind of tempting to want to brush off that question, but it’s an important question for us to be able to answer,” she said. “Yes, this experience is expensive, requiring financial, physical and emotional investment. … What are the elements of value that we add beyond these diplomas, this work that you’ve started now and will carry forward for the rest of your life? I think there are roughly five: a foundation, a toolkit, a sense of purpose, a community and a soul. … We’ve strived and will continue to strive to respect, to develop, to inspire, to grow these elements more here on the grounds every day and wherever your life takes you. … I hope it feels true to you and will help you in the coming years.”
What are the elements of value that we add beyond these diplomas, this work that you’ve started now and will carry forward for the rest of your life? I think there are roughly five: a foundation, a toolkit, a sense of purpose, a community and a soul.”
— Rector Kathy Giles
In his remarks, Sixth Form President Kevin Wu demonstrated how thoroughly the Form of 2025 has embraced their Rector’s message and insights, sharing in part, “There are two simple ideas that we have cultivated so well at SPS that we must carry forward to our next steps. Number one, compare yourself not to others, but to the you of yesterday. Oscar Wilde once said, ‘Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.’ … My second point, which I believe is the most important principle for all of life, is that good character soars above all that we do. Character trumps all that we do with our talents and goals and on our adventures. Being a good person is the most important value.”
The culmination of four years of academics and athletics, artistic performances and opportunities for personal, social and emotional growth, the Graduation Ceremony for the Form of 2025 was also the culmination of a weekend of activity. Graduation festivities began on the evening of Friday, May 30, with an SPS orchestra performance featuring Wu, a clarinetist, and the talents of a wide array of graduating musicians. On Saturday, rowers took part in the Halcyon-Shattuck club crew races; Classical Honors students put on the traditional Latin Play; and the School community gathered in the Cage at the Athletic and Fitness Center for a Graduation Awards ceremony that recognized academic, athletic and community achievements. Saturday also included a Baccalaureate Service with Will Ahmed ‘08, the Sixth Form parade and dinner; and an emotional Last Night Service in the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul as members of the form marked their final evening together as St. Paul’s School students.
