At Marlborough it’s easy for the students’ voices to get lost. Though Marlborough is a private school that embraces diversity, there are still issues within the school that need attention

Face-It, Marlborough’s diversity retreat invites everyone to combat this and speak out without judgment or punishment. At the retreat we discuss issues such as sexual orientation, race, economic status, political views, and religion.

I am proud to say that Face-It has been going strong for four years, and each year new students have participated, a perfect example of Marlborough’s evolution and growing attention towards tolerance.

I have attended Face-It for the past three years, the maximum amount offered, but this year was different for me. Although we did the same exercises, I had different emotions and opinions.

This year I was the senior, thus the leader. With this position, I had to sit back and let everyone else speak. In doing that I learned more about the other students and became enlightened by what they had to say.

I wanted to be that senior at Face-It who makes everyone feel comfortable and have fun and who reaches out to the younger girls to make them feel welcome.

Although almost half of the students at Face-It were new, the overall number of girls attending decreased this year. But even though not as many people attended, in a way, it created a positive effect.

With almost fifty girls, the space was intimate, safe, and open, destroying any fear of judgment and encouraging girls to speak out.

So while I am an advocate for diversity and tolerance and would like everyone who can attend Face-It to do so, I now know that a small group also creates advantages.

The one thing I would like to change about Face-It is the type of person who attends. At this point, most of the attendees are already advocates for diversity and tolerance and are ready to speak out about their issues and issues at Marlborough.

In future years, I would like to see those who haven’t spoken out, but who are curious about what Face-It represents – especially seniors.

Seniors are about to leave the Marlborough bubble and step out into the real world. At Face-It we learn to discuss and speak out on real world issues, and it prepares us to make changes in our community, and the world.

– Jasmin ’10