What does it mean to finish strong?
What does it mean to finish strong? To push yourself in exciting ways up until the very last stretch of a marathon? The learners at Ascent took this call to action to the next level this week with heroic mindsets that should inspire us all. Here are a few examples we captured in the final week of school:
A learner finished his Discovery Badges and his friend wanted to celebrate him. They walked over to Explore and the friend ushered him in, announcing to the Explore studio “Hey everybody! Here’s your new studiomate!’ The same learner kept pumping energy into Discovery this week saying to others who are finishing Big Time Goals, “Come on everyone! You can keep going! The guides will approve badges over the summer- just don’t give up!”
One learner who has completed the Ascent journey and just finished Explore was working on and submitting Learn to Be badges up until the very last work cycle. The same learner has also been heard all week giving advice to their studio on how to keep elevating their culture next year, saying things like, “Explore needs to work on not depending too much on extrinsic motivations.”
A parent shared that they had a challenging bedtime this week with their learner staying up to make her own Montessori Works out of paper so she could finish a goal, “Dad, I have to finish equivalent fractions!”
A learner in Spark who just recently found his motivation to finish the Rainbow Drawers Language Work after working through tough resistance was seen enthusiastically giving a Rainbow Drawers lesson to a new learner.
In the Cold-Blooded Quest (arguably the best-named Quest at Ascent and a segment of Growing Curiosity Quest led by Explorers) a Discovery learner was heard saying to a Fellow Traveler looking for someone to tell her exactly how to complete a challenge, “Don’t let anyone give you the answer! That’s not the point of Quest! You’re supposed to fail, learn, try again! That’s the fun of it.”
In Growing Curiosity an Explorer asks the Discovery learners for feedback on her quest design and facilitation. Their response was “More work. We could have done twice as much as we did.”
When learners were asked in an art discussion to reflect on defining moments from the year, an Explorer who has been at Ascent since the first day in 2019 said, “Everytime someone joins this community that I helped start, it is a defining moment and reminds me of how important it is for me to take my work and choices seriously.”
So what does it mean to finish strong? Maybe it’s as simple as showing up with heart- for your goals, for your growth, and for the people around you. Finishing strong at Ascent isn’t about checking boxes. It’s about building something that lasts. These final moments aren’t the end; they’re part of the foundation for everything that comes next.