You Might Leave Havergal, But it Never Leaves You
You might have noticed from the countless decorations around the school, the Prayers we’ve had, or maybe even from the 125 cupcakes: Havergal is celebrating its 125th birthday in 2019. As we enter this momentous year, let’s take a minute to understand just how long 125 years is. Since 1894, thousands of girls have attended our school. Every single one of those women remain connected to Havergal, and connected to us current students, thanks to the Havergal Old Girls Association. Today, there are 9500 Havergal Old Girls located in more than seventy countries around the globe. When you think about it, that is quite the incredible feat; every single living student from Havergal is still connected to our school! Someday, you, too, will be part of the Havergal Old Girl Association, also known as HOGA. But just what does it mean to be an Old Girl?
When I think of what it is to be an Old Girl, I’m reminded of an event near the end of last year, where some of the oldest Havergal graduates came to the school to celebrate having attended Havergal fifty or more years ago. I remember this event mainly because of how girls were giggling about the “Stoneagers” coming to visit. At first I thought the girls were being a bit mean, but once I heard the Old Girls were called Stoneagers by the teachers as well, I started wondering more about Havergal’s norms for graduates. I started to look into the network of Havergal alumni, to understand life after graduation. I mean, how connected are we really with the thousands of girls who have already graduated? As it turns out, the answer is very, very connected.
Just to list a few of these Old Girl events, Havergal offers the Cinquantenaires and Stoneagers Spring Luncheon, the Havergal Grandchildren’s Party, an annual dinner and annual general meeting, and branch reunions in several different regions around the world. The wide variety in the types of events means that there’s something for all kinds of Old Girls. Maybe you just want to see some old friends, or maybe you want to develop professional skills through networking or mentoring. HOGA does more than just let you see your old high school friends once every few years; it connects you to other successful women who might be able to help you in your own career--just one more way Havergal is giving you a leg up!
If networking interests you, HOGA holds multiple networking events for Havergalians. The Havergal Old Girls Association offers many different mentoring programs to connect Old Girls and current students with other Havergal alumni professionals. This April 2019, industry leaders from business, medicine, media, arts, law, science, government and other sectors will be coming to Havergal to talk to Grade Eleven and Twelve students face-to-face about careers they are interested in. Once you have graduated Havergal, if you find yourself needing more professional guidance, you can still take advantage of Havergal’s network. For example, you can partake in a Mentoring Journey, which is a twelve month program designed to support Old Girls new to the workforce. If you want to learn more about these and other initiatives offered by HOGA, there is a plethora of information on the Havergal website for you to explore.
HOGA is an incredible organization designed to help us in life, and it’s not something that we talk a lot about at school. When we take a minute to think about it, we can recognize that HOGA is making sure that we always feel supported by the Havergal community, no matter how far from Havergal we are. Havergal has set us up for success, and years from now the school will continue to do that. HOGA is one of many reasons why I am so grateful to be part of the Havergal community.