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Canterbury School is proud to announce that Olivia R. ’27 is the recipient of this year’s Love, Goodwill, and Trust Essay Award. The annual competition invites juniors to reflect on Canterbury’s core values and consider how those ideals have shaped their lives, relationships, and experiences as members of our school community.
Students were challenged to answer the question:
“As a Canterbury student, what do the school’s core values of Love, Goodwill, and Trust mean to you?”
Olivia’s essay, titled The Values That Raised Me, offers a deeply personal reflection on belonging, kindness, and the lasting impact of community. She shares how her earliest life experiences helped her understand the power of love, goodwill, and trust, and how those values have continued to grow through her years at Canterbury.
Olivia writes:
“Because of this, love, goodwill, and trust has always had a close place in my heart.”
She continues, reflecting on her first day at Canterbury as a third grader:
“I was greeted by everyone and felt a sense of belonging as teachers and students were kind, giving, and always ready to help.”
In her essay, Olivia describes love as the feeling of belonging and connection, goodwill as the choice to help others without expecting anything in return, and trust as doing the right thing even when no one is watching. She also points to Canterbury’s culture, from the warmth of teachers and classmates to the school’s tradition of unlocked lockers, as meaningful examples of these values in action.
“Love is not just something you say, but rather something you show,” Olivia writes. “Throughout the rest of my life I want to carry the love that I felt in this school everywhere I go, using it to help others.”
She closes her essay with a powerful reflection on the lasting influence of Canterbury’s values:
“Love, goodwill, and trust are like a code that keeps everything together. This code is not written on paper, but rather shown through the actions of others.”
Olivia will receive a $500 Canterbury credit toward tuition or school activities.