#438: SPOTLIGHT: Emerson Pickens
#438: Emerson Pickens
Sept 9, 2025
A Backbeat of Community
(PIP LEAD IN)
Eight years ago, I started a cultural retreat with the question:
“Please think of someone who is at least ten years younger than you who has been a great teacher of yours?”
One of mine is Emerson Pickens…
I first met Emerson when she was 8-years old. Emerson is now 16. She is an old soul. She is Mo and Suzanne’s youngest.
This is Emerson’s writing as Senior Class Student Body president to her community on Saint Simon’s Island, Georgia, about very practically advancing community… my very very favorite topic.
This is a different CFC SPOTLIGHT form than most. Amanda and I suspect it might have an exceptional impact.
Thank You Emerson,
Mr. Pip
(Oh! I love her southern training that has Emerson compelled to call me and my awesome wife Mr. Pip and Miss Kelly!)
From Emerson:
Dear FA Families,
If I were to ask any given student, “What do you want out of this coming school year?” they would probably say something like “I want to achieve great grades, get along with all my peers every day, and have the best year ever!"
A better question - one that maybe you’ve never considered - is, “What am I willing to passionately pursue so that the objectives meaningful to our entire community can be accomplished?” This question is important because it seems clear to me that one of the basic realities of life is that great communal outcomes don’t just happen. You have to scratch and claw and struggle and persist and get back up over and over if your team is to accomplish great things.
We cannot be a community doing common things and expect to accomplish uncommon goals. I propose that we - as students, faculty, staff, parents, grandparents, alumni, and others who collectively support the school - pursue being a community defined by the following attributes and aspirations.
First, a caring community committed to each other’s well-being. When Jesus walked the earth, one of his primary objectives was to model service to others - not expect service from others. We can do the same. When you put yourself at the center of everything, trouble unfolds around you because of your selfishness; when you put others at the center, joy unfolds around you and within you because of your servanthood.
Second, a resourceful community of student-minded learners who are determined to fight for success. When assigned a project, don’t wait to see how little work you can do; instead look to see how much you can manage to make the project the best version of your work. That doesn't mean it has to be better than everyone else's; but the finest quality of our own work is not only hoped for, but expected. As the Dalai Lama once wisely said, "The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self."
Third, a community of FA enthusiasts who cheer for everyone’s accomplishments. One of the most miserable ways to go through life is constantly comparing yourself to others. Because when you do this, as theologian Craig Groeschel points out, by definition, you come away feeling superior to others - or inferior to others - and neither of these glorify God. Mudita, a Buddhist concept of sympathetic or vicarious joy, refers to the happiness we experience when others have good fortune. I love that. FA will be a better place on a daily basis if all can adopt this mindset.
And fourth, a resilient community committed to picking ourselves up and picking each other up. Every social interaction you encounter won’t leave you feeling warm and fuzzy. Every test you receive back won’t have 100 at the top. But that’s ok. One of the lies our generation has been sold is that every day should be a “fun” day. And that’s just not possible. But every day can be fun (enjoyable in the moment) - or productive (enjoyable at a later time) if we learn from them and apply the lessons we absorb both in the moment and on a future day. That is truly possible.
I am incredibly excited to lead the FA Student Council into a new year. I look forward to a community of students, faculty, staff, and parents more unified than ever before. Serve others, fight for success, practice Mudita, and lift one another up and 2025-2026 will be a year filled with joy instead of judgment and compassion instead of comparisons. Now that’s a community we can all support.
Sincerely,
Upper School Student Council President