Taking Charge: How MBS Students Excel Through Personal Responsibility The bedrock of our curriculum is to provide rigorous academic preparation for college and beyond. Equally, we encourage all members of the MBS community to cultivate a life guided by moral principles. While all of our values (Awareness of Diverse Perspectives, Engagement, Tenacity, Independence of Mind, Humor and Humility) are central to the development of ethical leaders across this campus, perhaps the value that serves at the foundation for all others is Personal Responsibility. Last summer when I chose to highlight this value it felt both timely and timeless.

“To me, the meaning of personal responsibility is about taking action for yourself. It’s about being accountable and taking ownership of both of your actions and what you need to accomplish. For example, if I’m out sick I reach out to my teachers and schedule meetings for when I return. It’s up to me to make sure I’m caught up in my classes and I also go to the writing center for different assignments. Earlier this year I started a movie club because I wanted to help us balance our work at school with something fun. We’ve had so many students interested that we had to split into two groups, so again I saw something I wanted to check and took ownership to make it happen.”

 

 

 

“When I first got my lanyard in September, it made me pause when I read the words “personal responsibility”. A lot of times, responsibility is about taking care of others. But this reminded me it’s also important to take care of ourselves. For me, as a junior who is just beginning the college process, there are moments I get stressed. But I remind myself that my time at MBS is limited; I only get to make this journey once. I try to mentally step back, take a breath and be grateful for everything around me. As a three sport athlete, a captain, an SGA officer, a blood drive captain and member of the Athletic Leadership Conference, I think about how to serve others. I find that leading others and taking care of others helps me be a better person, too.”

 

 

 

"When I first heard about the focus on personal responsibility, the word accountability came to mind. I thought about how at Morristown Beard, you can take control of your own education. For example, if I know I’m struggling in a class I need to take the initiative to reach out to the teacher and get support during collab and flex periods. Being a junior means really thinking about my future, taking accountability, and making myself one of my priorities. As a member of the track teams, I have practice and meets every day, and we often get back to campus at 11 pm. If I have an early dismissal, I need to organize my time in advance, see my teachers, and plan ahead. Sports makes you learn to be responsible as you balance everything else in front of you.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Personal responsibility means holding yourself accountable and to a higher standard. I’ve always done that academically and I also get involved in the community. For example, I attended the Widening the Lens conference and went to a diversity conference at Newark Academy last weekend. I attend Lunch & Learns on our campus and try to host Latin affinity meetings that help the whole community learn and share.”

 

 

 

 

“To me, personal responsibility means being accountable for my actions, my words, my behavior, my commitments, and my choices. Right now, I am wrapping up the swim season and I have a role in the upcoming musical. If I want to find ways to balance my academics with my involvement in the arts and athletics, I need to take personal responsibility. This requires developing relationships with my teachers, directors, or coaches and letting them know when I have a scheduling conflict. It means reaching out directly to my teachers if I want to clarify a concept and not being too proud to ask for help if I need it. Those things that don’t come naturally to me, I try to make up for in discipline. And discipline requires commitment and taking personal responsibility. I also try to keep track of due dates and deadlines, and to get started on work as soon as it is assigned because inevitably, everything tends to become due all at once. Even with advance planning, things don’t always work out the way I’d hoped.

In that case, it’s my personal responsibility to own and learn from my mistakes,

but at the same time, to give myself a little grace.”

 

 

 

“Being accountable for your own actions and always trying to do the right thing, especially helping others when they’re in need. At one of our School events, there was a girl who was very shy (and younger) and she seemed uncomfortable and almost out of place. I wanted to make sure she felt included, so I went over and reached out to her and invited her to be part of the event with my friend group. She came out of

her shell with us and I could tell she enjoyed the event.”