Student Assembly: Choosing Growth

This talk was shared by our Director of Academic Affairs at a recent student assembly.

Starting with a Story from the Working World

I was talking to a friend recently who manages people in a dynamic workplace environment where novel situations arise regularly and “on the fly” thinking is required. She told me that recently she was orienting a new staff member who was about 22 years of age. She reported that this young man was incapable of making good decisions in novel situations. In fact, he was paralyzed from acting. When she was able to reflect with him later he admitted that he had spent the last four years letting AI’s do most of his work for him. He entrusted most of his formation and learning to bots. As a result, he was unable to function well in the real world. He lacked courage, confidence, and hope that he could lean in to new situations. As a result, he’s likely going to get fired. 

Formed for Something Greater

At Pacifica, we are unapologetically focused on your formation. We care deeply about who you are becoming. Our desire for each of you is that during these formative years you will cultivate noble character, build resilience through healthy friction, nurture independent judgment, kindle rightly ordered desires, and habituate virtue and faith. We want you to learn to think well so that you can live well—not just for your own personal flourishing, but for the good of your families, your future communities, and the life of the world.

This kind of education is countercultural, but it is deeply good.

The Friction of Real Learning

We live in a world where artificial intelligence can generate text in seconds, solving problems and summarizing information on command. But shortcuts cannot build character. The true goods of a Pacifica education—deep attention, moral imagination, complex reasoning, and intellectual courage—cannot be outsourced to an algorithm. They can only be forged through practice, persistence, and honest engagement.

When you choose to bypass the friction of wrestling with a difficult text or engaging in sustained thought, you aren't just saving time—you are trading away your own capacity to grow. AI promises the illusion of productivity, but real education is not about speed, optimization, or output. Real education is about transformation. It is about learning to think for yourself, pushing through uncertainty, writing to discover what you truly believe, and experiencing the deep satisfaction that comes after hard-fought effort.

Choosing Growth Over Shortcuts

We cannot choose this for you. We can create an environment of grace and truth, set high standards, and walk alongside you, but the choice to engage is yours. Every day, you will face a decision: Do I want a shortcut, or do I want to grow?

When you are tempted to care more about a letter grade than actual understanding, choose growth. When you are tempted to care more about a college admittance than actual understanding, choose growth. When you are tempted to care more about a job you want than good character, choose growth. You’re only robbing your future self at the expense of your present self. It is okay to struggle. It is okay to fail on the way to mastery. Your formation as a whole person matters infinitely more than a temporary metric or win.

Stepping into the Hero’s Journey

We love you, and because we love you, we are inviting you into something heroic. View your education not as a set of assignments to merely get through—or God forbid—automate; rather, see your education as a hero’s journey—complete with real obstacles, meaningful struggle, and genuine triumph. The deep satisfaction that comes from that kind of struggle and growth is worth more than anything in the world, and will ultimately lead to your success in life.

My friends, you were not made to be passive consumers of automated outputs. You were created to be thoughtful, courageous human beings who retain agency over technology. So this year, cultivate an explorer’s heart. Embrace the friction, sit with the difficult questions, and lean into the hard, beautiful work of learning. We are in your corner, cheering you on every step of the way.

I invite you to step into this high calling with courage, hope, and joy.

May the LORD be with you!