In hopes of bringing together separate groups of Redwood students and encouraging them to share out their passions, Redwood held its first-ever Passion Week during the week of March 7.

The goal of Passion Week was to bring a positive atmosphere to campus and allow students and faculty to share what they do in their free time, according to junior Courtney Carswell.

Leadership held events throughout the week that focused on the overarching theme of students making their passions their purpose. These events included a passion festival on Wednesday at lunch allowing students and faculty to share their passions by creating their own booths in the small gym, a speaker on Thursday, and a drama performance on Friday where students performed practice monologues in the little theater.

 Additionally, Leadership scheduled advanced performance workshop students to play on the outdoor stage each day at lunch. However, only one band played during the week due to rain.

Each year, Leadership hosts a spirit week to draw attention to a wellness topic. Everybody Loves Everybody week, which aimed to raise awareness about social inclusion, received negative feedback last year regarding the exact message it was attempting to promote. Leadership decided to explore a new concept this year.

Davey Muise, the guest speaker, shared his backstory that eventually led him to follow his passion, music. After overcoming depression and losing sense of who he truly was, Muise was able to use his love of music to help bring him out of the disheartening state he was in. He became not only the lead singer of Vanna, a post-hardcore punk band from Boston, but an inspirational speaker for teenagers across the country as well.

“Every great person that we are forced to read about in school, or that has a Netflix show, all these people, they had to choose greatness at some point in their life,” Muise said in his speech. “They weren’t born and just like ‘All right I’m gonna kill it now.’ They had to work at it they had to build their dream up.”

Muise told students that once they are able to find a “shovel,” representing their passion, they can start digging out the path that will lead them to greatness.

“Your shovel, well that’s your passion––that’s the thing in life that is always able to dig you out. It could be music, it could be art, it could be sports, it could be drama, it could be academics, it could be friendship, it could be leadership, it could be anything,” Muise said. “But see, once you dig yourself out of the place you were in, and you’re standing on solid ground, well, you’re still there holding a shovel.”

Although Carswell did hear some negative feedback about the speaker regarding his portrayal of women, she believed that overall his message worked with the week’s theme.

“If you’re truly passionate about what you’re doing, you go for it,” Carswell said, explaining the message she took from Muise’s speech.

The lunchtime event on Wednesday in the small gym was designed to bring the Redwood community together by allowing both students and staff to sign up for a booth and set up a display that represented their passion.

It was not as successful as Leadership planners had hoped due to the rain and change of location. The goal was for students to walk by the tables and perhaps become interested in a new passion.