{"id":10815,"date":"2026-09-22T14:58:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T18:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hra.org\/?p=10815"},"modified":"2026-09-22T14:58:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T18:58:32","slug":"resilience-personified-emily-goodson-03-visit-fall-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hra.org\/resilience-personified-emily-goodson-03-visit-fall-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cResilience Personified\u201d: Author and HRA Alumna Emily Goodson \u201903 Provides Students with Resources for Embracing Differences and Cultivating Confidence and Self-Advocacy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"HRA

Emily Goodson \u2019<\/span>03 returns to HRA to provide Upper Schoolers and eighth graders with strategies for cultivating confidence, resilience, and self-advocacy<\/p><\/div>\n

After delivering <\/span>inspiring remarks<\/span><\/a> for the <\/span>Class of 2026<\/span><\/a> at their May graduation, Hampton Roads Academy <\/span>alumna<\/span><\/a>, author, public speaker, and disability rights advocate Emily Goodson \u201903 returned to campus on Tuesday, September 22, for a moving and engaging presentation to students on building confidence and finding one\u2019s voice, regardless of what others may say.<\/span><\/p>\n

The morning assembly for the full <\/span>Upper School<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>eighth-grade<\/span><\/a> student body, held in the Svein J. Lassen Auditorium, included practical, actionable advice and resources drawn from Goodson\u2019s personal experience as a person with a disability who worked for many years to achieve self-acceptance. Goodson detailed this journey in her acclaimed 2025 memoir <\/span>Dating Disability: 15 Stories of Dealing with the BS and Building Confidence<\/span><\/i><\/a>, from which she shared anecdotes during her visit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Goodson\u2019s message for the students was simple to understand but often challenging to internalize: \u201cIt is normal for all of us to feel self-conscious for a variety of reasons, and there are things you can do to have a better relationship with that voice in your head that is making you self-conscious.\u201d She explained that subjects such as disability, mental health, and the value of speaking up for oneself and one\u2019s peers were not widely discussed when she was growing up and struggling with her own \u201cinternal gremlins.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I like speaking in schools so much,\u201d she said\u2014\u201cto help promote those conversations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Assistant Head of School and Director of Upper School <\/span>Ben Rous<\/span><\/a>, hearing an alumna, within the first month of school, tell her story of persevering through remarkable adversity and developing pride in her identity set the tone for HRA\u2019s 2026-2027 <\/span>Year of Resilience<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is resilience personified,\u201d Rous said. \u201cNot only has she overcome [her disability]\u2014she is thriving,\u201d touching countless lives with her empowering message through her writing, consulting work, and speaking engagements like her visit to her alma mater. \u201cShe transformed her journey into a roadmap for others.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Standout Student and an Accomplished Alumna<\/h3>\n
\"HRA

Having taken a long journey to self-acceptance, Goodson is in her element in front of audiences of students, sharing lessons she wishes she had learned as a teenager<\/p><\/div>\n

When she was eight years old, Goodson suffered a brain injury that resulted in partial paralysis on the entire left side of her body. The next several years brought a difficult road to recovery, as she relearned how to speak, adapted to typing with one hand, and adjusted to walking with legs of different lengths. As Goodson recalled, however, physical therapy only helped her address one set of obstacles. Undoing the negative self-concept she formed after developing her disability\u2014the true key to resilience in the face of disappointment\u2014would take her decades.<\/span><\/p>\n

Goodson never let the challenges she confronted stand in the way of academic, artistic, or professional success. Faculty members at HRA remember her as an exceptional student, an asset on the yearbook staff and forensics team, and a regular presence on stage in school plays and musicals. \u201cYou knew about Emily Goodson even if you didn\u2019t have her in class,\u201d said Rous, who started teaching at HRA during her time as a student. \u201cShe was a bright light on campus, \u2026 a go-getter,\u201d and \u201ca force for positivity at the school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After graduating from the Academy in 2003, Goodson went on to major in English and minor in education at Wake Forest University, then earned a master\u2019s in student affairs practice in higher education from the University of Virginia. She taught and worked in education administration for a short time before pivoting into human resources, launching her current work to advocate for inclusivity in the workplace as well as schools. In 2020, Goodson founded the consulting firm CultureSmart, through which she engages in dialogue with partners from boardrooms to high schools on such topics as confidence, self-advocacy, identity, and the importance of embracing people\u2019s differences.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now a published author, she is able to reach wider audiences than ever before. But the opportunity to return to HRA, she explained, was especially meaningful, as she offered advice she wished she could have heard when she was a student at the Academy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Intersection of Asking for Help and Resilience\u201d<\/h3>\n
\"HRA

A highly interactive presentation: students respond to real-time digital survey questions exploring themes covered during the assembly<\/p><\/div>\n

Goodson\u2019s visit with HRA\u2019s Upper Schoolers and eighth graders represented a continuation of a discussion she began with graduates and their families at Commencement 2026. Addressing a larger portion of the student body, she shared invaluable lessons from her journey toward greater confidence and emotional resilience. The highly interactive assembly included digital polling and word cloud activities, opportunities for students to reflect and jot down ideas on strategies for self-advocacy and self-care, and accessible live captioning for audience members who process information best visually. Goodson left ample time to engage directly with the younger Navigators, fielding questions about her personal and professional path, her most effective coping strategies, and (to her delight) her favorite Broadway shows.<\/span><\/p>\n

The author drew on such episodes from <\/span>Dating Disability<\/span><\/i> as a Middle School social in HRA\u2019s Multi-Purpose Room in the late 1990s, after which she concluded that a dance with her crush had not led to a relationship because she could not walk or move on the dancefloor like her peers. Later in her life, she told the students, she realized that her greatest hurdle was not her disability, but rather the sense of shame she had allowed to shape her vision of herself.<\/span><\/p>\n

The climax of the presentation focused on the three \u201cbuckets\u201d of resources Goodson has learned to tap in order to maintain a positive outlook and remain resilient in the face of challenges: knowledge of oneself and the knowledge of mentors, authors, and other experts; mindfulness tools, such as meditation, journaling, and exercise; and, perhaps most important of all, relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stressing \u201c<\/span>the intersection of asking for help and resilience<\/span><\/a>,\u201d Goodson challenged the students to consider how their relationships could make them more resilient by providing a network of support. \u201cFor a long time, I thought being resilient was doing it all by yourself\u201d and \u201cpowering through,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s not true resilience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She also called students\u2019 attention to the benefits of breathwork exercises, which she uses alongside meditation and auditory stimming to center herself when she feels overwhelmed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Upper School <\/span>counselor<\/span><\/a> and AP psychology teacher Elizabeth Rous, who was instrumental in organizing Goodson\u2019s visit, commented that this section of the assembly dovetailed perfectly with weekly work she has done with Upper Schoolers covering intentional breathing, cognitive reframing, and sleep hygiene. Goodson\u2019s story of hard-won self-acceptance foreshadowed self-care topics she will cover in the year ahead, \u201cwith an emphasis on neuroplasticity and how negative patterns of thinking affect our emotions and behaviors,\u201d Rous said. \u201cChanging patterns is hard and often uncomfortable, which builds the resilience \u2018muscle.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As Goodson observed during her presentation, the skills and strategies she outlined are ones that will pay dividends not only during students\u2019 years at HRA, but throughout their lives. Her three \u201cbuckets\u201d of resources are no different whether she is speaking at a school or in a corporate setting. HRA\u2019s students, she insisted, will be better set up for success in their personal relationships and in their careers for having developed these strategies at a far earlier age than most adults\u2014herself included.<\/span><\/p>\n

Takeaways for the Year of Resilience\u2014and Beyond<\/h3>\n
\"HRA

A fond reunion: Goodson with the team that brought her back to HRA (left to right)\u2014Assistant Head of School and Director of Upper School Ben Rous, Upper School counselor and AP Psychology teacher Elizabeth Rous, and Director of Alumni Relations Tommy Yevak ’83<\/p><\/div>\n

Following the assembly, Goodson sat down for lunch in the Lisa and Peter W. Mertz Meeting Room with school leaders, who expressed their deep gratitude for the words of wisdom she had imparted to the students.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben Rous shared his hope that students, regardless of how their individual experiences may differ from Goodson\u2019s, see the resonance of her story in their own lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSchool <\/span>is <\/span><\/i>adversity,\u201d he said. \u201cEven if we try to make it as comfortable and fun as possible, our students are challenging themselves, and there is the risk of failing.\u201d From academic struggles and social stumbles to losses in sports and theatrical roles they do not land, setbacks await students throughout their educational journeys, especially at a rigorous school like HRA. By providing a supportive environment where students feel safe to take risks, experience disappointments, and try again, the Academy equips students with the resilience and confidence they need to navigate challenges in college, in their careers, and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Goodson\u2019s story proves one thing, it is that obstacles are unavoidable, but what we do when we encounter them is very much within our control. During the Year of Resilience, the entire HRA community will take this lesson to heart.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After delivering inspiring remarks for the Class of 2026 at their May graduation, Hampton Roads Academy alumna, author, public speaker, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10974,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,15,49,50,133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-school-news","category-alumni","category-featured","category-home","category-programs-facilities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10815"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10978,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10815\/revisions\/10978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}