“Be like water, my friend” is a famous quote Bruce Lee uses to explain his philosophy as an individual. By mimicking the nature of water, Bruce Lee explains how to be flexible, much like how water adapts to its surroundings. By being water, you adapt to your surroundings and situations you are put into.
Mr. Diaz presents the idea of being water to Mayfair’s campus after previously hearing the phrase be used in a meeting at a previous job. When coming to accept his role at Mayfair, he began to study and grasp the ideologies here at Mayfair, from the SOONS motto to the monsoon mascot. When engaging with Mayfair as a whole, he stumbled back to the infamous Bruce Lee quote and began to attach it with Mayfair's aesthetic. From the standards taught, to the school's colors, “Be water” soon began to make its debut into Mayfair’s staff and is soon to be more involved with the student body.
The motto is fairly compatible with the middle letter of the SOONS motto: the prime letter: the second “O”. Overcoming challenges is a highlighted standard at Mayfair, and with the help of the new “Be water” motto, the two balance one another out. If you’re “being water” while trying to overcome a challenge at school (or in general), you’re practicing flexibility and the ability to adapt to your surroundings. In addition to Bruce Lee’s quote, Mr. Diaz likes to add onto the quote by saying to not get so wrapped up into the problem at hand, but focus on how to adapt to your situation and overcome it.
In adopting the new motto, Mr. Diaz has two goals to help with the phrase being spread: more representation of it both on campus and online. He started by asking our Arts Department to illustrate the idea via murals, so as students walk through campus, they have visuals that will add a positive message toward campus. He also hopes to grow the slogan online with a hashtag, where all students can post Mayfair related content and have positive Monsoon spirit circulate online. In addition to a growing social media presence, he also hopes to grow his following on a personal Mayfair Instagram account (@mayfair_busd) and has a goal of reaching 1,000 followers with hopes to match his following to the amount of students on campus.
Mr. Diaz’s concept of “Be water” brings a new patriotic feel to Mayfair that we haven’t seen much of since the pandemic. Coming back after such a tragedy, bringing a slogan to our campus is a step in a positive direction for future years at Mayfair.