What a Chocolate Bar Means to a Milton Hershey School Graduate
By Katie Muir ’18
Through the years, chocolate has taken on many different meanings in my life. As a child, it represented a warm summer night making s’mores and catching fireflies. It was a cold winter day playing in the snow then coming inside to warm up with a cup of hot chocolate. It was trick-or-treating and hunting for Easter eggs. Chocolate was sweet and warm, accompanying all my fondest memories.
Chocolate took on a whole new meaning after I enrolled at Milton Hershey School when I was eight years old. Now, chocolate became a world of new experiences and possibilities.
It meant trying new things like playing a musical instrument and acting in a play through the school’s Visual and Performing Arts program. It meant going to school and learning. It was a warm bed, food on the table, and every piece of clothing I needed. It represented the warmth of my houseparents—the Cowans—who taught me values like kindness, responsibility, curiosity, and adventure.
Chocolate was my opportunity to be a kid.
As my journey at MHS continued, chocolate continued to be a part of my experience. Sometimes, it was tough nights missing my family and other times it was sunny days meeting friends at Hersheypark. It was also life lessons, mistakes, failures, celebrations, and accomplishments. It was self-exploration and belonging to a community. It was traditions like the Cocoa Bean game and Founders Feast at Hershey Lodge.
Chocolate was everything that came with growing up.
Now, as an employee at The Hershey Company, chocolate continues to be an integral part of my life. Working for the company that started it all allows me to reflect on the legacy of MHS founders Milton and Catherine Hershey—a legacy of generosity and selflessness. It reminds me that I am a part of that legacy, too.
Chocolate is a piece of who I am. It is a beautiful representation of a man and woman who opened a world of possibilities for me. And today, it is an opportunity to make sure that their legacy and the gift of education they’ve provided can live on forever.
MHS Students Share What the Message on the HERSHEY’s Wrapper Means to Them
MHS students share what the message on the chocolate bar means to them and how it helps them unlock their potential.
