Do Not Open Until Graduation Day! (Give or take a day)

Hello Senior! I hope you opened this the day before Grad day. I sent it in May just to make sure I didn't miss it. That would suck. The day I have FutureMe send this (May 5) is also our half-birthday. Happy 17(?) and 1/2! 18 1/2 Just kidding! :D Jk(lmnop) So, here it is, kiddo. The big one. The real thing. You're going to walk across that stage tomorrow, leaving childhood behind altogether. The thought is going to make me cry soon. But I have to keep going I hope that these past 4 years have been the best they could be. I hope we didn't move around again, (as thought) and stayed in the one school ( as promised) I hope that somehow C. managed to stay so that you weren't the only "American" girl at school. I hope the bonds you've formed with the people are tight and binding, and that they will stay strong for the rest of your life. I'm going to copy the Graduation speech from last year's class (2007.. It's August 23rd, 2008today) that's on the school website right now. I want you to see how much you (we) can relate. So here it is: ~ President of the Board of Trustees and other honored guests, Members of Faculty and Administration, Proud Parents, Ladies and Gentlemen, and most especially, our senior students, welcome to this very special ceremony: I suspect those on the stage are all too young to have heard of the old Bob Dylan song: “The Times They Are a’Changin’”. When I was their age, I played that record – we called them records in those days- so many times that one could scarcely distinguish the cracks on the vinyl from the cracks in Dylan’s voice. It was sung in a different context, of course, and perhaps in more radical times, but it still sends a shiver down my spine whenever I hear it, and I still play it, because of the reminder it gives me of the strength and joy and pain of being young, because it tells of a future that is at once thrilling and intimidating and hovering just over the horizon, because of the power of its threat against the old way of doing things. The times have indeed changed since Dylan first croaked those words, but our Seniors will be going out into a world where there are just as many seemingly intractable problems as confronted the youth of the 1960s. Where an absence of political will on the one hand and the lack of moral compass on the other mean that our planet is still beset by conflict, terrorism, poverty and looming environmental disaster. What has this School given to you to help you cope with those challenges that you will face? Well, in about an hour or so, you will collect the most tangible of the gifts we bestow – the famous green folder containing your High School Diploma – ostensibly your passport to a future strewn with riches and rewards. Perhaps in ten or twenty or forty years’ time you will come across that Diploma, hidden away in a drawer or bookcase or kept in an attic somewhere. I wonder what will come to your mind when you think of your years here. Will it be the glittering prizes that you won? The college acceptances? Your triumphs on the stage or the sports field or in the gymnasium? I’m sure that those memories will be quick to return. Will it be the friends you made here and the mad things you did together? That sense you have now, and that you are beaming across the stage to me as I speak - of being a Band of Brothers, a Fellowship of the Ring that outwitted the orcs and trolls that populate the Administration Offices downstairs. Well all of those are worthy remembrances; enjoy them in the years to come. But I hope that you will also find that --- has left its mark on you in other ways than the trophies you won and the fun you had. We, as a school, have made an active and serious choice – to educate you for a purpose, and that kind of education goes way beyond the equations and quotations that you churn out at examination time. It’s a purpose that manifests itself in what is our principle co-curricular activity – the sustainable service learning; it’s a purpose that is implicit in such pursuits as Model United Nations and Green Travel; it’s a purpose that runs through the conversations you have with your teachers and counselors and administrators; it’s a purpose that is spelled out in our Core Beliefs when we talk about encouraging empathy, compassion and respect for human dignity, about living our lives positively, joyfully and ethically; its purpose is to make you understand – and then act – on the principle that you are not on this earth for yourselves alone and that your life is enriched and enabled when you contribute to the wellbeing of others. I was reminded of this when I read a passage from an open letter written by a Jewish university professor to educators everywhere: “Dear Teacher, I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no person should witness: Gas chambers built by talented engineers, children poisoned by educated physicians. Infants killed by trained nurses, women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates. So, I am suspicious of education. My request is: Help your students to become more human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmanns. Reading, writing and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more human.” Perhaps that is a grim passage to quote at a Graduation Ceremony, but it reminds us of our fundamental responsibility as a school. Of course we are here to teach you mathematics and science and languages and the rest, of course, the taught curriculum is preeminent, but we are also here to teach you values. And let me tell you a secret. I don’t care that much if, in ten years’ time you can’t recite a word of Hamlet’s soliloquies, or what on earth you are supposed to do with a TR83, or remember who signed the Treaty of Brest Litovsk (though I can see one dissenting figure in the audience who is desperate that you retain those latter details.) But I do care massively about the values part. When I was a boy at school in B----- (hard to think of me as a boy isn’t it, but don’t worry, you’ll be 30 one day) we used to have daily assemblies with a religious theme. Most of that washed over my head, but there was one prayer recited by the Headmaster that, by dint of repetition, has imprinted itself on my hard drive. It used to finish: “Help us keep in our hearts and minds the lessons learned here – of truth and honor, fair play and generosity.” Sadly, the curriculum and pedagogy of B----- School did anything but encourage those values, but what a marvelous aspiration for any school to have. It’s the kind of aspiration I have for this school, and the lessons that you ought to have learned here. Take those lessons with you and exemplify them in your studies and your work and all your dealings with other people and then you can help in changing these times we live in. Class of 07, I expect that, in these past few weeks, many of you will have been playing the “Last Game”. It’s something I always find myself doing when I’m about to leave a particular place. This Monday will be the last time I ever do such and such; This Tuesday will be the last time I ever have such and such; This Wednesday will be the last time I ever go to such and such… In your case it may have been the last ever ----- competition in which you participated; the last lesson with a particular teacher; the last time to wear in full your beloved school uniform. (For some of you, that particular “last” may have happened in 10th Grade.) But there is a more important last than all these. The odds are that this is the last time you will ever all be together in one place. You may make all the promises you want; arrange all the reunions you like, but something will always prevent some of you from attending. Tonight truly means the Diaspora of the Class of 2007. In an hour or so, this ceremony will be over. When you walk out of here, I want you to look around at what you are leaving behind. You came in here as students of the ------------- ------ of ------; when you leave, that will no longer be true. This part of your life is finished - forever! You are grown ups and you are about to cast off the trappings of a child's world. That can be a sad and an intimidating thought. Don't let it be. You are starting on the most exciting part of your life's voyage. There will be few adults in this hall who would not give everything they had to be in your position. Unfortunately, there is no second chance in this world. This is not a rehearsal. Savor the days you have. Cherish the time you have been given and try to make a difference. That is where a Graduation speech should end, but there is another “last” that I need to mention: this is the last --- Graduation that your Principal will preside over. Being high school principal anywhere (and I speak as an ex-high school principal) is an intensely difficult job; being high school principal at --- is next to impossible. You, as students, impose extraordinary demands; your parents impose intolerable demands; your teachers impose unbearable demands, and all of you want instant answers. When you get what you want, it’s no more than you deserve and you react accordingly; when you don’t get what you want, it’s a travesty of justice, an act of tyranny, and you react accordingly. And working for these three groups is the easy part of M--- M------’s day; he also has to work for me. That isn’t to say that the torment has all been one way. I remember asking him once what the High School faculty thought about me. He replied, “D----, they look on you as an inspiration.” “Really,” I said, preening myself. “Yes,” he continued, “they realize that if you can become a superintendent, then anyone can.” Inevitably our discussions are, at times, robust. What I admire in him is that never once has he flinched or faltered, never once has he taken a backward step, and never once has he forgotten what should be at the heart of any decision taken in a school: what is best for you, the students. Where you may have found him tough or strong-minded or critical or demanding in his dealings with you, I can only tell you that in all of the conversations that we have ever had, whether private or public, relaxed or fiery, you have come first – in his heart as well as his mind. Class of 2007 and your High School Principal, M--- M------, you have wonderful lives out there waiting for you. Make the most of them. ~ I edited it a little to save their anonymity. I hope it's okay, if anyone from school ever reads this and recognizes it. I also hope that that enlightened you somehow. I hope that you cried, just a little, now that you realize what we're losing- but, yet, also gaining at the same time. I didn't read much of it, but enough to know that if it makes me hurt like this now, it's going to be killer when we read it. But we'll survive. And I hope you keep in touch with those who have altered the path of your life in these past four years. To the best of your ability, try to keep in touch. And if not, well, all's forgiven. Stop taking things for granted. I know we're doing it, even right now when things are about to be taken away. So stop doing it, and say your goodbyes, sorrys and thank yous while we still have the time. Take time to realize what we're losing. Listen to Graduation by Vitamin C. I know we can make it. We have to. Now that I've depressed us enough, let's go onto what we're going to gain. College is just around the bend, if we chose that path. If not, we'll be taking a plane out of here to our first exotic area, right? Right now I'm between choosing college right away or taking a break for a year to travel. What did you choose? What did we choose? Are we happy? I hope there are plans to take D on that trip. And the other 2 too. And if not, work on them. But college! Here's the escape we've all been longing for, right? Let's take the leap, and land on the other side. There are new people and new things waiting to be discovered. And just because "the grass is always greener on the other side" has been such a sad truth, doesn't mean that this won't be different. The grass could be purple for all you know! Take the jump and find out. We can do this. Sure, we'll lose things, but what haven't we lost before? We've lost friends, 'lovers,' family, faith, ourselves, our life to sadness and bad habits. There's nothing left to lose that we haven't lost before. And who knows? Someday we just might find it again. All of it. But you won't know if you don't try. Remember you are beautiful, self-sufficient, smart and funny. You are the rock which others lean on, but even rocks don't stand alone. They need the ground to hold them up firmly. Make sure you have steady ground, especially now. Spread our wings and fly, but we'll always remember where the nest is. Or, maybe, we're more like the dragonfly. After we transition from our life in the water as nymphs to the majestic dragonfly, we won't be able to come back to the water, not fully. Not like before. But we can always be near it, always touch it with both hands. The connection will still be there. And we will come home at the very end. So now this is it. Today we become the dragonfly. Today we fly. And today we grieve what is lost and cheer for what is gained. And tomorrow- well, who knows what tomorrow brings? We only know that it carries with it the promise of another day, another chance. Live life one day at a time, but with all your might and soul cling to it, so that when it's time to really leave, we can say we've lived our best. Regret nothing. Remember everything, good or bad, and learn. I hope that somehow you are valedictorian, or make a speech somehow today. I hope this so that you can share with the rest of the class- and through them, the world- what we can do and achieve. We are class of 2012. And we are proud. We are lucky- each grade has also been the ending of the school year's year. Like right now, we are in 12th Grade, and the school year ends in 2012. It is a sign, I am sure, of what we are about to become. We can change this world, and we WILL make a difference. We are here at the crossroads, and though our paths may never cross again, we will be a part of each others lives forever. And that is all that really matters, that is all that should matter. That we are part of something and that maybe, we can change things That is all we've every really dreamed about. And that is what we should strive to do. Well, 2012, Senior, Graduate. I am proud of you. All of us, from 0-14 are proud of you. And all who come after us are proud of you. We've made it this far. And we're gonna keep on going. We, all of us, wish you the best of luck and all our good hopes on this journey we are about to make. Walk each step with pride. Keep your head high. We are the future, the present, the past, and we are ready. And now, we give you all our love. Remeber to cling tightly, but to know when to let go. And we forgive you for any mistakes we make. We're only human. All our love, forever and for always, ~ A, 14, below and beyond. P.S.- Songs to listen to: 'Bring on The Rain' by Jo Dee Messina and Tim McGraw and 'Mountains' I can't remember who by (Country song)