Welcome parents, grandparents, friends, students, faculty, staff, and the Board of Trustees. I am honored to address you all and to celebrate the class of 2011, the 61st graduating class from Casady School in the 64th year of its existence.
According to Malcom Gladwell, author of a great book called Outliers, it takes about 10,000 hours of study and practice before ‘mastery’ is achieved, no matter what the field of study – piano, mathematics, chess, etc. That’s a lot of time. And, although you’ve spent the last two million minutes of your lives as High School Students - roughly 33,333 hours (including sleeping), and, assuming you studied and practiced various topics/instruments/skills one or two hours per day for five days per week, that amounts to around ten hours per week per activity, which equals (excluding summer, Christmas, spring break and other vacations) about 340 hours per year (given 170 or so school days). Since many of you continue your studies during the summer, it’s probably fair to add another 200 or so hours on top of that, netting around 1400 solid hours of work in each of your pursuits in the past four years. You’ve done a lot, but you haven’t quite yet reached the 10,000-hour threshold. So much to learn, so little time…
Despite that, you’ve already achieved amazing things: You are rowers, divers, mathematicians, national merit scholars, long-snappers, poets, dancers, violinists, actors, singers, service providers, health promoters, scientists, journalists, photographers, politicians, historians and linguists. Fortunately, few of you have narrowed your focus and have chosen to follow a single pursuit, in fact, most of you have a multitude of interests and passions. Because you chose Casady School for your high school experience, you’ve logged more hours, and have been challenged to perform at a higher standard in pursuit of your goals than you would have elsewhere. We’ve expected you to show up and embrace challenges, on the court, the stage, and in your classes and you’ve exceeded our expectations. The status quo has never been good enough for you and nor has it been for our School.
For decades, Casady Alumni tell us that they are more prepared and better able to handle the pressures of university and the workplace because of what they experienced at this School. I have no doubt that when you come back to visit in the coming years, we’ll hear the same refrain. Knowing that we’ve had just this one chance to educate you, your teachers have gone above and beyond the call, arriving early and staying late to help you reach and surpass your goals and their expectations for you. They’ve answered late night phone calls, attended your concerts and cheered you on at your games. They’ve been by your side, believing in you and encouraging you to raise the bar and not settle for just good enough. Your relationship with them has already shaped who you are and who you’ll become for the rest of your life; try to find the time to thank them.
In each of the past 64 years, teachers at this School have wrestled with the same question we wrestle with today: How can we educate our students so that they are in the best position to make a difference in the world? The importance of this question cannot be overstated: our future literally depends on getting it right. The actors have changed but the mission has remained the same. And, knowing your many talents, abilities, and who you are as people, I am confident that you are not only prepared to, but that you have already made our world a better place to be.
Much of the work you’ve done and will do in your lives will not be recognized in a public forum like this one, but at events like this it is important for us to make time to recognize individuals who exemplify qualities that we believe are important for a life lived well. Each year we wring our hands and argue with one another as we select the winners of our major awards. Tears flow when your teachers advocate for you – they know you, they care about you, they are deeply aware of the impact you have had in their classes and on their teams and they know that selecting the right individual to receive public recognition matters to you, to our School, and to the greater community.
In addition to our major awards, this year, a scholarship fund has been established in honor of Mr. Gayle Davis, longtime mathematics instructor and beloved educator. Because Mr. Davis held the bar high for each of his students and was always here to help them get over that bar, his students not only learned mathematics, they also learned how to live. His example, along with Margaret Tuck, Geneva Hood, Ian Rennert and others, serves as an important model for us as we strive to reach our own goals and aspirations.
The relationships you build and the bonds you create are the things that really matter, whether or not you win public acclaim or acquire monetary wealth. After tonight, as you think back on your time at Casady and try to make sense of how it is, exactly, that you ended up here today, some memories will persist in their clarity forever, some will change over time, and some will disappear. You’ll work on the narrative of your life for the rest of your life and you’ll strive to make sense of things within the boundaries of your own peculiar and unique story. This is central to who we are as human beings – we create stories to make sense of our lives, to make predictions and plan for our future. Be comforted that we are part of something larger than ourselves, and that there is indeed a purpose to all of this. We just don’t know how the story ends - we don’t even know what the next chapter will bring.
Life may not be linear and our stories haven’t exactly followed a predictable and rational arc. Don’t worry about that - embrace it. Our motto - Fideliter et Fortiter – with faith and with courage – reminds us to act boldly knowing that our faith will guide us in the right direction in order to do what is necessary. Our mission has been to prepare you, in mind, body and spirit to make a difference in your lives and in your world. We’ve done our part, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and you’re well on your way.
Congratulations.
