Valedictory Address, May 2005

Well, I'm coming to the end of my Undergraduate education--a scary thought. I decided to look back at my Valedictory address from high school. I thought it might inspire me as I write my personal statement for a Ph.D. program. It hasn't, but I enjoyed reading it anyway. I'm inspired for life, even though I haven't gotten any good writing ideas. Now I'm posting it on the-blog-that-no-one-reads. Yay!




When I began to thinking about writing a speech, I immediately panicked. What if I never thought of anything! But I remembered a question that I’ve been hearing a lot recently. “Are you excited about graduating?” That's a difficult question to answer. Every time someone asks, I begin to think. What does he mean? Am I relieved that I have managed to get through the first 13 years of my education? If I say yes, will the questioner think that I can't wait for it to end? On the other hand, maybe he’s asking if I am looking forward to the change. My classmates and I are coming to a milestone in our lives. We are taking a giant step away from childhood and toward adulthood. Am I eagerly anticipating it? When things like that are racing through my head, I don’t usually give a good answer. So I think the standard answer has been “yeah, sortof, I mean I want to go to college, but I don’t want to leave” or something to that effect. Well, now to all who were really interested, I have a fuller answer. I have thought long about both sides of this question, and you get to hear it all. The two directions of the question point to the two things I want to talk about. We, the class of 2005, are at a crossroads and it would be well for us to look behind and ahead.

Looking behind is not very hard. It seems like only a few days since Mrs. Olsen sat all of us in our seats in alphabetical order--although that rationale certainly did not occur to my kindergarten mind. I’ve been in school with you guys for the better part of 12 years, and they have been great years. I’ve gotten to know some of you quite well, and I hope we’ll all continue to be friends for many years to come. We have memories of squabbles in plenty, but also have memories of the joys of forgiving. It is only in a class like this that you can have an "inside joke" that doesn't exclude anyone (except probably the teacher). We laugh at the same things because of our shared experience. I can’t say that I’m looking forward to classes without “pun recognition” from Jussley or jokes about Josh’s hair and pointy ears. I don’t want to never hear Shawn say “ANNA SURBATOVICH” again. In fact, I might even miss your obscure facts, Sam! I know we’ll all miss each other to one degree or another, because we’ve become a lot like family.

But of course school is not only about making friends. When I look back at school I want to remember learning too. It seems that we often assume that learning is not cool. Many times when people ask if I am excited about finishing school I think that they are wondering if or even assuming that I want it to end. This attitude is ubiquitous. I have always been annoyed by the motto of “Brain Quest” “It’s okay to be smart.” Why should we need to be TOLD that it’s okay to be smart? Why do teachers make it into books and tv shows as sadistic villains (who have no greater pleasure than that of giving out detentions…)? I think this attitude is the result of peer pressure more than anything else. Most of the little children that I have met were very excited about school. Then in a few months they decided that they didn’t like it, and recess was their favorite subject, and lunch is their second favorite subject. But really, I don’t think many children would think that way on their own.

Not only is this dislike of schoolwork in many cases the result of peer pressure, it’s also not very sensible. Face it—if you’re not a senior (hehe) you’re stuck until the end. So you might as well enjoy it. We seem to have the “countdown mindset” starting from the beginning of the school year. Only 179 days to freedom! We’re almost there! I would encourage every TCS student to rethink this attitude. I can attest from experience that there is nothing that makes a class seem more interminable than peeking at the clock every thirty seconds. I remember once staying in for five minutes at recess in kindergarten. Andy Martin told me that he was going to count to sixty 5 times, and that would make it go faster. (We weren’t supposed to be talking…so go figure) But he was wrong. That was one of the longest five minutes in my life! Enjoy what you are given. It will only be worse if you refuse to like it.

But more importantly than the pragmatic reason for changing attitudes about learning are the biblical reasons. We don’t like school because of the work that it entails. We see it as a punishment, but it isn’t a bad thing. Adam worked in the Garden of Eden before he sinned. It is in God’s plan for us that we work. Many people in the world have recognized that. In Huxley’s futuristic Brave New World everyone had an eight hour workday. Everyone in that pleasure-centered society worked, even though it was unnecessary because they needed it to enjoy life contentedly. Man was created to do work, so he must work. Schoolwork, like other work is very good.

All the work in school is also a responsibility. It’s easy to think of the bad aspects of responsibility—the labour, the emotional stress. But responsibility is positive. Remember the parable of the talents. The master rewarded his righteous servants with more responsibility. Think of added duties in the light of what they mean as a step toward adulthood. I can be excited to think that when I get more homework, I'm given a trust, a vote of confidence. My teacher thinks that I am capable of a workload closer to that of my parents and other adults than to that of my first-grade brother! My little brother hardly does any homework, but he can't go any farther from home unaccompanied than the next-door neighbor’s yard. I, on the other hand, have plenty of homework, but in my free time I can drive myself to the County Library, or the mall (to practice saying “Like” repeatedly and meaninglessly.) Growing up is a trade-off. We have to lose our carefree childishness. But who would stay carefree, if he would never have the privileges of adulthood?

Schoolwork is not only a "vote of confidence." We are receiving the tools to help us appreciate many aspects of God’s glory as revealed in his creation. We are seeing the creativity he gave to man.

We get onerous reading assignments in our Western Thought and Great Books classes(esp WT). We groan and complain (a lot!). But imagine if there were no books for us to read? Imagine if we never experienced the thrill of knowing that we are hearing the thoughts of someone who died thousands of years ago. And sure, Shakespeare is difficult sometimes, but imagine if everything was expressed in the language of a textbook! I know that not everyone loves literature. But noone has to hate it.

We learn foreign languages. Maybe it's annoying to do all the homework, but that will help us to master the language and then we may have a whole new culture open to us. We can communicate with more people around us, and we can read more literature.

Studying philosophy isn't necessarily an esoteric useless exercise. For thousands of years men have been working to gain a deeper understanding of our world. Many people wonder who they are, and what they were put here to do. I used to wonder if all my life I was just dreaming and I might wake up some time and discover that I was someone else. I was very relieved when I learned that other people think about that too! As Christians we can be thankful for how much God has revealed in the Scriptures about our chief end. And as we think about love and justice and life and death we are not the first. So many people have thought about them and we are benefitted by learning from it.

Donald Whitney in 10 Spiritual Disciplines said "discipline without direction is drudgery." While he was speaking of the spiritual realm it is true in the realm of school. Schoolwork is not pointless. Our primary goal in life is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. At school we learn more about God's creation and have our eyes opened to more of his infinite glory.

So there are many reasons why you can and should enjoy learning at school. We all think is "cool" to hate school, but I am sure that if we just think about it differently, we see what a privilege it is and enjoy it.

And for all of you looking forward to high school, and feeling a little bit nervous about it, I will now give my sage advice stemming from 17 long years of experience. I know that people have been telling you that it only gets tougher. I'm not going to deny this, but remember, you're getting more mature. Of course 9th graders get more homework than 8th graders. But 9th graders also have one year more of experience under their belts.

(I suppose you could say that what I have said so far is my "not really" answer to the question of whether I am excited about graduating. I am going to miss my experiences both of learning and spending time with you my class and all my teachers and all my other friends at school(lunch buddies and stuff).

That was our look back at this crossroads of life. Now, to my fellow graduates looking ahead. Am I excited about college? I truly am sad to think of leaving my school. You're like family to me. But I'm also very exited about growing up. I think we all are. We looked at our teachers in kindergarten with adoration. Somewhere in elementary school we began to think that maybe they were of the same species as us. We began to respect them as men and women. Now we see them not only as men and women to be respected, but also people we should emulate. We as students are suddenly faced with the reality that now our lives are changing and our choices will decide what type of men and women we become. I'll tell you you, I'm scared, and I doubt that I'm alone in this (the thought of our going into the real world probably fill our teachers with dread! Hehe) but I know that this is something I've always wanted. You might not know this (yeah, right) but I really like Sam Gamgee. I think it’s partly because he was a normal person who always imagined being heroic--someone who dreamed of doing great things. All my life (even before LotR) I loved to read books like Kidnapped, and Ivanhoe--stories about boys who went to sea and war and did heroic deeds. I dreamed, like Sam did, of being like them. I wanted people a hundred years from now to remember me, to read books that I had written and to laugh and cry over them. I still do. But I know that is an unlikely scenario. I know that in a valedictory address I'm supposed to say that you can be what you want to be, you can do it, just work hard… But we all know that not everyone fulfills his dreams of glory. In fact very few people do. If we all were heroes, then heroes would no longer be heroic. Besides, a common life is grand, too. A few days ago when we were all in Yosemite nat'l park I saw real mountains for the first time ever. They were inspiring in their grandeur--their shapes were unpredictable and exciting. I also saw the sea again last week. I’ve seen it many times, and in my opinion it is one of the most beautiful things in God’s creation. It beats against the shore endlessly. It has a regular tidal pattern. Its very regularity and predictability is what makes it so inspiring. The waves do not move very far, but they shape land. The sea could reshape the mountains if it had enough time. Our lives are more likely to be like the sea than like mountains. We will not tower above others, but in the routine of life we can mold and change others. Pursue your dreams, but be content with little ones. If at the end of your life the only people who think you are a hero are your children, you have still done well.

And so I come to the end. We've come to a crossroads. We're ending childhood and beginning adulthood. It is frightening but it's also exhilarating. I don't know what God has in store for me or any of us, but I know that all things will work for His glory, and the good of all of us who love Him. I don't want to say goodbye to any of you, so let us say as the French say "au revoir" (I always wanted to say that!) But in all seriousness, I am praying that this goodbye will be temporary. I am praying that we'll be able to one day have a final class reunion--and all of you will be there--and we'll never have to leave again.