A chapter closes...
I was given the honor of addressing the 8th grade class at their end of middle school celebration Friday, June 17. The following is what I shared:
Good afternoon class of 2015, parents, EARJ middle school students and faculty


20 years ago last Thursday, June 9, 1991, I graduated from high school. (Yes, I just revealed my age to an auditorium full of people) At the time, it was, maybe it still is, customary to choose a famous quote or saying that represents the graduating class. This chosen quote is then displayed on commencement programs, open house invitations, and several pages of the senior section of the yearbook. For my graduating class, the class officers selected the following quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. And according to custom, it was printed on the commencement program, open house invitations, and several pages of the senior section of the yearbook. 20 years later, the programs, invitations, and yearbook pages are either dust in the wind or covered in dust in a number of attics/storage spaces. I guess it is safe to say, more importantly, that this saying was instead imprinted in my memory. Ironic in some ways, for what lies WITHIN us really is what is most important.

8th graders, future graduating class of 2015, soon-to-be freshmen, you are sitting in a seat that magnifies all that is behind you. You received a capsule letter this morning reminding you about how you felt at the beginning of this 8th grade year. Many of you were surprised when reminded of what your thinking used to be like. Some of you were surprised by how your opinions were altered over the course of this year. Some of you were just plain surprised. But what great things you have accomplished! Not only this school year, but all the school years until now. Inside the classrooms, on the athletic fields, as a member of your respective families, as you discovered what it means to be a friend.

This seat you occupy also magnifies the vastness of what lies before you. You’ve registered for classes, you’ve elected class officers, you’ve attended one upper school class all in anticipation for what August has in store for you. Some of you will face these new adventures in a new school or a new city or a new country. All of the unanswered questions, all of the anxiety will soon enough be addressed. While you seek those answers, as you traverse the path before you, might I remind you to pay attention to what lies within you.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. What do you take with you from your EARJ Middle School experience? I think it is safe to assume that my colleagues would concur with what I wish for you to take, what I hope you keep in your imaginary pocket or bag of tricks,

I hope you take your effective decision-making skills; you know how to face tough choices; you know how to state your opinion in a constructive fashion; you know how to construct a valid argument and remain open to understanding when the opinion is contrary to yours; you know how to make mistakes—with grace. I hope you continue to develop the habits of successful people: attention to detail, organization, the art of discourse, how to control impulses. I hope you take with you the gift—of inquiry. Ask questions, doubt facts, search for answers, trust your inner voice.

You have arrived here today individually and collectively. You can be proud of what you have accomplished as a class. I know I am. I would like to leave you today with another quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to learn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child or a garden patch….to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!

May each one of you find success. Congratulations class of 2015!