WHS Commencement Address, 2011

Commencement Address

May 22, 2011

Wauconda High School

Welcome parents, friends, faculty, and members of the graduating class of 2011:

On behalf of the Board of Education of District 118, I would like to welcome you to the 95th annual commencement of Wauconda High School.

I went to the movies last week and saw the movie Thor, in 3-D, no less. Now being a long time math teacher and certified geek, I have always had a fondness for comic books, so I have been looking forward to the wave of comic book movies that are headed our way this summer. And as I sat in the theater and watched Thor, my memories stretched back to the 1960’s.  When I was a Freshman in high school, my mother bought me a book for my birthday. Now in a few more years, I would probably have to stop here and explain to the younger set that a book is like an IPad, except it doesn’t scroll, or text or tweet, and it won’t play Youtube videos. The book she got me was by Edith Hamilton and it was titled Mythology. The book was a collection of stories about the Roman and Greek gods, goddesses, and heroes. The stories included the twelve labors of Hercules,  Jason and the Golden Fleece, and near the end of the book was a section on Norse mythology, including the story of Thor.

Since then I have been fascinated by myths of all kinds. I have read books about  Native American mythology, Celtic mythology, and Egyptian mythology. And what I would like to do today is talk to you about some myths that you should know about as you move on to the next stage in your life.

The first myth I would like to talk about is the myth that failure is bad.  Now nobody wants to fail. Whether it’s doing  poorly on a test , having a bad date, or making a poor choice in life, you don’t walk away from a failure with a good taste in your mouth. But you can walk away with a better sense of who you are and what you need to do better if you want to succeed. The book And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street was rejected by 27 different publishers before Ted Geisel finally found one that accepted it. Eventually 200 million copies of his books would find their way into the hands of children and adults who loved Dr. Seuss. You will make have failures. Admit to them, learn from them, and move on.

Another myth that I want to talk about is the myth that someone else is responsible for the way your life turns out. We are living in what is commonly called the Age of Entitlement in America. A sense of entitlement means that we feel we have a right or claim to something, whether it’s a nice house, preferential treatment, or the good life. We feel that we are owed these things. Mental health professionals routinely write about their experiences working with people who are absolutely certain that their lives should be better and that someone else is to blame. Talk radio shows seem to exist solely to tell us who to blame for the way our life has gone. Our exaggerated self-esteem leads us to think we are better than others. And then we can’t understand why other people seem to be better off than we are.  Unfortunately this is as far from the American ideal as we can get. We are a country founded on a pioneer spirit that tells us if we want to make something of ourselves, it’s up to us. Instead, we complain about what we don’t have.  As Anthony Robinson said, “Instead of knowing life as a gift, life turns into something that is taken for granted – or worse, begrudged. That’s real poverty, and no sense of entitlement can alleviate it.”  

The last myth that I would like to talk about is the myth that to get ahead you have to leave others behind. You know the image: people rising to the top by knocking other people down. Competition brings out the best in us. Unfortunately for that image, hundreds of studies going back to the late 1800’s have all said the same thing: cooperation is the real road to success. For instance, statistics show that scientists who consider themselves cooperative tend to have more published articles than their competitive colleagues. Cooperative business people have higher salaries. From elementary grades to college, students who cooperate have higher grade point averages. When resources and information are shared and team efforts are reinforced, everyone wins. Cooperation turns potential competitors into partners.  And as a side benefit, the research is pretty overwhelming that people who work cooperatively are physically healthier and better adjusted psychologically. We can make progress on being more cooperative, but it is a skill we have to learn. 

At one point during the little league baseball game, the coach said to one of his young players,
“Jimmy, do you know what cooperation is?”
The little boy nodded.
“Do you know that we win or lose as a team?”
Again the boy nodded yes.
“And do you know that when the umpire calls a strike while you are batting, you shouldn’t argue or swear at him or call him an idiot?’
The boy nodded in agreement.
“Good,” said the coach. “Now, would you please go over there and explain that to your mother.”

I appreciate your time and attention today. I congratulate you on 

the success that you have had in reaching this new stage in your 

life. And I hope that you make your life into a wonderful journey. 

Thank you.