It's That Time of the Year, Again.

Graduation season is upon us again here in Wauconda, Illinois. The middle school ceremony was last Tuesday. I threw out the speech I had because it refused to be tweaked into something decent. Ended up doing a modification of an old high school speech pitched to eighth graders. Seemed to go over well. I'll put it up here even though it's not new. It does give me a place to go that I know I can find them if my computer blows up.

Commencement Address

May 17, 2016

Wauconda Middle School / Matthews Middle School

John Armstrong

Parents, friends, faculty, students:

Promotion day is often a time to look back, to reminisce about the last three years of middle school life:  the classes, the games, the dances; what we did in Mrs. Robb’s class, what Ms. Carlson told us, what activity Mr. Prostka had planned for us.  It is an enjoyable exercise: to look back; to remember the good times, laugh (finally) about the bad times.  It is a time to celebrate all that has gone before.

But now we are where we are, another new stage of life with it's own unknown challenges and questions, happiness and sorrows.  Over the next few months, there will be many changes.  You will lose old friends and make new friends.  You will find things you used to do are no longer interesting and you will develop new interests.  You will find the high school has more choices than you have had before, more activities like Math Team and Photo Club; more sports, like golf or bowling; more variety for classes, like Foods and Environmental Science.  It is a whole new world for you and part of our job as a school district is to ask you to consider how you are going to respond to those changes. 

I was privileged to see the historian David McCullough speak at a school board convention in Chicago not too long ago and it prompted me to read one of his books.  In the book he talks about what he sees as an alarming shift in the mindset of what kind of country the United States should be.  Historically, he wrote, it has been a country that valued achievement over safety.  When people moved from Europe to the United States in the 1600’s, they knew they were taking a tremendous risk.  When people loaded their possessions in a wagon in the 1800’s, and headed west, they knew they were taking a tremendous risk.  And when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin climbed into the lunar module of Apollo 11 in the summer of 1969 and headed for the Moon’s surface, they knew they were taking a tremendous risk.

Lately, it seems, risk has become a bad word.  Safety and security have become the watchword for our country.  And when I speak to young people about what they will do with their lives, I can hear the echoes of lots of adults telling them to play it safe.  We adults have tried to protect you as you grew up and as a consequence you have heard us say over and over again to say no to this and say no to that.  I am here to appeal to you to take some risks as you make decisions about what you will do with your time in high school.  I don’t mean that you should ride in the car without a seat belt or put things in your body that will mess up your health or your psyche.  But as you move from middle school to high school, trust in yourself.  Dream big.  Don’t play it safe. Maybe being in the school play has sounded interesting, but you weren’t sure you could do it. This may be the year to get involved, either on the stage or behind the stage.  Maybe math team will spark some interest. Or you like playing tennis. Spend some time working hard at that this summer and decide whether you would like to try out for the tennis team. Do something that will make you stretch and grow.  And trust in yourself. 

I had dinner last week with a 48 – year old friend whose company decided to hire an outside consulting firm to do the work that his department does.  After 15 years with the company, he is out of work.  He has been an accountant all his life.  But what he wanted to do 30 years ago when he went to college was teach science.  At the time, you couldn’t make much money in teaching, so he decided to play it safe.  Next Tuesday he has an interview with an organization in Chicago that helps people earn alternative teacher certification if they are willing to work in inner – city Chicago.  It will be a big change in his life and he will have to start all over.  But he is very excited about his future right now. 

Helen Keller said, "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” 

I hope your next four years are a daring adventure. 

Thank you.