VALEDICTORY ADDRESS VICTORIA PIPAS ’14 I am honored to be representing my class. Thank you to every one of you in the audience today for contributing to us, the class of 2014, and to who we are today. On senior skip day, after a rousing session of elementary school-level games in the barn, I sat down with a few seniors in the dining hall. I found myself thinking about how graduation was in eight days and how I had little to no speech material. So I went to the experts. I asked the seniors around me, “What would you guys like to hear in a graduation speech?” Jim Herbert looked at me and in his deep and thoughtful voice responded, “Well, everybody always talks about the past or the future. You could talk about the present.” The present struck me as the most important place to be. To me, presence means awareness of the world around me, observation of myself, and appreciation of both. So here we are, and here I am, right here, right now, to share with you. The easiest way to appreciate the “now” is to experience it. I invite you to join me here in this special moment. If it helps, close your eyes. Just be. Be right here, on the quad, where we have walked and built igloos and now we sit with the grass beneath us. Feel the presence of your advisor, your mentor, in the audience. Be aware of the person sitting right next to you; hear his or her breathing. Be present in yourself. Feel the sensation in your limbs and the emotions that might be coursing through you. Observe your breath. The Dalai Lama says, “As you breathe in, cherish yourself. As you breathe out, cherish all beings.” This day is commencement. It’s hard not to be sad today. I’m sad, but I am also overjoyed in our presence here. We have been present in moments here for years. Collectively, that’s a lot of moments. Join me in experiencing the KUA moment. Stampede to cookie break and then stand in the slowly moving lunch line. Sit respectfully at All School Meetings and then paddle your heart out in the Tower cup canoe races. Sleep-in on Thursday mornings, but make it to your 8 am classes (well, try your best). Hit the ball into the corner of the net, and rest on the long bus ride home. What is your favorite way to BE at KUA? I asked this question to my freshman sister, Stephi, and she answered assuredly, “Walking down from the gym when the sun is setting, listening to Beyoncé. That’s the best.” We are present in these KUA moments. Each of them is as valuable as the next, because collectively, they form our identities. When we’re present in this moment, life is not just about what we’ve done, but who we are. Class of 2014, who are we? Not just the numbers and stats on our age, gender, and nationality. But who we really are: what we believe in and what we stand for. We believe in friendship and action. We are accepting and honest, kind and witty, strong and beautiful, passionate and creative. We are the class that is so tightly-knit that our combined leadership crushed the destructive YikYak in 24 hours, although we weren’t quite able to pull together a Tower Cup win … Collectively, this is who we are. Who have YOU become here at KUA? This place asks us to take risks. KUA has given us each the space to appreciate ourselves for whomever we want to be. And in the same way that we appreciate ourselves, our presence in this moment allows us to appreciate those around us. Voltaire said, “Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” The most important gift that KUA has offered us is appreciation. When we are truly HERE, we can see how wonderful WE are. We see the self, but we also see the selves around us, and the community that we form. This moment is the best we will ever have; here, we can appreciate and take forward all of our own strengths and the strengths of those we love. We can let go and forgive others and ourselves for any shortcomings. And we can choose to create a future where we are not confined by the past, but free to be the best of who we are. Let’s give our full gratitude in this moment to all of the people and experiences here that have made us “us.” And welcome to your next moment. I’ll leave you with this final thought from Thich Nhat Hanh: “Happiness is possible only when you stop running and cherish the present moment and who you are. You don’t need to be someone else. You’re already a wonder of life.” Thank you.
PHOTOS, L-R: Senior Class Speaker Bennett Grigull ‘14; Commencement Speaker Jennifer Kurth Borislow ‘78, P’07, 10,; Mike Taupier H’14, P’98,’01 and Jim Gray ‘66, H’14, P’02, ‘04 receive honorary degrees.
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