Grad at Grad Speech by Andrew Leone ('13)

The following “grad at grad” speech was presented by Andrew Leone (’13) to the student body on November 19, 2012. “A Loyola Student is Becoming More Academically Excellent”

I never thought I was academically excellent.

When Ms. Baber approached me a few weeks ago about making this speech, for the first five minutes I actually thought she was having a conversation with the person behind me. I’m glad, today, that I was eavesdropping.

Before having some time to think on it, I believed “academic excellence” meant getting straight A’s and making honor roll. So you can see why I was so shocked that Ms. Baber was speaking to me. This being said, I agreed to speak today because what I originally believed to be “academic excellence” is only a part of what it truly is.

At this point, I think it is important to note that I have gone through the majority of my educational career not being able to read. I’m not trying to scare my teachers -- I did find a way to read or listen to every book and assignment I had. But having dyslexia changed the rules of excellence for me. It is not about letters, because, let’s face it, I can hardly tell some letters apart.

It is about doing my best. It is about reading sentences 7 or 8 times before understanding them; it is about not giving up when the seemingly easiest of tasks looks like a jumble of hieroglyphics.

Success in school for me is not represented by what is written on my report card; instead, it is displayed in the time and effort that is burnt in the process.

A friend of mine, who is a basketball coach, once said to me, “Excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what one has to offer.” When he said this to me, he was definitely criticizing my dribbling ability, but I think it is very relevant to the classroom as well.

I failed my first theology test sophomore year. I didn’t feel ok at all with what this meant for my report card or my chances at the big pearly gates. I knew I had to make a change. I studied

harder for the next test. I studied so hard that I began to recite the Sacraments in my sleep.

From that second test onwards, my grades improved drastically and my mindset was forever changed. What was important for me in this case was not forgetting about the next test just because I had gotten a good grade on this one. What was important was my continued effort in the class. Every test was better than the one before it. Academic excellence is not simply about where we start or where we end; it’s the steps we take to do better every single time.

For the majority of my life, I believed that basketball would take me anywhere I wanted to go. However, given my physical situation (even after puberty hit) I had to come to the realization that this wouldn’t be the case. I still feel most comfortable on the court and it was there that I have learned most of my greatest lessons. It is important, though, in speaking about academic excellence, to mention the ability to apply knowledge and skills to new and often frightening situations. Basketball is all about reacting the right way when everything goes wrong. On the court, I learned how to think on my feet and react on the fly. I also learned not to make selfish, petty mistakes. This is a valuable lesson that has carried over from the court to the classroom.

During my freshman year, because I was fresh-faced and naïve, I took on one of the most unexpected and traumatic challenges of my entire life: Latin. But it was here that I learned how to use my basketball mentality to better understand the classroom. The secret to Latin is to not make careless mistakes. In the same way that I spent hours working on the most intricate details of my dribbling, I engrained those Latin verb endings into my memory. –i –isti –it –imus –istis – erunt. (Sorry.) Academic excellence cannot be achieved without this usage of one’s entire mind to confront challenges.

Surprisingly, to achieve academic excellence, first, we must have the freedom to fail. To quote another coach, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” It is not until we are willing to take the risk of hitting the bottom that we can make it to the top.

Whenever there is an opportunity to be excellent, the risk of failure looms large. In doing schoolwork, we cannot be scared of what we do not know. This year, I took an AP course, my first ever. If someone had told me this when I was a freshman, I probably would have reacted with disbelief and fear. But in taking this class, I’ve learned more and I’ve overcome more challenges than ever before. Breaking through these fears is an important step in becoming excellent in academics and in life, even if it means having to struggle every now and then.

Author Ralph Waldo Emerson says, “Always do what you are afraid to do.” I believe in doing just that.

In conclusion, academic excellence isn’t really about the affirmation and judgment of others around you. The excellent must come from within. Academic excellence can only be accessed through the confidence and strength that is built by meeting challenges and never giving up. The actual success does not appear on your transcript, but in the hours we spent that one night hammering those verb endings into our heads. Those moments of personal dedication and endurance are the true rewards. I’d like to end with another quote from Emerson, he writes, “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fall.” Thank you.