At the same time, as you leave us, I urge you to bring with you a strong and healthy dose of humility alongside the pride of being an Andover graduate. One of the things that I love about this school is that people of all ages seem ready to learn at all times. There is a characteristic openness and joy in finding out new things, about how to create ways to improve the world. This is one of the reasons why people seem to work so hard and to sleep so little, no matter how old we are, on this 500-acre plot of land. There is a hunger to improve here at Andover that I hope you will never lose. Part of our shared commitment to diversity comes from the sense that others, from other places and perspectives, know things and can do things that we cannot—yet—do or know ourselves. Though you are the great Class of 2013, remember that you are in fact the third Class of ’13 in the long and rich PA history. This humility is essential not just for you, but also for us as teachers and as heads of school. Second of the tensions: I hope that you will recall, when you think back on Andover, what you have learned about how to succeed, but also how to fail. You would not be here today if you were not wildly accomplished—you are—and I trust that your Andover experience has affirmed this characteristic in each of you. I trust that you will recall also the times when you have taken a risk at Andover and failed at something—or at least had an outcome that you did not expect. While you’ve been here, you most likely have taken on things that you never thought you would try. I hope that you’ve managed to skin your knees a few times along the way, that you have found in yourself the force of character to pick yourself up, and that you’ve become more confident in yourself as a result. I hope that we have been there for you, as adults, when you’ve really needed us, but that we’ve been at 14
Andover | Commencement 2013
Above inset: Clan MacPherson bagpipers Above: Arianna Chang, Ben Croen, and Julius Bright Ross Above right: Susannah Hyde, Julia Kichorowsky, Emily Carrolo, Jing Qu, Rachel Andresen, Parker Thomas, and Sara Nunez Right: Jaeduk Kim, Richard Levy, and Saroj Gourkanti Far right inset: Hemang Kaul Far right: Peter Solazzo, Garrick Gu, Lucy Frey, Parker Thomas, and Julia Kichorowsky Bottom inset: Rochelle Wilbun and Didi Oyinlola Below: Saroj Gourkanti, Justin Wang, Kevin Newhall, Mark Meyer, Haonan Li, Harvey Molé, Julie Doar, and Ali Belinkie