P a g e 1 6 A — J u n e 2 9 , 2 0 1 2
Graduation
su per i n t en den t ’ s spee ch
Class of 2012, we need you! By DR. PAUL KREUTZER
determination, and optimism. The simple fact of the matter is the “real world” has seesawed between its advancements and regresood evening and welcome to sions, with perhaps regression weighing more our families and special guests, heavily these days. We need you to tip the including our exemplary teach- balance squarely in favor of advancement. ers, support personnel, and adWe need your songs and your art. We ministrators. need a download to uplift, a theatre seat Welcome to our honorable trustees of the to stand in line for… we need a voice that school board, past and present. inspires and stirs our soul, not an idol or And welcome, most notably, our students, fallen superstar.We need your contribution the very reason we are all here. to medicine and healing. We need you to I say only a short time longer because not simply check the spread, but to find the when our ceremony this evening concludes, cure. We need the removal of the cause, not these fine young men and women behind just relief of the pain. Which of your hands me will no longer be students of John Jay will comfort one of us in our time of need? High School of the Katonah Lewisboro We truly need you. Union Free School District. They will in We need your competitive spirit. We need the eyes of all, be adults and from this day to see something special in sport that allows and forever forward be members of the “real us to share in the victory and admire the acworld.” complishment. Records are made to be broSome here this evening will lament the ken — but we need them shattered. passing of youth, and an abundance of tears We need to move from a starving world to will certainly bear witness to end of child- a meal to hunger for. hood. There are those who wish to hold them We need you to design the dress, publish a bit longer, to extend and cherish this time. the Pulitzer piece, green the globe. I, for one, do not share these sentiments. We need you to lead. Present us with poliThere is one reason and one reason only I’m tics unusual, not the usual politics. Provide quick to send them on their way. Ladies and us a path that leads our daughters to the gentlemen of the John Jay Graduation class presidency. of 2012, we need you. Above all, we need you to do these things, That’s right. We need you in the real and more while being true to yourself and world. Actually, let’s not sugarcoat this, we others. really need you. Truth be told, the real world We welcome you to adulthood, the “real is in need of new ideas, enthusiasm, inspira- world” and all that entails. We have waited tion, confidence. need your ingenuity, SLS 2012 Grad AdWe 9.833X6.667_Layout 1 6/14/12 3:14 PM Page 1 you, to be here, now. your entire life for
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Making plans, or maybe not Continued from page 13A
knew that a talent for throwing spears like King Leonidus of Sparta actually had useful applications in the post-ancient Greek world! And I think that is what is awesome about life; you never really know what decision will end up altering it. That’s why I don’t pretend to know what will happen to any of us in the next few years, most of all myself. Sure I have a plan, an idea for the path I want my trajectory to follow, but at the same time I also don’t what to see everything in life as a stepping stone, a means to an end, always looking ahead to the next obstacle in the way of my forward progress. There is a problem with that way of living your life; it doesn’t allow you to be in the moment to take advantage of the opportunities you may be missing simply because you are only looking in one direction. I believe in my hopelessly romantic heart that life is meant to be an adventure where you enjoy the ride. You can’t just hit it and quit it. Life is about making both the small and huge decisions and turning them into memories worth keeping. And that is what I think matters most about high school. Because in 20 years I won’t care about the calculus test I failed or even the salutatorian speech I butchered. I’ll remember all of the awesome people I met who made the journey worthwhile. Whether it was in Latin class, AP chem, science research, on the soccer field or even an infamous class trip to Cern, it was the people that I surrounded
myself with that mattered most, not the destination. Because they are the ones who were there for me whenever I was stressed and overtired, they were the ones who fought alongside me in that senior night game and became my second family (shoutout to my sisters on JJSOCC), they were the ones who were always there to listen, bounce ideas off of, get hopelessly lost next to and go on ill-advised adventures with, and they are the ones that inspire me to think, do and be better. Look around at our classmates; these are the people who we shared four of some of the most formative years in our lives with. We have each other to thank for the way we came out of the high school journey and for the types of people we will be as we move on to the next one. We all have those people that define the memories that stick and the decisions that make us grow up. Cherish them. As we all diverge to new places and leave the unifying bond we all share that is high school behind, there are two things that we should take away with us. The memories we made and the people who made those moments worth remembering. So class of 2012, what we have are memories, and now we have earned the opportunity to go out and make a whole lot of new ones. Seize it.
Congratulations Class of 2012 The Class of 2012
Mackenzie Alderman • Ernst Angrand Jr. • Zachary Batson • Nicole Bennett-Fite • Charlotte Bergmann • Emily Bergmann • Elinor Biddle • Giuseppe Bonaddio • Tyler Brennan • Emily Burnaman • Ross Burnaman • Hannah Butman • Caroline Chadwick • James Chadwick • Emily Coleman • Adam Connolly • Brett Connors • Luke Costello • Jonathan Demosthene • Kyle DeViney • Annabelle Duncan • Gareth Fancher • Olivia Foley • Thomas Forese • Samuel Fuller Jr. • Craig Gibson • Abigail Goettler • Ryan Grant • Paige Hart • Sabrina Herbert • Collin Hill • Caroline Hopkins • Gabriela Horowitz • Spencer Jaffe • Greta Joung • Daniel Kagan • Andrew Kager • Evan Kenagy • Benjamin Klein • Lauren LaBanca • Christopher LaBella • Christian Langalis • Samantha Levy • Brian Lundquist • Kelly Maguire • Shannon McDonagh • Colin McIntire • Mercedes McKelvie • Luke Osherow • Blake Overlander • Eli Parker-Burgard • Lauren Pendo • Samuel Posner • Abraham Ramirez • Arthur Roski II • Emma Rushton • Camden Sargent • Charles Schlinkert • Kelly Seaver • Charlotte Seiler • Gregory Sellhausen • Daniel Serrano • Nikita Singh • Zoë Smock • Anne Troy • Bria Yarborough
Representing the following Towns
Bedford (3) • Bridgeport • Darien (7) • Monroe • New Canaan (14) • Norwalk (11) • Old Greenwich (2) • Pound Ridge (3) • Ridgefield (4) • Riverside • Rowayton (6) • South Salem • Stamford (6) • Waccabuc • Westport • Wilton (4) Photo by Peter Mahakian
Attending the following Colleges and Universities
American University • Amherst College • Bates College • Boston College • BrighamYoung University • Bucknell University • Central Connecticut State University • Colby College • Colgate University • Dartmouth College • Davidson College • Dickinson College • Drexel University • Elon University • Franklin and Marshall College • Gettysburg College (3) • Hamilton College - NY (2) • Harvard University • Indiana University at Bloomington • Johns Hopkins University • Lafayette College (2) • Lehigh University • Morehouse College • Muhlenberg College • NewYork University (2) • Pennsylvania State University, University Park • Phillips Academy Andover - Post Graduate (2) • Pomona College • Quinnipiac University (2) • Siena College • Southern Methodist University • St. Lawrence University (2) • Stanford University • The George Washington University • The University of Tampa • Trinity College - CT • Tufts University • Tulane University • University of Denver (2) • University of Miami • University of New Haven • University of Notre Dame • University of Oregon • University of Pennsylvania (2) • University of Richmond • University of South Carolina • University of Southern California • University of Virginia (2) • Vassar College • Villanova University • Wake Forest University • Washington and Lee University • Wellesley College • Western Connecticut State University • Wheaton College - MA (203) 801- 4833 | info@stlukesct.org | www.stlukesct.org St. Luke’s is a college-preparatory, secular day school for grades 5-12
377 North Wilton Road New Canaan, CT 06840