COMMENCEMENT 2021
the Class of 2021: a milestone class
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AWARD WINNER
Excerpted from Fred Williams’ Welcome Speech at Rectory’s Centennial-Year Graduation Ceremony.
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AWARD WINNER
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The Class of 2021, our centennial-year class, has distinguished itself like no other group in the history of Rectory School. This was not the school year you expected nor wanted. And it would not have been unreasonable for griping and a degree of self-pity to insert themselves into your outlook. You could not play sports as you know them, could not engage in off-campus anything for much of the year, and could not go to Sunday River or Wachusett. You could not interact much with those outside your primary cohort groups, and you couldn’t even go to the bathroom without sliding the indicator and adhering to COVID protocol.
may say we traveled all that way for nothing, you were just happy for the bus ride. And you celebrated the simple joy of traveling in a Rectory bus through the McDonald’s drive-thru to order some fast food with enthusiasm even Ray Kroc could never have imagined. You also took the opportunity to develop new interests such as pickleball and disc golf when old pursuits were not available. Some of you lost out on a favorite sport this year as COVID prevented certain options from occurring, particularly in the winter. But you found new interests in fitness or pick-up hockey on Rectory’s outdoor rink while you looked towards a return to favored choices in the future.
At times I expect you all felt a degree of bitterness and loss of opportunity this year. But these moments were few and far between for the Class of 2021. Rather than lament your losses, you celebrated the first off-campus trip when we went to see the holiday lights in Woodstock. And you weren’t dismayed one bit when we showed up only to find out the lights weren’t even open that night. While some
You have grown and matured significantly, Class of 2021. And in a year that had too many “You can’t,” you focused on “We can.” This attitude resulted in the emergence of a number of new student clubs, an undefeated baseball team—who cares that it was a one-game season, off-campus MELP trips, arguably the most impressive student regatta boat ever from Hamilton South, and the first-ever Grub Hub
