nick cornell ‘08: the commencement address
Thank you Mr. Hoeniger for the very kind introduction and for inviting me to speak today; it is an honor and a privilege to be here. As mentioned, my name is Nick Cornell and I am the Permanent Class President of the Class of 2008. Some of you are from as far away as New Zealand, Korea and Mexico. I, however, had the privilege .... or the curse, of being a student that grew up right here on Romford Road. Rumsey has been a fundamental part of my life. My father, uncles, aunt, brother and sister all graduated from Rumsey, many of whom are here today. My dynamic cousins John and Mary Houldin, or as our family calls them “The Twins”, will also join us today as Rumsey alumni. I am lucky that my grandparents are also here today. Year after year, they have sat through countless Rumsey graduations since 1974. They have all offered me similar advice regarding my speech today that boils down to the following: please keep it short. I’ll do my best to fulfill their wishes. Being a graduate of Rumsey Hall is something I am extremely proud of and I am sure you all will be too. I am so excited to be back at Rumsey today, because this is the place where my story started, just like all of you. I assume my experience here was not much different than all of yours; the old
Rumsey Bell rang at the end of each academic period and Rumsey athletic victories, the loudest ring echoing through the valley after a win against Indian Mountain School. We all memorized declamations each spring from our favorite authors, poets or journalists and recited them in front of English class or Morning Meeting. Mr. Craft led clef club and the annual musical; doing his best to develop eager Justin Timberlake wannabes like myself. As it was in my case, there is sometimes just no hope. We all swam in the river on the first hot day of spring and then uncomfortably sat in senior square soaked in our only clothes. And finally, the annual senior trip was filled with amazing memories and an overdose of sugar from the candy bought at Six Flags. However... some things are bound to change. Mr. Perreault, who was our Athletic Trainer and a bachelor right out of college, is now married with three children, two of whom are students. New Dorm was one of the oldest dorms on campus and was a relic from when my dad was a student. Now that it has been rebuilt, it actually lives up to its name. We had chalkboards rather than SmartBoards and we had to travel to The Gunnery or Taft for hockey practice due to the fact that Lufkin Rink had not yet been built. Mr. Waller was not faculty, but a classmate and great friend of mine whom we nicknamed the Wallabeast, and yes, he also cried at Varsity Banquet like all of you seniors did last Friday evening. And last but certainly not least, I do hear that with the new dining hall, the food offerings are a bit different than what we used to have. On a monthly basis, we were served fried dough, all-you-can eat pizza and, of course, we had fresh chocolate chip cookies each and every day at recess, which I was always first in line for. Unfortunately, this didn’t serve me too well in the weight department. On a regular basis, I indulged in probably far too many cookies. This led to my dad deciding I needed some exercise intervention. His answer to me burning a few extra weekly calories was in the form of dropping me at the end of Romford Road and then continuing to follow me in our family car down the road back to our home, which is just beyond Cottage. Some might call this parental encouragement; I would argue it was more like torture. Geared up with my first generation iPod Nano, I remember listening to a hit song while I was at Rumsey called “No Air” by Chris Brown and Jordan Sparks. The lyrics of the main chorus which asks the listener, “Tell me how I’m supposed to breathe with no Annual Report 2018 7
