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By Christopher Nikoloff Head of School
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Head of School Urges Graduates to Live with Joy and Passion (like His New Puppy!)
G
ood morning. I would like to welcome the members of the board of trustees, administration, faculty, staff, families, friends, alumni, and the true guests of honor, the graduating Class of 2013, to this year’s commencement exercises. I currently have the privilege of saying a few words of farewell at graduation. Typically my talk takes the form of a final piece of advice, like “Dare to Singletask” or “See like a Baby.” Since my talk is the only thing that stands between you and your diplomas, I will continue the tradition
of confining my remarks to one page of single-spaced, size-12 font. However, I make no promises about my margins or font choice. In fact, this year I have chosen the slim yet elegant “Adobe Garamond Pro.” It is only fitting that I draw my advice to you today from the latest addition to our family, Kona, our new chocolate Lab. I noticed that when I say “chocolate Lab” people immediately understand that I mean a dog and not some strange room or device from Willy Wonka’s factory. Also, there is something about a chocolate Lab that stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system unlike any other animal. Perhaps it is the word chocolate – so much more soothing and specific than the word “yellow” for yellow Lab or “black” for black Lab. Also, I just wanted to use the word “parasympathetic” in this talk to make it sound scientific. What possible advice can I offer from Kona? First, having a puppy improves your social life a little. We now know some of our neighbors a little better. Many have fallen in love with Kona, offered free dog sitting, and some even take her for walks, one neighbor every day. We are talking to neighbors we never knew we had. Kona is a real draw. Why? Because she loves everyone and everything she sees. She wags her tail, draws back her ears and licks generously. We thought she would make a good watch dog, but we soon discovered that the only deterrence she presents to an intruder is licking him to death. She loves unconditionally, like a Labrador. So my advice to you today is to love like a Labrador. I could have generalized to “love o
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like a canine” but that just sounds too clinical. No, I mean love like a Labrador. Not
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only does it employ three “L’s” in a row – “alliteration” for those of you who
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recall your poetic devices – but it singles out perhaps the most loving of dog breeds, the Labrador.