COMMENCEMENT 2019

Realizing Your Vision: A Message To The Graduating Class of 2019

“A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, a call to become something more.” — Rosabeth Moss Kanter

I AM FORTUNATE TO BE HERE TODAY to talk with this remarkable group of young adults, as well as with their families and friends, on the day that we celebrate a wonderful achievement. Milestones like graduation are an opportunity to reflect, take stock, and shift our perspective in a new direction. Indeed, this is a moment to look back at the road traveled, and to gaze forward at the journey that lies ahead. Families, I encourage you to take time with these young people to participate in that kind of significant and fulfilling reflection. Tell stories. Recall yesterday. Anticipate tomorrow. Pause to absorb the significance of this rite of passage, and to appreciate the challenges, triumphs, tears, and laughter along your graduate’s unique path to this moment.

Children tumble through the early years of life carelessly. Curiously. Playfully. Wondrously. The days of childhood are eager and inquisitive. Dreams are not yet goals. Desires are not yet drive. As children, we are full of the present moment. No need to look back with regret, or forecast with concern. But as we grow, our perspective matures. We become capable of seeing further into the future. We become ambitious. We evaluate ourselves and others, and we begin to form judgments about what we believe will make us content.

Graduates, you are perched now at the end of childhood. Increasingly, you rely less on your parents and other adults to make the decisions that will determine your life’s course. Your consequential choices are becoming more frequent as your responsibilities increase. But if you’ll tolerate and indulge me just a little while longer, I’d like to take a few moments to talk to you about VISION— a critical component of creating the future you hope for.

It’s not the specificity of one vision or another that I’m interested in, but the importance of having a vision in general. Vision is desire with a roadmap. A picture you hold in your mind’s eye. A beacon that calls to you through uncertainty. With clarity of vision, you can purposefully and relentlessly pursue your goals and bring your most audacious dreams to life. A vision will keep you inspired to work hard, and stretch beyond what you believe you’re capable of. If you see it in your mind, the impossible is not so far from reach.

Graduates, it is important that as young adults you begin the practice of envisioning your goals. Conjure fulfillment in your mind’s eye. Set your sights on it, and hold fast—but don’t let it suffocate alone in your mind. Take it out for a walk now and then; say it aloud; let it get some fresh air; allow it to grow as you gain perspective and wisdom from your life experiences. Nurture your vision. Keep it bright and clear. It is your way forward.

There will be times that your line of sight will be obscured. Sometimes the realization of your dream will feel beyond your grasp. In those times, look to the people who love you. Love is a natural support, and family and friends will loan it generously when you’re in need of guidance or gumption. Stay the course; your vision will return.

Parents, you too are at a precipice. Yours is different in that it affords you a spectacular view of the past. Look back on the first time you held your child—the now-grown young adult on this stage—in your arms. Recall your wonder, your fear, your hopes, your love. Recall the newness of the little person who entered the world with all possibility before them. Recall how they may have felt simultaneously familiar and strange. Recall the realization that your life would be forever changed. Now, recall how you projected with the special kind of hopeful and imaginative power that is unique to mothers and fathers. Your dreams may not have been specific back then. Not “He will be a scholar” or “She will be an engineer,” but “He will be kind” or “She will be brave.” Even in their early ambiguity, those dreams were your vision, a portion of which has been realized here, today. Feel your success, parents. These are wonderful young people—capable, tenacious, and kind.

Graduates, you have done well here at Valley School, and your success is a gift to your families. It is also a gift to us, your school. Many of your teachers have walked beside you the better part of your lives. They have relished your accomplishments, supported you through challenges, and embraced the uniqueness in each of you. And so, the vision of you here, on this stage today, is a consummation for the many people who love you, of their devotion to your learning and development. Having nurtured, guided, challenged, and watched you grow, they are proud to see the person you have become.

I have known many classes in my 20+ years as an educator, and though I’ve only known you for 2 years, I have come to see you as a very special class. What distinguishes you, in my mind, is your vital sense of community. I have watched you bolster one another in good times and bad. I have seen you laugh, cry, play, and work alongside one another. I have observed as you persevered to make the most of your artistic, athletic, and academic talents. I have seen you celebrate one another’s gifts. You love one another. Many of you will go separate ways for high school, but I do not worry about the endurance of your friendships.

I have always thought that the most senior class is the one that determines the tone and tenor for a school. You, class of 2019, have set an expectation you can be proud of—a culture of generosity, grit, resilience, empathy, humor, and integrity. Your standard now becomes our vision. We will do our very best to live up to your legacy.

Class of 2019, it is with great admiration and endless optimism that we say congratulations and goodbye, and wish you well. Though we cannot keep you in our sight, we will hold you in our hearts. You will always be welcomed back with open arms, as Valley School will always be your home.