Click on the name below to read their testimonial.
Chris C, Class of 2007
Katie L, Class of 2008
Taylor N, Class of 2007
Meryn S, Class of 2007
E.J. Speech at Dedication of Richard M. Fairbanks Hall
Exerpts from Student Graduation Speeches
Kristyn A, Class of 2005
Kathryn B, Class of 2006
Alysse D, Class of 2006
E.J., Class of 2006
Elyse P, Class of 2005
Merry F, Class of 2007
Michael F, Class of 2007
Patrick K, Class of 2007
At University, it is the personal connection you make with teachers that is unique. It is not unusual to see students and teachers hanging out together after class. I feel comfortable talking with any teacher at any time about anything – how things are going, what is on my mind, what is happening on campus. My relationship with many of the teachers at University High School can be classified as friendship. I intend to keep in touch with them after I graduate.
The range of opportunities was appealing to me. I can choose to do many different things. I am interested in the arts and I play tennis. I can pursue both of these at University and still participate in student government and other activities. I want to do everything, which can make life complicated, but that is part of the fun.
Chris C, Class of 2007
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University is the perfect school for a pre-college experience: small but strong community, fun yet challenging courses and an excellent teacher body that keeps me on my toes.
Katie L, Class of 2008
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At University, I really feel like I belong. I've heard that this feeling of genuine owenership is rare. At University, not only am I academically engaged but I feel like I am growing into a responsible person.
Taylor N, Class of 2007
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I am writing better than I ever have, I improved my GPA a lot, and I have many friends since coming to University High School. I think the fact that I have a lot of great teachers who want to teach has made me want to learn and get better grades. Transferring mid-year and meeting all these people who are so easy to respect, support and trust is something that at first I found shocking and questionable, but now I love the school even more for the people in it.
Meryn S, Class of 2007
Back to topSorry, it’s just that this is really, really cool. You have to appreciate that as an alumnus of the school, I’ve never before had the opportunity to look up at a second floor of classrooms before. Back in my day, the definition of a “big addition” was managing to separate the cafeteria from the gymnasium. Guess you could say we’ve come a long way. And yet, thankfully, despite all the changes, University High School really hasn’t changed all that much. I say this because change, and especially that peculiar brand of beneficial change we call “growth”, has always been one of the trademarks of this school. On a very basic level, it could be perceived as mere expansion, but it’s more than that.
When I first came to this school in 2002, there was no Andrews Hall. There were two classrooms south of the front desk, and then there was nothing, just a door leading out to a sidewalk that took you to the portables. Lunch was held in the gym, where students scrambled to set up tables and have them returned before the next P.E. class, and it was always a little bit more exciting than lunch should’ve been but I’d have to chalk that up to the basketballs and other high-velocity spheroids that were deployed towards the latter half of the session. The fall play that year, “Our Town”, was not held on a stage but rather a series of raised platforms that occupied the front lobby.
And then Andrews Hall was begun. And here is where the beauty of growth comes into play, because these buildings, as I’m sure we all know, do not instantly spring forth from concept to completed forms like certain of Zeus’ daughters. They are long and laborious affairs. Construction is loud and dirty and then muddy and frankly bothersome at times. So when you’re sitting in your English class getting through The Odyssey for the first time when some unexpectedly loud hammering percussively interrupts the conversation that had hitherto been quite lively, you simply deal with it. You adapt to the adversity. You grow. The students and teacher exchange a knowing, bittersweet grin, and silently, for that brief instant, the concept of community is reinforced, “we’re in this together,” and the moment passes and the hammering continues and you keep going. Call it commitment to excellence if you want. And as I’m sure that just as my era overcame, so too did this community have to overcome its own set of unique problems that helped galvanize them into a more understanding group through the process.
Now it’d be easy to say, upon looking out on this incredible building, “well, you guys got it good,” (and don’t get me wrong, you do have it very good), but that would be a bit dismissive. You see, growth doesn’t stop when the construction does; the doors don’t merely open up and the students and faculty flood in. It keeps going. Like a lanky adolescent who hasn’t quite mastered the dynamics or even the dimensions of his newly elongated frame, so too will this community need to learn and grow into this new space. When Andrews Hall was completed we, as a community, had to relearn what stewardship meant, how to take care of our space, how to use it to its fullest. And again, this helped us mature; it helped us grow. So too will this community grow.
And the growth isn’t done, nor will it ever be. You see, the growth I talk about, the one that really matters, doesn’t have to do with space. It is based on communities and individuals. It is the extracurricular education that you invariably pick up in this place, which can be catalyzed by something as trivial as the sound of hammering, that ensures that here, you don’t merely mature academically, you grow as a person. And as we all grow, together, so too does the community, and the friendships and bonds that define it become so much bigger than you’d ever expect it to be.
E.J., Class of 2006 at dedication of Richard M. Fairbanks Hall, May 2007
I always assumed that I knew EXACTLY what would happen in my life. I had it all set up in my mind, and I feared the thought of it not working out that way. I never ventured out to imagine anything else. When I transferred to University High School during my freshman year, things began to change for me. My peers and I were treated as people instead of numbers on an attendance sheet. I had some amazing mentors along the way who simply went out of their way to help me discover my true potential. I found a new love of history, and any survivors out there who endured my student directing in Godspell, thank you for helping me find my passion in theatre. I met some of my best friends here and I am eternally grateful. I realize, because I was at University, I was given some of the most priceless possessions I will ever have.
Now before we all throw a party for how perfect life is, I think it is important to note that my peers and I went through a lot in order to get where we are today. Not every day was a picnic and sometimes it seemed like we were putting our sweat and blood into surviving the academics. Our senior class has pleasantly surprised me though; we honestly transformed as people.
I now look toward my future and I do not see that original blueprint of how my life would turn out. I have so many things I want to do and experience in my life, and suddenly I don’t know exactly where my life will go. New doors are open. Right now, I want to go into psychology and theatre, but even that might change. The difference now is that change is exciting for me. I am grateful, and want to thank my teachers and classmates for their inspiration. Because of them, I will go on to live a life beyond anything I ever thought was possible. I have no doubt in my mind that the rest of us will be amazed with our futures and we will conquer our dreams.
Kristyn A, Class of 2005, Commencement Address
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I'd like to start by giving you a word. Success. How do you define success? At University High School, although the outward appearances of success are very much the same as at other high schools, the inward are much more varied, meaningful and important. You see before you a "successful" group of students, who made it through high school and are on to the next part of their lives. What is harder to see is the constant love and devotion directed towards them and towards their ability to succeed by their friends, family, teachers and others included in our community at University.
I believe that at our school, change has a great deal to do with success. We are constatnly encouraged to try new things and even forced to try new things -- to change the way we think and feel and how we observe the world.
All of us tend to take for granted the fact that we have a supportive and close-knit community at University. It is the driving force behind the success of the seniors you see today. It was not only our talent, our hard work, and, in some cases, our patience that enabled us to complete our high school years. A multitude of other influences also contributed to our success. Our situation is comparable to that of a newborn; the most recent member of its generation. This newborn is the culmination of the hard work, hopes, dreams and failures of its parents, grandparents and entire ancestry. Likewise, we are the culmination of the efforts of our community, both past and present. We provide the will to succeed; the network supplied us with the opportunity. The close relationships we had with friends, teachers, mentors, parents, siblings and staff at this school were a source of energy and and support in our life and studies. My hope is that each student of the University High School community will not take for granted these advantages we were given and that we will value them and make use of them in college. I hope that we will live on as part of this extended family, or community, that has changed and continues changing us all into the people we are striving to be.
I'll miss the little things -- the sound the chairs make when dragged across the floor, laying out on the soccer field, and sitting on the floor every Wednesday in Poetry. As I began to think about the very different feelings of anticipation and hesitation, I came to realize that they are essential to growth and will have great significance in my future. Missing is not a bad thing; it shows that although we left this place and moved on to other things, we will always remember the people and situations that made an impact on us in our community. Anticipation for the unknown is valuable as well; we are ready to take one more risk as we step out of the immediate radius of University High School, and we are malleable to change, which is the only path to improvement. I thank every element of my University High School community for daring to influence us and allowing us to become who we wish to be.
Kathryn B., Class of 2006, Commencement Address Excerpt
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University meant something different to all of us. Most of us are going to leave this place completely different from how we were when we came. New values. New friends. New ideas. I watched Katie M. change her life through commitments to those less fortunate than her. I heard Kathryn B. sing in a way that silences anyone near her. I watched Nick K. direct and create unbelievable play sets simply because he was talented and wanted to help. I saw Luke C. rise in Community Meeting to announce another record-breaking time in track. I saw Katie P. help heal the hearts of mourning children on a weekly basis. I saw the art of Lindsey S., and enjoyed E.J.'s play performances. I listened to the political arguments of Josh S. and watched Kathie C.'s flawless piano perfomances. I sat with every single one of my classmates and was moved by something they said. There is a pattern here. We are different. We began each year with tanned skins and older hearts and left at the end of that year with more knowledge and more courage when answering the questions, "Do you know what matters?" If nothing else, we can leave carrying a little bit of Webster woven in with our nerves and reply, "I know what it means to be human."
Alysse D, Class of 2006, Commencement Address Excerpt
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When asked to speak at this graduation, it was suggested that I not focus on these last four years at University High School but rather that I speak about our future. Since this is a graduation, a tangible threshold on the road of life, a break in the chapter, it affords us an excellent vantage point when, for just this one instant, the future does not seem so obscure. It occurred to me, however, that to examine the future would be meaningless if I didn’t first reflect upon the past; a voyage is merely a change of familiar scenery if you don’t recall where you began, what paths you had to take and what detours you overcame along the way.
That being said, where did we come from? How did we begin on the common road that we diverge from today? Unbelievably, this question has a common answer. Despite the various middle schools we all came from, or whether we spent all four high school years here, we share this one similarity: when we walked through the doors at University, intent on taking this as our path, we were, in the very true sense, trailblazers.
Now when I say we were trailblazers, I do not mean it in the school mascot, team-identity sense but that we truly are blazing a trail. When you enroll at Park Tudor, you do not become a predatory cat that stalks the jungle in search of prey. In the same spirit, enrolling at Brebeuf Jesuit does not transform you into a Native American warrior.
Nevertheless, when each of us decided to enroll at University, we were choosing a different path. We did not have any paved roads before us, but instead an open field, with dense forest beyond and a simple direction to take. There were no traffic lights, no stop signs, and no police to monitor the speed at which we progressed. Instead, this building was our compass, our teachers were guides to point the way, our mentors were wizened friends who knew the journey we were taking, and our 27 fellow traveling companions, who while not exactly following the same footsteps, were headed in the same direction.
Whereas at other schools those who precede you lay brick, showing where you can and cannot go, our predecessors left only faint boot prints in the dirt, reminding us of who tread before but not limiting where we will go. Our path was not an easy one. In order to make it, we had to grow and change; we had to adapt to hours of homework in between play rehearsals and practicing for a jazz band solo. We had to make new and important relationships with every sort of person. We built support networks, hosted study sessions for obscenely difficult chemistry exams, and cheered each other on at games, sharing both in the glory of victory and the disappointment of defeat.
We learned what it meant to be responsible and active in our community. The graduates you see know that stewardship is not merely a belief or an ideal, but something that requires participation. We listened to different points of view and were actively engaged in developing our own enlightened worldviews, and through this experience, we learned how to understand our fellow human beings.
We pushed the envelope. We didn’t accept the traditional high school and we were not traditional students. Some of us pursued internships. Some traveled to Spain not only to learn a foreign language but also to experience a foreign culture. We worked with glass and metal and expressed ourselves not only through our art but also through our words. We examined our world on a global scale and yet were still able to maintain a focus on our community. And while none of us experienced all these things, we were close enough within our community that we all shared a sense of the experience, could appreciate it, and could learn from it.
Now that we’ve reached the end of this branch of our voyage, what legacy did we leave behind? Did we define the path to follow? In some aspects, we did. We continued the tradition of setting standards, of continually striving to exceed precedents. Yet, we did not confine the path. We did not lay any brick or install any traffic lights. Rather, we, like those that preceded us, left only boot prints that beckon with the words “follow me.” We showed those who will one day follow us how far you can go, while at the same time leaving the destination undefined, continually challenging them to exceed the example before them.
We are now at a junction; we stumbled out of the wilderness to major thoroughfares. We will be on paved roads once again, but we will still be trailblazers. We will always refuse to accept the best or let precedent confine us. We will continue to forge our own way, to take all the experiences culminating in this day and apply them to our future lives. We will find new guides and boot prints to follow; we will find new traveling companions on our journey. We will build other support networks and host emergency study sessions for other exams. But we will never forget what happened here. We will not forget who we were when we came here and who we are as we leave. We sill remember when the path was easy and when we had to trudge through mud or climb the metaphorical mountain that is physics. And we will remember how, when we finally reached the top of the mountain and lay down, exhausted on our backs, we looked into the night sky and for the first time saw in those stars the same beauty and magnificence that Dr. Vesper saw.
E.J, Class of 2006, Commencement Address Excerpt
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I was first introduced to University High School in seventh grade at a small meeting with a few Orchard students, Mrs. Webster and myself. During the meeting, Mrs. Webster described the plans and designs for the school. It looked interesting and I made note of the name of the school, comparing it with International School, which was also starting at the time. Little did I know that just a couple of years later I would be at International School in a University Trailblazers jersey, killing them in volleyball.
At the time, I wanted to go to a different high school. Many of my friends were going there and I loved the school, but unfortunately, I was not able to attend. Perhaps “unfortunately” is not the appropriate word in describing this part of the story, because instead of going to that school, I ended up at University . . . Looking back it was a difficult transition for me at first. I made friends and got along with teachers right away, but I was still resenting the fact that I wasn’t at the other school.
After a couple of weeks, I realized that this place was predestined for me. When I think of all the amazingly talented and intelligent people I met here, faculty, students and families alike, I know that all of these people contributed to the person I have become and this place is what brought us together. Yes, there are some disadvantages to going to such a small start-up school; there is no football team, no homecoming, you can’t get away with much because everybody knows what everybody else is doing all the time, etc. But outside of those few inconveniences there are a hundred more benefits of going to school here.
You get to be a Trailblazer, on or off the court; you are always starting something new or doing something that hasn’t been done before. Going to school here I realize that there is no clear-cut right or wrong way in every situation, there is no straight path to success or exact formula for happiness that works for everyone (although my formula definitely includes University). I am more ready than ever to move on to college and to begin my adult life and study to be a doctor, but in retrospect I know that I will miss this place.
I am sure we will all miss University for different reasons. I’ll miss playing volleyball and tennis, January Term, Mr. Webster’s talks at Community Meeting, singing the national anthem or performing in a choir concert or musical before a great crowd of family and friends. I’ll miss Mrs. Howe and some of the classes and great teachers I’ve had, all with very different personalities and perceptions, that along with the many new people and friends I’ve met here, have truly opened my eyes to other perspectives on life. Every student in this class has a very different personality and opinion or way of doing things. I guess we are diverse in that way. Sometimes these differences of opinion and personality clash and there can be too many leaders and not enough followers, but we are like a family and we fit together.
I appreciate the time that I spent here with my classmates, teachers and staff alike who provided me with a one-of-a-kind education and taught with such a caring devotion that I have never seen or experienced anywhere else. I really do think that I would have been a different person at another school and I am glad that I chose University because, in the end, I like the person that I became here better. I guess things always have a way of working themselves out.
Elyse P, Class of 2005, Commencement Address
Back to topEach of us took quite a gamble even coming here. When we were freshmen, the school was only three years old with a single graduate to speak of. There was one permanent building and the program had only been accredited by the Indiana Department of Education for two months. I must admit the only reason I even knew the school existed was because of a tasty bowl of blue and white jelly bellies strategically placed in front of the University bulletin board at high school preview night. As it turns out, jelly belly flavors are an excellent way of choosing one’s future school.
I don’t even know where to begin. The experiences I had at University were endless, the academic rigor was mind-boggling – sometimes even crossing the line into physically painful – and everyday spent here brought something new to learn with it. Watching this school and my class grow from our freshman year to where we are now has been a true privilege. I’ve never been too good with sentimental moments, but watching the trailers- excuse me modular classrooms- being ripped apart and pulled away brought a slight tingle to my heart. So many memories have been forged within those walls – Mr. Morrison throwing chalk at sleeping students, Miss Dean explaining the finer points of having your house plumbed, Miss LaMagdeleine wielding Styrofoam swords against the bees of portable seven – they are all priceless. I will never forget the smell of the locker room after a hot August practice or the ecstasy of the first point you scored for your team.
And that’s what we all are- a team. The playing field and rosters change from year to year, but that sense of support, trust, love, and respect is always there. The new building is beautiful, but without the vibrant personalities that fill it, it is just an empty shell. While no team could choose between its shortstop and its pitcher, the teachers are what make University High School tick. They are our mentors, our role models, and our friends.
- Dr. Vesper, Mr. Napier, and Mr. Morrison: Congratulations, you are officially the first teachers to make the subject of math interesting.
- Señora Bollinger: Your students would never have had the courage to travel to Spain if it weren’t for you. Nos introdujo a una lengua nueva, una cultura nueva, y un mundo nueva. Gracias por todo de esto.
- Miss LaMagdeleine: Not only did you tame the wild beasts but you also taught them how to write a play.
- Mrs. Slocum and Mrs. Bradley: Besides the help in passing chemistry and biology so that we could all be here today, you have given us a better appreciation and understanding of both our world and ourselves.
- Miss Franzen: Even though you just came to us last year, it seems like you’ve been here from the get go. Though short story boot camp almost killed us, we’re so lucky to have had you.
- Mrs. Chamberlain and Miss DAVIS: Just in case you thought you were escaping public acknowledgement, know that this school would fall apart without you. And finally,
- Miss Dean: You are living proof that the pursuit of knowledge is never over.
I’ve never met a group of people so passionate about what they do nor so willing to help me succeed in life as the teachers at University. Through your classes, conversations, guidance, and support, you have both prepared us for the worst in the world to come and brought out the best in every single one of us. On behalf of my class, I thank you for that undying dedication.
To the class of 2007, parting is bittersweet, but I know we’re all heading towards a better future and a better place. By this I mean going to college (hopefully not heaven quite yet). Your teachers and mentors have given you all the tools and confidence you need, and it is now up to you to decide how to use them. I have seen everyone on this stage get up from a fall and have undoubting faith that by this time next year we will all be celebrating another successful freshman year. You are your only limit. Congratulations and Good luck.
Merry F., Class of 2007, Commencement Address
Graduation. Wow! Four years down and onto the next chapter. Four years and I’m standing up here with my chance to say what I think about this place. Although there are so many “academic” moments of tests, cramming and lectures that come to mind, what sticks with me the most is all the memories that mean so much:
- Hanging out and beat boxing at Miss LaMagdeleine’s desk during study hall or passing periods when the last thing she wanted was to see me after Creative Writing, OR
- Alluding to every movie and TV show possible at the most inappropriate times
This school means so much to me because when I shadowed here while a student at a local public high school down the road to be unnamed, I felt completely at home. Not only was my older sister Shelly here, I simply felt at ease with everyone. Mr. Webster’s “Good Mornings” and all of the random singing and clapping we did felt a lot more family-oriented than video announcements or impersonal notifications of call out meetings and sports results over the P.A. system. The lack of bells, the openness of everyone here to new ideas and perspectives, and there being no distinction or value change between the opinions of freshman or seniors felt like a different planet coming from public school.
As I quickly adapted to life here at University, I realized it was the place for me. Sure, some may say its not the “normal” high school experience with prom kings, football homecoming games and cliques, but it was a place where you could wear hats, walk around with an iPod, eat in class, and, when appropriate within poetry class, occasionally use curse words.
On a more serious note, this school values diversity and educating its students on the value of other people and their backgrounds. And, University has the greatest faculty with the widest range of personalities ever:
- All of the question days, and “am I making any senses” in Mr. Napier’s class will be instilled in my memory forever along with his simple two-fingered tap on your paper to signal that your homework was sufficient when doing his daily rounds
- Mr. Morrison being the coolest teacher I seemingly never had
- The “100 mythical cars” on 116th Street metaphor that Dr. Fadely said countless times, and
- Miss Franzen who on many occasions erroneously dubbed me Frankie
I will always remember my two January Terms with Mr. Geter and the trips to Chicago, being obnoxiously loud in study hall while still managing to get work done, and of course, eating enough food to feed ten armies in the Commons, illegally. And who could forget all the times asking Miss Dean a question and then getting an answer long enough to create a Wikipedia page (with multiple sections) but you just smiled and nodded and knew you had a week until your drop dead date to get in your four missing assignments.
Lunch was always a good time here at University – mooching off of anyone and everyone, seemingly being one of the only few who could bear to eat the Yen Ching soups, four years of seeking out Miss Davis everyday at 11:50 AM to try and score a free lunch (and one-fourth of the time actually being successful), and countless games of HORSE and 4-on-4 while wearing my always trusty Birkenstocks.
It is time to mention the mentoring program here at University. I would describe mentoring as having your very own member of the faculty that keeps tabs on your academic and social life in a very “non-creepy” way. The relationships that are built between student and mentor are key to the ideas on which the school was founded. I will always remember the mentoring meetings with Mrs. Vanausdall, who I would also like to thank for everything she did for me in my four years here.
Now its time to talk about the best memory of all and everyone knows what that is – beating Brebeuf in basketball. Since my sophomore year, I had been talking trash to all of my friends at Brebeuf, making insane proclamations about how we were going to finally beat them in men’s varsity basketball. How we, University High School, (yes, the school with the trailers and small locker rooms, the school with seniors on JV, the school with only one side of bleachers in the gym, the school with no football team) would come out victorious and shock the area high school basketball community. After two years of getting the floor wiped with ourselves, it happened. The impossible – the most triumphant moment ever, the moment when David beat Goliath, the moment when a tiny militia of colonial farmers and craftsmen beat the mighty Redcoats. To us, it was the second coming of George Mason or a scene from Hoosiers, with no Gene Hackman. Now I understand that the fervor with which I speak of this occasion may seem like I was on the court, which I assure you I was not, but being a fan on that sideline while we slew the giant was heaven. And the fact that it was done with only five guys on the court for the entire game only made it that much sweeter. The look on the faces of the Brebeuf faithful when the final buzzer sounded was as priceless as the Hope Diamond. The way that we rushed the court and celebrated with our friends was something that no one will ever be able to erase from my memory. Regardless of the two prior beatings, we stood down to no one in our trash talking and Jon, J.P., Kosene, Austin and Khirie backed us up and for that I say an emphatic THANK YOU!
Now I realize this speech may seem like a series of “thank yous,” but I wanted to express how I felt and the particular moments and people who made my experience here what it is and has been. To my classmates, it’s been real, keep in touch, remember where you came from and cherish the memories you made here. Good luck, Peace, and Congratulations to the class of 2007!
Michael F., Class of 2007, Commencement Address
Well, I could open with any number of clichéd remarks about graduation. The reason we so often stumble upon what seem to be the same insights is that occasions such as this are a jumble of many contradictory things. People have celebrated such events for years without discovering many original insights. Knowing this, the best thing one can do to mark such an occasion is to simply look around you and say something that matters about the place you are leaving. Those who have spoken before me have done this and I will seek to do the same thing. I won’t pretend I’ve stumbled upon something cosmically significant today, but I did manage to find something that needs saying, if not to my classmates, then to those who will be next year’s 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders.
We have spent some time these last four years trying to decide how we wanted to define ourselves as seniors. Typical of our particular class, we never did—but in thinking about it, in trying to find what, if anything, makes our class notable in this school’s history, I came up with one rather interesting thought:
We are the last first class at University.
Now bear with me while I explain this apparent oxymoron. It was our grade that completed the set of four classes that truly inaugurated this school. Our arrival was the school’s arrival, not at its ultimate destination, but at the starting line of what is sure to be a rich and meaningful institutional life. In coming, we finished the process of pioneering.
I’ll give you some examples. We are the last class that went to school with the class of 2004. When I say the names Rohun or Nathan, my grade and the faculty knows to whom I’m referring, but none of you do. There are many other names from that class, names of those students who spent their first three years of high school waiting for a cafeteria, that will be lost to all but the faculty when we leave.
You’ll recall that E.J. spoke at the building dedication about the tradition of eating lunch in the gym that ended with the class before us. He spoke of the many “firsts” his grade achieved, and the many interesting traditions that later classes would not have the “pleasure” of experiencing—having morning meeting in the lobby or plays in this gym for instance. Our class has its own set of “firsts”, our own set of experiences, and the ever changing, ever growing atmosphere that allows for this has always been constant. Change is the most consistent thing about this school, and in truth it is one of its best qualities.
This brings me to my point: I’m worried. I’m worried that after we are gone, the number of “firsts” each class achieves will never be as high as it has been for the last four years. With our passing, (our graduation), we mark the end of the beginning, and this worries me, that we may very well be the last class that truly felt what it’s like to be students at University.
So sure, I’m happy that we have a new building, and that new students will never have seen a trailer on our campus, but when we graduate today, I do not have a clear picture of what a future University will look like. The lure of new buildings may bring us students who before would have been too superficial in their concerns to have class in a trailer, students who are soft.
This brings up the question: what is it about this school that needs to be maintained if we’re going to keep the spirit of it alive? Up until now, we’ve always been looking to expand, always in perpetual motion towards bigger and better things. We are strong-minded and strong-willed and do not shy away from a challenge. We do not trifle over what small freedoms students are given, but instead grant them the latitude they need to figure out how to manage their own lives.
Though we say it to ourselves and others again and again, we go to a school with no bells. Our lockers have no locks on them. We have study halls that recognize that sometimes free time is best spent playing Frisbee or sleeping on a couch rather than studying calculus. All these things, whether or not we thought they were important while we were here, will be some of the memories that define this place when we are gone. If the school loses them, it will be a sign that it is changing into something else, a place that is simply regular. If there is one thing this school is not and never has been, it is regular.
So, current and future students of University High School, we the graduating class of 2007 have something we’d like you to keep in mind. Stay invested. Care about this place. No matter how many new athletic fields, classroom buildings, gyms, or theaters we may construct, don’t forget what it feels like to be a student here. This school existed in the minds of its trustees before it had buildings. This school had enrolled students before it had buildings. Our class is the last link in a chain that goes directly back to this school’s founding. I hope that we have made enough of an impact that next year’s seniors are linked to that chain as well. Every senior class that comes after ours will have that same responsibility, to keep up the chain so that in ten years, in twenty years, one hopes even in fifty years, members of this class, the last first class, the class of 2007, can come back and it won’t feel like any time has passed at all.
Patrick K., Class of 2007, Commencement Address