Presentation of the SHS Class of 2013: Principal Neil J. Sullivan

Each year, in the weeks and months leading up to graduation, I go in search for inspiration to guide the fleeting words of wisdom that I have the opportunity to leave with the departing class. And please know that I wanted to find something especially meaningful for the Simsbury High Class of 2013 – a truly remarkable group of young men and women who have elevated our school community with their buoyant spirit, their eclectic mix of personalities, their accomplished academic record, their numerous and notable achievements in athletics and the arts, and their genuine sense of fun. Seriously, who else comes up with a 50-foot slip-n-slide party during 7th period?

But the normal sources of inspiration failed the test this year. In the past, I had found ideas to build upon from literary figures, psychologists, modern commentators on our society, and even a mystic poet (OK, I admit that one did not leave them asking for more). As I looked outward for a source this year, nothing in all the pages I was reading could capture the complex spirit of this special group of graduates. As luck would have it, I found it during one of my favorite days of the school year. Other end-of-senior-year events such as prom, and outing, and awards night may get more attention, but for me, it’s the senior breakfast – the morning when we hand out the yearbooks – where I can always see the very best classes find a quiet joy in simply being together.  That feeling was more apparent than ever this year, and when I opened the senior section of the yearbook, I realized that you, the members of the SHS Class of 2013, had already pulled together more wisdom, humor, and inspiration than I ever could even if I wrote a dozen graduation speeches. Never have I seen a set of senior quotes more perfectly matched to the personalities who chose them, and I humbly turn them back to you now with a few of my own reflections about this wonderful class.

With apologies to David Letterman officially noted, I offer my Principal’s Top 10 Senior Quotes from the Class of 2013. I won’t name the graduate who identified the remark – I am sure that some of the classmates will already recognize those connections – but I do invite you to play the game yourself sometime this summer. Everyone’s list will surely be different but also uniquely valuable to that individual. And I can promise you that the greatest challenge comes in limiting yourself to just 10 ideas because the pages are so unbelievably rich. With that said, we begin with….

#10 – “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” The senior who chose this quote from author Robert Collier clearly understands the value of deliberate practice. Every Simsbury High athletics coach, or music instructor, or calculus teacher cares just as deeply about daily practice and determination as they do about the ultimate game, or solo, or test. Members of the class of 2013 have demonstrated true commitment to their passions, and I suspect they will continue to respect the power of daily effort.

#9 – “Why wear clothes when you don’t have to?” As puzzling as this quote was for me, I was perhaps more troubled by the fact that it was attributed to one of our math teachers. Yes, I have come to learn as principal that some of the most important questions are the ones that you choose not to ask.

#8 – “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” Steve Jobs is credited with the remark, and the sentiment has clearly played out with so many leaders in this class. Were you at the Memorial Day parade this year, when the innovators on our robotics team had the crowd mesmerized with their Frisbee-throwing contraption as it motored down Hopmeadow Street? Did you witness the reinvention of our school newspaper to a new format and an on-line presence? Did you get the chance to see the set designs, or the original music, or the short films that made up some of this year’s chosen senior projects? I offer a sincere thank you to all of the leaders in this graduating class who took the risk to innovate.

#7 – “Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.”  A couple of graduates cited John Lennon’s famous remark, and for me, it captures the joy that the friends in this class find in one another. The hallmark of Simsbury High will always be its academic reputation but really, when you think back, high school will also be about the 82-minute free period you spent with friends in the cafeteria, a meaningful or even a meaningless conversation you had while hanging out on the benches in the lobby, time spent procrastinating on Facebook, or those nights you showed up an hour early for your dodgeball game because you simply couldn’t get enough. Class of 2013, thanks for enjoying a little wasted time with us – we loved having you.

#6 – “I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.”—John Rockefeller …. In a senior year marked by tragedies so close to home, from Newtown to Boston, this is a class that responded with strength and defiance through immediate efforts to raise money for the victims. More impressively to me, I watched these young men and women offer unbelievable support to their classmates who experienced the devastating loss of parents, and educators, and close friends, and even siblings. Our small town has seen its share of sadness in the last few years, but I have marveled at the way these students have turned those disasters into reflective moments and celebrations of lives that inspired so many of us.

#5 – “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”  Gandhi’s call to action has clearly been heard by members of Simsbury High’s Class of 2013 – from those students who raised funds to fight breast cancer, to those who tutored younger students, to those who served as cadets with the volunteer fire company, to those who have literally saved lives this year while becoming EMT’s. There is no suitable way to recognize your service other than to say thank you for finding yourself so selflessly.

#4 – “Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.” I hope that our graduates will heed these words, originally offered by legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. Certainly, many of our students have gotten to the top in terms of academic standing, and admission to selective colleges, and acceptance into military service. But that standing can not last without life choices that are defined by integrity. A few of you may have found it corny or trite when we unveiled our Trojan Code program to emphasize positive choices and character education, but I hope you will take an opportunity right now to realize that while the knowledge and skills you’ve acquired at Simsbury High School are certainly important, people will not care about what you know or can do if you fail the more basic test of being respectful and honorable and responsible. Your character will indeed keep you at the top, and you will increasingly be on your own as you make choices about matters of personal character.  I have great confidence that members of this class will continue to do the right thing and to take care of each other.

#3 – “I’m pretty sure there is more to life than being really, really ridiculously good looking, and I plan on finding out what that is.” I am not sure what advice to offer the confident young man who selected this quote as his legacy at SHS. I guess that all I can do is reflect on my own experiences when I left high school nearly 30 years ago with, dare I say, my own overabundance of good looks and youthful charm. Yes, it was difficult to get people to take me seriously, but eventually I found my way to Simsbury High, where I could surround myself with students and teachers who are not only really, really ridiculously good looking, but also very unbelievably terrifically intelligent and way crazily stupendously talented.  So, young man, becoming a high school principal in a place like Simsbury is only one path you might take to greater enlightenment, but I can personally testify that it gives life some meaning and real joy in serving others with more gifts than you could possible imagine. In whatever direction you head with your own really, really ridiculous good looks, I wish you all the best.

#2 – “People are going to stare. Make it worth their while.” Harry Winston, the jeweler who at one point owned the Hope Diamond, made this remark, and it’s actually hard to believe that he was NOT specifically talking about life in high school.  At a time when even the best can be self-conscious, students in this class exhibited amazing pride and confidence in who they are – whether it was while slamming a poem in front of hundreds, performing with a new friend at the Unified Theater production, or delivering a tearful speech at a season-ending sports banquet that meant so much. We were staring, and you made it worth our while.

Before revealing the #1 Senior Quote, I must offer thanks to those seniors who provided the spark for these remarks; please know that I could have selected dozens more, but, after all, there are diplomas to hand out. I’ll close by offering this class – one that has meant so much to me over the past four years -- with a quote that I happen to use from time to time. Not surprisingly, it was also selected by a few members of the class who also love hockey and therefore probably worship the words of Herb Brooks, the US Olympic Coach who brought all of us the 1980 Miracle on Ice:

The #1 Senior Quote -- “Great moments are born from great opportunity.” Graduates, we expect great moments from you in the years ahead because you have been given great opportunity – the chance to be raised in a town where you were supported by strong parents, a generous community, and spirit-lifting places of worship. When you came to school – for many of you beginning in Kindergarten in Simsbury – you had skilled and caring teachers, programs and courses not offered in other places, and a fabulous group of classmates who have developed into some of your best friends. Coach Herb Brooks may have been talking about a hockey game, but I believe that his words resonate on this graduation night as we both celebrate your accomplishments and challenge you to bring your Simsbury education out into the world: “Great moments are born from great opportunity. That’s what you have here tonight. That’s what you’ve earned here tonight. This is your time. Now, go out there and take it.”

Superintendent Curtis, members of the Board of Education, I herby attest that I have reviewed the academic records of the students here tonight, and that they have met all requirements for graduation from Simsbury High School. It is my great honor to present, for the awarding of diplomas, Simsbury High School’s Class of 2013.