Walnut Hill School for the Arts - 2019 Commencement Speech

Class of 2019, please move your tassel to the other side. You are now officially graduates of Walnut Hill School for the Arts.

This moment marks an important milestone, for both you and your families as well as for Walnut Hill. You are the 125th graduating class and with that marker comes an opportunity for us to celebrate our rich history but more importantly look to all of you to help us build a bold and ambitious future. 

As is our custom, I have the privilege of sharing a few final thoughts with you in the form of a charge to the graduating class. 

Before I do. I want to take a moment to acknowledge a particular group of students who have made the past two years some of my best years at Walnut Hill. Brighton, Rachel and Miles. The opportunity to get to know you as your advisor has been a distinct and immensely enjoyable experience. You’ve reminded me of why 23 years ago, I set out to become a teacher e and it has been my privilege to be part of your journey at Walnut Hill. Aukusti, if you are watching from Finland, we missed you this year. We sure did miss the way you played that horn buddy.

My charge to you, class of 2019 is to Challenge Success.

Think back to our earliest models of success. What did they look like? Who did we look to for those models? 

The On Being Project, hosted by Krista Tippet, is a media and public life initiative focused on the art of living. Six grounding virtues guide everything the project sets out to do. Exploring the intersection of spiritual inquiry, science, social healing, community, poetry, and the arts. 

In a recent episode, Krista speaks with two Stanford educators Abraham Verghese, professor of medicine and physician and creator of the Presence Project at Stanford,  and Denise Pope, Senior lecturer in the graduate school of education and creator of the Resilience Project also located at Stanford.

Their discussion focuses in large part on the art and challenge of being alive at this moment in time and the complexity and cost of success.

Denise talks about her grandfather, who came to the United States from Poland. Success was coming with nothing, finding community and being the head of a family and getting an education. These were her models as they were mine. The opposite of not being educated came with the association of poverty and struggle. This was also very similar to my own early models of success. However, if we look out today, much of our society, regardless of where you come from, defines success in a very different way. The winner take all mindset of a highly competitive society seems to be the norm today.

Artist Mark Rothko is quoted as saying that Art, including the art of living is an adventure into the unknown world which can be explored only by those willing to take risks.

To the graduates of 2019. We have set you up to truly begin your journey as artists. The reality is that everything up to this point has been simply an introductory orientation of sorts. Designed to prepare you to do just that. To be willing to fully explore living life both through your art and life in general by exploring it with passion with the spirit and courage needed to take those life affirming  risks. 

Which brings me back to my charge. Success should not be defined only by external measures. I urge you to consider as you embark on life to challenge the idea that your grades, the roles you land, the galleries you show your work in, the concerts you perform or the films you create that win awards are truly the only measure. Success should not be solely defined by what company you work for or what research you may some day conduct.

Rather, I charge you to consider how you navigate this world and this life by more meaningful measures. Are you able to look back and see the inspiration you give to a small child, who comes to see you perform, only to know that you inspired her to start studying the cello. 

Will you look back at your willingness to give of your time and financial resources to organizations who share your values as something that underscores how successful you have become in your life. 

Can you commit to making the time to build life affirming relationships with people who enrich and deepen your experience on this earth?

In this historic year we have as a community both honored and remembered our past, while beginning the difficult first step of embarking on a new adventure into the unknown world. Walnut Hill must also challenge its definition of success. We are as an institution at that moment where we must also explore the future with the spirit and courage needed to take important risks. 

So how do we begin to challenge our ideas of success? Relationships matter. When you know that there is someone who has your back, when people value you and know who you are, your ability to succeed rises exponentially.  As you leave Walnut Hill, my hope is that you had adults here that you look back to who served you in this way. When you arrive on your respective campuses in the fall, begin the process of looking for those adults and building those relationships. I believe they will help to serve you as they have here. 

Class of 2019. You have achieved an extraordinary amount of success. You have matriculated to some of the finest colleges and conservatories in the world. You have been celebrated and honored for your achievements. Moving forward, my  hope is that you will challenge the traditional ideas of success with providing room for things that ultimately make for a deeply meaningful and fulfilling life. Seek out friendships and relationships that you value and where you are known and appreciated for who you truly are. 

Define your professional success by considering the impact you have had in the world and the communities you live in and not simply by the resume you build or the promotion you may get at work. 

Your success should not be solely defined by the car you drive, the clothes you wear and the apartment you live in. But rather on the kind of person you are, the kind of partner you have been and the way you ultimately will leave this world a better and more beautiful place. 

So my charge this year, is for all of us. Every single member of this community from the members of our board of trustees to the parents, students, faculty and staff the time has come for all of us to challenge our definition of success. The world we live in requires the courage to fully explore the unknown possibilities by taking risks that can’t be measured and should not be defined solely by extrinsic results. 

Class of 2019 I am so deeply proud of all of you. You are a smart, kind, creative and wonderful human beings and every person here celebrates in that achievement.

Congratulations.