• ParkBulletinCover - The Park School

Each year, an alumnus/a with six years of post-Park
experience addresses the graduating class. Although Andrew
Ostroff came to Park somewhat reluctantly as a sixth grader,
he was eager to return as the graduation speaker this June.
Andrew received The Ellen Fowler Award for his good
citizenship at his graduation in 2003 and continued to stand
out at Phillips Academy, Andover. Now a double major in
Spanish and economics at Middlebury College, he spent the
spring semester in Madrid as part of the college’s study abroad
program, and he looks forward to returning to Vermont
in the fall.
2009
GRADUATION
ADDRESS
by Andrew Ostroff, Class of 2003
Good morning, everyone: members of the Board, Mr. Katz,
faculty, staff, students, alums, current and former families,
friends, and especially to the Class of 2009. Congratulations!
You have successfully survived the most difficult years of adolescence,
and that in itself is worth celebrating. I promise that the
hard work is over. . . until, of course, you get to college applications.
When Mr. Katz invited me to speak at this year’s graduation
ceremony, I breathed a sigh of relief. Many people dread public
speaking, but the truth of the matter is that I have been secretly
hoping to give this speech for nearly six years. Why, you may ask
Because The Park School instilled in me certain values that are central
to my core beliefs, values that shape the person I am today and
how I view the world. I am a firm believer in paying homage to
those that have helped me along the way, and although my remarks
and advice are directed primarily towards the Class of 2009 this
morning, I must admit that I approached this speech with a second
agenda: to thank the Park School family for welcoming me with
open arms nearly ten years ago, for embracing my curious intellect,
and most importantly, for helping me to find my moral compass.
I am certain that my life would be quite different had I not
attended Park, and in considering this reality, I hope to use these
next few minutes to share with you how my Park education continues
to help me tackle the most difficult of hurdles even today, but
more importantly, to articulate how your experiences here have
prepared you for the years ahead and the responsibilities you must,
therefore, undertake.
My Park School career began in the fall of 1999 – a timid,
redheaded boy with a face full of freckles and an oversized backpack
unhappily trudged up the steps to the Upper Division. Don’t get me
wrong; I was excited and ready to begin a new chapter in my life,
but I desperately wanted to follow in the footsteps of my family by
attending a school not too far from here that had welcomed my sister
four years prior, both of my parents in the 1970s, and each of my
grandmothers nearly sixty years ago. Little did I know at that time
that the educational path I would choose was unique and truly my
own – something I am grateful for today because one attaches a certain
degree of pride to his school mascot, and after four years as an
oak tree, I much prefer being a panther today than a camel, like my
father was thirty years ago. I eventually got over the oak tree situation,
and although I did not understand my parents’ sound reasoning
for choosing Park for me ten years ago, I have long been able to
appreciate the benefits of a Park education.
Life after Park is a gift: students leave this school with an
appreciation for the world far more advanced than others their age.
I know this is a big statement, but my experiences in high school
and college have allowed me to view different cultures, to be a member
of various communities, and to meet a fascinating cross-section
of our world, all opportunities that warrant my arriving at such a
conclusion. One of the cornerstones of a Park School education is,
undoubtedly, a respect of, and appreciation for, diversity. Students
here learn to make friends regardless of our differences, which
are known to divide us later in life. That said, the ease with which
we coexist at Park is something I took for granted in my four years
at this school.
➢
The Park Bulletin | Fall 2009 9