T O D A Y - Berwick Academy

I was never more
proud to be a
Berwick parent …
than leaving that
particular fi eld.
As I said to the
community a few weeks
ago, these words mean more
to me than any banner we
can hang on the wall of
our gymnasium. That said,
I was hardly disappointed
that you captured a few of
those as well. In the end,
the moments are even more
powerful for me than the
accomplishments: how will
I ever forget the massive
wingspan of senior Tell
White as he sprinted across
the Kents Hill pitch after an
incredible Boys Soccer win
during penalty kicks in the
New England tournament
last fall Or celebrating Lee
Tsaris’s achievement of over 3,000 saves as our Womens
Ice Hockey goalie Or Mr. Saliba’s posting on YouTube
of dozens of Berwick Academy students storming the
court at Suffield Academy after the improbable run of
our Boys Basketball team to a New England Prep School
crown It will be these moments of sheer joy that will
stick with me more so than some of the impressive
hardware that now rests in our athletic center, thanks
to your talents.
And fi nally, I would be remiss if I did not
offer that, in my estimation during three years here at
Berwick, I have never seen school spirit higher; you
all deserve the credit for that.
Whether banging spoons in our
gym, traveling long distances to
cheer, or reinvigorating our pep
rally tradition with passion and
fun, you have left this community
simultaneously smiling on the
surface and proud underneath.
As we allow the sheer volume
of your success to wash over
us, I am drawn back to the two
central themes of McCarthy’s The
Road. In his haunting account of a
directionless world, there are two
forces that seemingly propel our
sense of a wayward human spirit.
The fi rst is the focus provided
by the symbolic yet undefi ned
road itself, and the second is the
sustenance afforded by meaningful
relationships evidenced in an
extraordinary bond between a
nameless father and his son. I
would ask the audience to indulge
me as I explore these coupled
themes as we prepare to send this group of scholars
off on their own personal roads of discovery beyond
the confines of this beloved Hilltop. At one moment
in McCarthy’s novel, the frightened and directionless
son looks to his father for answers amidst paralyzing
uncertainty: “What are we going to do” asks the boy.
“We’re going to drink some water,” responds
his dad. “Then we’re going to keep going - down the
road.”
The clarity of this direction assuages the son
and he responds, “[Well], okay.”
For you graduates, I warn you that you will
experience uncertain and directionless times in the
days that lie ahead. You vault from this intimate
community into a world of faceless strangers that, as
of yet, cannot possibly claim to know you as we do.
But they will. You will not let it be otherwise. While
there may be times in the next year or two when
a class may seem to lack meaning, or a rooming
group appears unfriendly, or your career path feels
desperately uncertain, find a way to continue down
your Road. Remember our core value of stretching
through engagement by knowing that what you
are passionate about is far less important than the
fact that you relentlessly try things, you do things
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