ST SEBASTIAN’S

DISCOURSE
their airplane. Serious pursuit of academic areas can
result in major improvements for entire societies.
But, let’s bring it back to everyday living for a
minute. Some of the ideas I use virtually every day, I
learned in school. ings like: “Water is the universal
solvent” from middle school science. is is very
useful in cleaning. How about from philosophy:
Occam's razor that the simplest explanation is usually
correct. is has been very helpful in judging if
people are telling the truth. And from college: the
time value of money. A
dollar today is almost
always worth more than a
dollar tomorrow. I’ve
never forgotten that one.
I could go on for about
another week on this, but
you get the idea.
Sometimes when you
learn something, you may
not see the relevance to
everyday life, but it is
oen there.
Before I close, I have
to mention one of my
personal favorites on why
academics matter. I
believe it is our civic duty to be educated citizens.
Having voters who do not understand such areas as
history, politics, philosophy, economics, and science
go into voting booths and make uninformed
decisions are not helpful to our nation and can be
downright dangerous and immoral. If you want to
read about a truly horrifying social movement in the
united States, Google “eugenics.” is movement
gained traction in the late 19th and early 20th century
Academicstrugglesand
challengesarewonderful
opportunitiestoworkhard.
Whenyouovercomea
struggleormeetachallenge,
yougaintheself-confidence
youwillneedlateroninlife
whenmoredifficult
situationscomeyourway.
and believed that through selective breeding,
sterilization, and euthanasia, we could improve our
population. More than 30 states actually passed laws
to force sterilization. Many states prohibited “feebleminded”
people from marrying. Can you imagine
people voting for these types of laws!? When our
citizens go to vote, they should be well-informed of
the pertinent issues and candidates. Learning in
school how to read, question, and analyze is
important to being a good citizen.
God has given each of
you unique academic
talents. Being at St.
Sebastian’s is an
incredible opportunity to
explore these talents and
work hard to develop
them. Your teachers and
parents are here to
support you. ey put a
tremendous effort into
helping you. Right now,
God’s plan for you is to
be a student. Later, aer
college and perhaps
graduate school, you will
enter a career based in
large part on what you have learned as a student. So,
be diligent because you want to choose and prepare
for the right career for you. rough that career, you
will be able to serve God and others.
In closing, I’d like to again congratulate our Cum
Laude Society inductees. ese young men value
their education, have worked hard, and have excelled.
I’d like to ask all of you to contemplate why
academics and your education are important to you.
I hope you will be inspired by the achievements of
these seniors. And perhaps you will feel inspired
when you think about how academics fit into your
life right now and how they can help provide a
promising future.
ank you and God bless you. n
Editor’snote–CelesteWolfegavetheseremarks
duringtheCumLaudeSocietyInductionCeremony,
whichwasheldonTuesday,January31,2012.
Celeste Wolfe and her son, Kevin ’12, at the
Undergraduate Award Ceremony held in May 2011.
6 | ST. SEBASTIAN’S MAGAZINE Volume VII, Issue II