Hackley-Review-Commencement-Supplement-2017-ONLINE-EDIT_sa

20 HACKLEY REVIEW COMMENCEMENT SUPPLEMENT 2017
Eighth Grade Recognition Day
This year’s eighth grade chose Math teacher Dianne Fahy ’92 as their Recognition Day Speaker.
It is an honor to join all of you this morning to celebrate this wonderful group of
students and this important milestone for the class of 2021. You are as academically
focused and hard-working a group as I’ve encountered on the Hilltop, with high
expectations for yourselves and levels of self-determination rarely seen in people so
young. Many of my colleagues have spoken over the years about raising the levels
of their classes to meet your sophisticated learning goals. You are, as they say, so
“coachable,” so eager to show you can grapple with the hardest problems and most
complicated issues.
Your passion to excel—academically, artistically,
musically, athletically—has pushed us all to be better,
and I can honestly say I am a better teacher because of
you. You care so much, have so much drive, so much
desire to get it right, that it has pushed me to carefully
consider your forthright feedback and try new
techniques I never would have conceived without you.
I’ve often spoken about the rule of three. And it is
often summarized this way: 1/3 of all doctors will be
a positive match for you, 1/3 will be a neutral match,
and 1/3 will be a negative match. The class of 2021 is
easily one of the most positive matches for me. I am,
like you, passionate about getting it right. I am, like
you, not one to shirk my responsibility or blame my
lapses on others. Like you, I work hard every day, try
to give it my all each time, and when it doesn’t go as I
had hoped, look back to figure a better way forward.
That you match me in that process step-for-step has
made you a dream to work with. And it is why I’ve
felt for the last two weeks so heavy-hearted, or so like
we’ve been breaking up.
Your seriousness of purpose, whether it be for the
pencil-man video or an algebra project, has shown
us all you are ready for the challenge, responsibility,
and leadership opportunities that will come to you in
Upper School. But before you go, I want to be sure
you consider two things and be wary of one thing.
And I tell them to you because they are exactly the
things I too need to consider and be wary of.
Item to consider #1: Whatever you do, do it with love.
I used to think the most important thing to do was
to find something you love to do and pursue it. In
fact, about 10 years ago, I gave one of these end-ofyear
talks to the Cum Laude scholars—those seniors
elected by the faculty for their outstanding academic
work. And I thought the most important thing to
tell young, dedicated scholars like them—and like
yourselves, like me—I thought the most important
thing to tell them was to pursue what they love
despite what others might tell them about what they
should love. I’ve spent my time building my life to get
to do what I love and I am very proud and continually
renewed because I have crafted my life that way—
following a path that would get me to a place where I
could do what I love.
But I’ve realized, thanks to you, that that is actually
not the most important thing.
Do a thing well. You and I get that. Do what you love,
and it will be easier to do it well. You and I get that too.
But see, really, the most important thing is that
whatever we are doing, we should do it with love—
even the things you don’t love doing, even the
intermediate steps that are getting you to the places
and positions you yearn for. You and I—we are going
to do it well. That is a given. But do it with love. That’s
the thing we should both keep in mind.