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

22 HACKLEY REVIEW COMMENCEMENT SUPPLEMENT 2017
Friday afternoon that was awesome—it was OUR
last class on Friday afternoon that was awesome. It
wasn’t just a good activity picked by your teacher,
but also your willingness to listen to each other’s
failures and successes in that activity that made it yet
another outstanding way we got to spend our Friday
afternoon, together.
As you continue on to the Upper School, try not
to dismiss the misses, the lapses, the times that
don’t quite work as examples of others simply not
putting in the right kind of effort or of not really
understanding our Hilltop ways. Try to call in, rather
than calling out, those who seem to not fit the image
you have of what it is that makes our community here
on the Hilltop. Because at its heart, that is what makes
our Hilltop great—united, we help one another. We
all get so much further than we could ever get just on
our own and through our own lenses or under only
our own power thanks to that spirit of united effort.
And that leads me to my final item to consider: it was
real; it is all real, none less or more than the rest.
Don’t let anyone convince you it wasn’t real. There is
a tendency to say, “Oh, that was just middle school.”
Don’t believe that cynical dismissive take on our
time together. Rather, trust your heart and know,
the triumphs…. They were real. The losses through
these years…. They too have been real. And the gains
through these years, the surprises, the fun, the pain,
the learning, the moments of joy: all of it has been
real. Thank you for keeping it real, for working with
such dedication throughout our time.
Know that I love you and our time and adventures
together; not your results, but YOU, and the heartcentered
journey we’ve taken together.
Congratulations and thank you.
Director of Middle School Cyndy Jean sent the Class of 2021 off to Upper School with these last words:
What I want for you is not just “success” in the broad sense of the word but for you to have courage. I
see it in you, in the ways you have cared for one another, in the ways you speak out about social justice,
and in the ways you have taken academic risks. There will be so many new experiences waiting for you in
the next four years—many of them exciting and some that will require you to dig deep. Personally, I turn
to Maya Angelou’s words in moments like these in my life and if it’s not too corny, I will leave you with
one of my favorite quotes. “Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage you
can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently
without courage.”