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2008 Salutatory Speech

Given By George M. Posner at Baccalaureate, may 19

Spencer Russell is in my calculus class. Right after I became salutatorian, Spencer asked me, “George, you know that second place is first loser, right?”

To be honest, that’s really how I looked at things growing up. My motto when I was younger was “If I was better at it, I’d like it more.” I hated things I wasn’t the best at. That really narrowed my activities. I was good at school, and I was good at being a sore loser.

With this incredible pair of talents, I started at Brookline High School five years ago. I made it for about two weeks—and then I realized I wasn’t the best any more. I’ll never know if I was the smartest, but I do know that I was an awful student. Kids there cared about school in a way I never had cared about anything.

I wasn’t the best at school, so I hated it. I didn’t have friends, I didn’t like sports, and really, I didn’t feel as if have any reason to show up in the morning. So I didn’t. I started skipping school, and during my sophomore year I dropped out altogether. Nobody really noticed, outside my family and the deans’ office. It was public school. It wasn’t supposed to be incredibly personal.

The next year, I went to a school in Utah. It was the sort of school that’s designed to fix me up and return me to society. The short version is, it worked. The people there drove me, and I learned to drive myself. They cared, and I started to care.

I chose NMH because I saw the same caring here that I had in Utah. I’d kind of patched myself together, but I was scared to death of going back to a real school. I applied in August, and I got in the day before registration.

I made it. I have friends, my cocurriculars are fun, and for the most part, I’ve had a good time. As of today, I’m a member of the 2008 New England Champion Ultimate Frisbee team. I’ve done some things here I’m proud of. Oh, and I finally passed a real high school English class. It took me four years.

The truth is, I’ve gotten decent grades here, but I’d still be on academic probation if it was determined by my cumulative GPA. I never thought I could do any of this, and I don’t know if the admissions office here thought so either.

NMH took a chance on me that it didn’t have to. Part of what makes NMH special is that it gives kids opportunity. For some of you, it’s financial aid. For some of you, it’s athletic recruiting exposure. For me, it was just a second chance. I like to think I’ve paid you guys back. But really, I don’t know if it’s the sort of debt I could.

I’ve changed a lot since freshman year. Most people do—it’s a good thing, don’t worry. I’m not here to tell you how, though. I really wouldn’t be the first one telling you to do something another way. So if you’re looking for advice, don’t look at me.

My story is just about what I used to take for granted, and about what’s actually possible to do differently. I always thought it was too late to be different. When I was in middle school, a girl on my bus said, “You could have done so well if you’d tried.” I went home that night and I cried, because I knew she was right but I also knew I couldn’t try. It took me a long time to come around, but I did. I was wrong. I’m here today because I tried. Because I care about a lot of things. I used to take it for granted that I’d end up first. But now, I’m proud to be here—even though I’m second.

Thanks for listening.