News and Events : News 05-06

Class Orator Speech

Let’s not fool ourselves. I can’t be original today. There are thousands of people graduating all over the world right now, and they all have speakers trying fruitlessly to say something new, hoping that with a genuienly new idea, one might rouse the audience from a comatose slumber. I doubt that anything I have to say will rip you from deep sleep. You have heard what I will say before. But familiarity is good. I will not cease from mental fight, nor shall my sword sleep in my hand. If I have your attention now, I will keep my grip firm and not let you wander. I intend to be shamelessly repetitive. All of us need to understand one thing before we walk accross that stage. We have the priviledge of responsibility. We have the priviledge of responsibility. We are the Elite.

Elite. What does this word mean to you? Does it have a negative connotation? "People who talk of themselves as the Elite are encouraging a class-structured society, and perpetuating the monetary and racial social divides," you might say. Encarta says that the noun 'Elite’ means a privileged minority: a small group of people within a larger group who have more power, social standing, or talent. We are a privileged minority. We have been taught to think and question like very few of our generation worldwide. NMH has given us this privilege. The intellectual adventures we undertook here have no doubt changed every single one of our lives for the better, forever. Now we have the bows of burning gold, and the arrows of desire.

The power our minds grant us, also give us a vital duty. As Spiderman’s Uncle said: "With great power, comes great responsibility." If we have the capacity to think and question, each one of us has the power to lead the world. That is the duty of the Elite. We have the responsibility to make the world a better place, a better place for those who have not had our privileges. We have the privilege of responsibility. Like it or not, we are the Elite.

Well, you may be asking yourself "What makes us Elite?." We were chosen to be part of this class. All of us already had some brilliant, rare material to work with when we came to NMH. And not only did we get through the application process, but we managed not to get dismissed before today, which we all know was not that easy. We got into NMH, and managed to stay. What did NMH teach us? What did we take from NMH, that lets us walk out of here, on graduation day, with our heads held high saying: "I don’t only have the ability, but I have the obligation to change the world for the better?" What can you say? You can say: "I will think!" Oh clouds unfold! We learned to think here my friends. To be able to think is part of our privilege, and thus part of our responsibility. We are the thinking Elite, and we will understand the world.

Do you know the thoughts I am talking about? I am talking about the thoughts that have knocked us off our socks, left us dumbfounded, flabbergasted and thunderstruck. We have all had them, and they can occur anywhere! In astronomy you suddenly realize that the words solar system and galaxy are not synonymous. That in fact, there are hundreds of solar systems in our galaxy and hundreds of galaxys in the one existing universe. How insignificant does that make the earth, the only place we have ever known? How tiny does that make us?

You might be reading a poem in English and realize that this poet, William Cullen Bryant, long dead and done was feeling the same loneliness, the same fear of death as you. 200 years ago, someone was just as in love as you are today, and in 200 years again someone will be just as in love as you are today.

These are the thoughts that stretch the mind, the thoughts that sweeten our lives like Westi’s home-made ice-cream. Or as we like to say in German, thoughts that make our toe nails roll up.

We’ve all had plenty of these thoughts. And obviously we’ve had them before we came to NMH. But back then they were more accidents than addicting psychodelic mental delights. When I had a fascinating thought, I felt as if I had tripped over a secret treasure and left it at that. But at this school these experiences are encouraged. I’ve rarely seen friends or instructors so happy as when I told them that they had just made me think of something I wanted to sit there and think about for the rest of my day. I’ve felt powerful thinking things in this place, and thinking has made me powerful. Thinking has made us powerful. Power is a privilege, and thus part of our responsibility. We are the thinking Elite, and that’s an honor.

But NMH has done more than teach us to think. NMH has taught us to ask questions, to participate. In Germany, as in many other cultures I am sure, teachers would find questions disruptive or even rebellious if they implied the slightest bit of dissagreement with the teaching doctrine. NMH freed me from my insecurity about my curiosity. Spring term, parents weekend, my first Junior year (yes, Junior year was so exiting I had to do it twice) we were reading a profound passage from Huckleberry Finn with Mr Jenkins American Lit class. After reading the passage aloud, students and parents were hushed with reverence for the text, knowing that in those words eternal relevance must be hidden. There was something deeply American in the passage and it was compared to a rootbeer float. I raised my hand, sensing that most were expecting a dazzling and illuminating interpretation. "Mr. J," I asked, "What’s a rootbeer float?" To a German girl getting that base vocabulary down was half the battle. It also gave everyone a needed laugh.

Although it took guts to ask a teacher what on earth a rootbeer float is, there are more important things to be asked. Did those feet in ancient times walk upon England's Mountains Green? Was the holy lamb of God on England's pleasant pastures seen? William Blake asked these fundamental questions about the world, about our social order and about justice. Have you ever noticed that the entire first verse of our school song is entirely composed of questions? At NMH, I have always found myself encouraged to ask. If I had doubts, I was invited to respectfully disagree, if I could muster the courage. There was never a stifling of curiosity and for this I am truly greatful. From questions like: "How can God go back on his word?" in Bible Studies to "I still don’t get this," after the hundredth explanation in AP Bio to "Why Northfield?" when the closing was announced. I have become a true asker of questions and I share that with the majority of my class. I recall our marvelous leadership when the school moved to Hermon. This inspirational behaviour was propelled by questions. Early on, they were questions of frustration. "Why MY senior year?" But we came together as a class and started asking the crucial questions: "What can we do to help? How can we make this place better?" '06 sought the answers that would make our Jerusalem a little greener. That was our responsibility, as the priviledged Elite.

The Elite class of 2006. The dawn of a new era. We were chosen to graduate from NMH, and we have managed to graduate (Please nobody mess up in the next 20 minutes). We were given the opportunities to think and ask questions, and we lead our school through the first steps of transition. Now I ask you this my one last question: "Was Jerusalem builded here? Is this a perfect world?" I hope that today, I proved our duty to make the world a better place. I hope that when we leave today, we understand, what we have done here was only the beginning. NMH has laid the foundation by teaching us to think and question. We are the Elite, and we have the privilege of responsibility. Now it is up to us, graduating Class of 2006, to take action - to build Jerusalem in every green and pleasant land.

Thank you.

Top of Page