"Live Life to the Fullest — Not to Perfection"

As the new semester kicked off, NMH students and faculty gathered for the annual "NMH On Stage" meeting, where Shai Lipton-Ferguson, a senior from Dedham, Massachusetts, offered these thoughts in a Moment of Silence.

When writing this speech, I was trying to think of the best way to not be cheesy. But I figure it’s okay to be cheesy at times, so I’m just gonna go for it. 

Good morning, NMH, and welcome back. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Shai, and this is my fourth year at NMH. I’d like to start the year off by sharing my story with all of you — hopefully providing just a little bit of reassurance before the year starts. Or at the very least a couple minutes of entertainment.

First, I’m gonna take y’all back. While I was in middle school, I had a very specific plan for when I got to high school. I was going to be perfect. Academically, socially, athletically, I was going to be the best. As most middle schoolers do, I had high opinions of myself and really thought I would do that. Perfection is all that mattered to me. You should’ve seen me, wearing my KDs, my knee-high athletic socks, my shorts that went past my knees. I might’ve looked like a fool, but I really felt tough.

I had just been accepted to NMH at the age of 12 and was ready to take on the world, ready to prove my perfection. I moved into C1 as a 13-year-old freshman, still thinking I was that guy. Two months later, I broke my ribs hooping against 7-footers I had no business being on the same court as. Two months after that, I got my first B, and then my second. (Shout out, HUM I.) On April 23 of my freshman year, I turned 14, and two days later I had heart surgery. I came back to school two days after my surgery, except with a different mindset. In my head that was it: High school had broken me. Obviously, to me, not being perfect was a huge shock.

I went to my someone I trust and shared my woes with them — and got confidently laughed at. They told me, “Shai, you are barely 14 years old. In what world are you going to be perfect?” This is where it gets really cheesy, but I imagine it’s just as applicable. They then grinned, fully knowing how wise this would sound, and said something I will never forget: “You only live life once, so live yours to the fullest, not to perfection.” 

That is the sentiment I would like to share with each and every one of you. None of us are perfect, nor will we ever be. And that’s OK. Each and every one of you was accepted to NMH, so you have achieved excellence, and I urge you to continue to strive for that. But I need y’all to understand that perfection is not a necessity. As I was told, the important part is living life to the fullest. Work hard. Play hard. Love hard. Whether you are on the court, on the field, in the classroom, or on stage. Everything you do, do it to the max. 

And if you want to strive for greatness, that is wonderful, and no one should ever stop you. But the important thing to remember is that you don’t need to be perfect to be great. You can miss a shot, you can fail a test, you can get cut from the team. If that hurts you, then work harder to make sure it never happens again. Work your hardest this year and never ever give up, but remember each and every one of you are already great, and I want you to continue to believe that for the remainder of the school year.