/Portals/2/logos/cropped-666ef2f2-fea6-40d4-9f1d-93692827f264-wicketbanner.jpg en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Wed, 22 May 2013 03:25:39 GMT 15 By Bridget Black '12, Student Commencement Speaker
Good morning Mr. Kerns, Mother Jackie, Mrs. Grimaldi, Mrs. Foreman, Sister Mary Berchmans, Mr. Mudd, all the Sisters, teachers, staff, administrators, family, and friends; thank you for joining us in celebrating the graduation of the Class of 2012. I am honored to be speaking to you today to share with you why I believe this class is unique and extraordinary. I recently sat in my room studying for one of my last tests as a high school student. Lined up neatly filling an entire bookshelf was every book I have ever read at Visitation. Each of the books is worn down, with the pages folded, and the important passages highlighted. These classics have taught Visitation students valuable life lessons for years. As I reflected on the tragedies and triumphs of these great books, I realized our four years here have followed a similar trajectory. Confucius said, “You cannot open a book without learning something.” Today, I want to open the book we have written here together to share with all of you what I have learned. Each of us on this stage has her own story at Visitation. But all of these experiences combine to create one book, the autobiography of the class of 2012. Before we stepped through the Green Gate for the first time, we judged Visitation by its cover: a beautiful campus, with exceptional faculty, devoted staff, and a reputation for producing well-rounded women of faith, vision, and purpose. This cover is the same for every class that has graduated and will graduate from Visitation, but each class has a unique story. And ours, I believe, is a best seller. Our story began on September 2, 2008: our first day of high school. We each had imagined what this day would be like; but little did we know that that was fiction. We quickly learned that Visitation is unlike any other high school. We made friends by baking copious amounts of cookies, brownies, and cupcakes, or sharing study guides for physics tests or vocab cards for English, Spanish, and French. We began to understand Visitation’s unexplainable traditions, and we learned through experience that Marshmallow Roast was meant to involve the entire class. Individually, we were writing our personal stories as Visitation students, but our collective story had not yet evolved. At Sophomore Spectacular, we confidently sang karaoke and danced to Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten.” As we stood on the Nolan Center stage that night, a sea of girls in tie-dye t-shirts who danced shamelessly, we felt comfortable and confident. Our class, though just beginning to bond, encouraged each other to be who we are and be that well. Standing with our arms around each other, we sang the lyrics: “The pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned.” We had connected and we realized that in order for our stories to make sense, we needed each other. And we found each other a year later on Junior Retreat. It was midnight and we were sitting in a circle on the damp grass sharing blankets and sleeping bags to keep warm while one by one we shared personal stories and expressed gratitude for each others’ friendships; we were open and we were honest. With that trust and love, we turned the page and were back on the Nolan Center stage. This time, I was surrounded by girls with green and pink hair that defied gravity, dressed in bold Dr. Seuss inspired costumes for Marshmallow Roast. Unlike freshman year, all 116 of us took part in our skit. Together, we prayed, we danced, we sang, and we prepared to win. But like any classic story, we faced tragedy, disappointment, sadness, dejection, rejection, and failure. We lost, again. Still, we accepted our defeat with dignity and grace; and with a renewed focus to win senior year. This year, we finally, after much work, accomplished that goal of winning Marshmallow Roast. But that was just the beginning. We went on to earn scholarships and honors, win championships and banners and present some of the best plays this school has ever seen. But these accomplishments do not define our class; rather, it is the moments of genuine friendship such as the dance parties and beach volleyball games in the lodge or the support for our classmates that show how we, as dynamic characters, have evolved as a class. We have changed; we have grown; we have developed; we have become those women of faith, vision, and purpose we looked up to all those years ago. Visitation has become more than just the setting of our story; it has become our home. Some of us spend up to 12 hours a day here, and some are even on campus seven days a week. Not because we have to, but because we want to. The other day, I asked a classmate what time she was leaving. She shrugged, sat down, and said she wasn’t ready to leave. This is how we all feel about Visitation. We are sad to go. As we grew closer and closer to the last page of our book, our last day of school, we slowed down. We didn’t want to finish it. “Somebody once told us that our first day at Visitation would be the most difficult; now that we’re near the end though, it seems that our last day will be the hardest… because we’re going to have to say goodbye.” Our Visitation story, like so many good books we’ve read, ended too quickly. It will be hard to finally put it down, but Oscar Wilde reminds us that, “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” Let’s make sure we return to the pages we have folded, highlighted, and annotated to remember everything we have learned over the past four years. As any great piece of literature, this story would not have been possible without those people who have supported us through the challenges and joys of its creation. As our story concludes, my classmates and I want to thank our families, the Sisters, the faculty and the staff. To our families, thank you for your constant support, encouragement, and love. To our parents, thank you for sending your daughters to Visitation. It is one of the best decisions you have ever made. To the Sisters, thank you for being a constant source of peace and comfort and for including us in your prayers; please know that you will always be in ours. To the faculty and staff, thank you for challenging us to pursue the truth, to value knowledge, and for inspiring us to always believe in ourselves. And finally, to my fellow graduates, thank you. Recently, a teacher thanked me for all that I do and all that I am. That message was a gift to me and I would like to share that gift with you because I have been shaped by all 115 of you. And so, thank you for all that you do, and all that you are. You are my best friends and my sisters. Congratulations Class of 2012! ]]> Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:05:34 GMT