May 23, 2012
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Fr. Barry, members of the Board of Directors, graduates of the Class of 1962, graduates of the Class of 2012, parents and grandparents, faculty and staff, family and friends.
Graduates, on your last day of classes and exams, I was 10,000 miles away in New Zealand, celebrating my Mom's 80th birthday. Between completing a degree so I could wear fancy dress on days like this and changing jobs to come to Good Counsel, I had not been home in more than five years. My mom and one sister had visited last year but I had not seen my Dad, my brother, or my other sister in all that time. When I left Wellington this past Friday, saying goodbye to my Mom and Dad, now both in their 80's, the thought occurred to me as it did to them. When will we see one another again? We had gathered from our homes around the globe for as beautiful a celebration of a milestone event as you could imagine. May your 80th birthday be as wonderful! I boarded the plane strangely uplifted – sorry to have to leave but knowing with certainty that the love I experienced on my brief homecoming sustains me on the journey.
When will we see one another again? Far as you may roam, knowing where you are loved and held close is part of knowing who you are. Where you come from matters. You see before you on the altar, members of the first class to graduate from four years at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School – the Class of 1962. Last night we had a reception and dinner at school. One third of the surviving members of that class attended. Now, 33% is a terrible grade on a quiz, but it is extraordinarily high for a 50-year reunion. Imagine what it might be like (and what each of you might look like) when in 2062, one third (that would be almost 100 of you) come home to Good Counsel to give thanks for 50 years.
Many of the Class of 1962 had never set foot on our Olney campus. Others came from as far away as Haiti, Washington State, and South Dakota. Some had not seen one another in the 50 years since they graduated. What was the attraction? The building they knew no longer stands. Yes, but their school does. They came home to Good Counsel, a place where they are bonded, and where they belong. No one came back to recall with fondness how to conjugate a verb, dissect a frog, write a thesis paragraph, or solve a quadratic equation. They returned to celebrate the significance of a part of their identity, their cultural and spiritual DNA – who they are.
Around last night's dinner table, I heard laughing recollections like the time when a star football player decked out in his white jacket before a school dance spilled chocolate dessert all over himself. I saw the tears welling in the eyes of a 68 year old who told the story of himself as a boy who had to repeat 7th grade and who had come into Good Counsel simply incapable of passing Math. Here, he found a teacher, Br. Remigius, who took him aside and put in the hours, upon hours, to turn him into an "A" student. I listened to two of the members of the Class of 1962, who upon leaving Good Counsel, joined the Xaverian Brothers (Br. Mike McCarthy and Br. Bill Griffin). Br. Mike and Br. Bill shared what it means to be a Xaverian Brother today in their meaning-filled work with orphans and students in Haiti. The common thread is the same for all of you, for all of us – it's ALL about relationships.
When will we see one another again? My hope is that as the time away from Good Counsel grows your identity as a graduate will grow with it. You belong. Of course, it wasn't always wonderful, and maybe some of you still smolder over the baffling low grade on the assignment you poured your heart and soul into. Or the preparation and commitment that never translated to playing minutes or speaking roles. Or the confounded awkwardness of getting a Prom date. Those memories will fade – well, maybe not the awkward Prom date thing. What will abide, and conversations with alumni from across the years bear this out, is perhaps best distilled in the intensity of Junior Retreat. You learned then, and understand deeply now, that you are part of a community that accepts you for who you are.
Two days ago, you met and elected Erin (Kelley), Lexi (Rudolph), (Carravita Pape-Calabrese) and Craig (Vincent) as your first Class Agents, the point persons in helping you stay connected as Good Counsel alumni. I gotta say, you were kinda squirrelly; some of you were just not into it. We get that. You are so done with high school and the charms of Ocean City beckon. When will we see one another again? Some, maybe tomorrow. But a good many of you will not set foot on our campus for years and years. Wherever life takes you, let your Good Counsel identity be a touchstone. Strive to live lives of HUMILITY, COMPASSION, ZEAL, TRUST and SIMPLICITY; the world needs those values. And always know that at this school you are loved, you belong.
Friends, bonded, belonging, and believing as they leave, let me share with you some of the remarkable accomplishments of the Class of 2012.
- The 280 members of the Class of 2012 will attend 90 colleges and universities in 24 states and the District of Columbia from Maine in the north, south to Florida and Texas, and west to California and Washington State.
- 100% of those who applied have reported acceptance to a four-year college.
- 51% of the class will attend private schools and 49% public schools; 28% have chosen to stay in Maryland and 72% will attend out-of-state schools.
Lastly, graduating classes inevitably play the comparison game. Each year, we hear seniors say, "We are the best class ever to go through the school." We always hope you are right but have no way of knowing. We have been very proud of your positive approach, your lively spirit, and your deep involvement in the school. It gives me great pleasure then, to announce that, on a level we can quantify, your class can lay claim to having surpassed all previous graduating classes. Smaller in number than recent years, you have destroyed, in fact you have obliterated, by $2.7 million dollars, the mark established by the Class of 2011 for scholarship money reported. In the Class of 2012, 174 students have reported one-year merit scholarship money of $5,561,315 and a staggering total of $22,245,260. You have made us so proud.
Congratulations and let's see one another again, soon. God speed, Class of 2012.