Once I accepted the invitation to speak, the hardest part was actually getting the day off of work. When I told my boss why I needed the day off, she actually thought I was joking. “A commencement speech?” she said. “What wisdom could a 29-year-old possibly have to pass on to graduates?” And I said, hey, it’s fifth graders, it’ll be a breeze.
Now they tell me James River goes up to eighth grade -- not fifth grade, which was the case when I graduated. And I thought, whoa, this is really going to be a tough audience.
So please. I’ll promise to make my speech short if you promise to go easy on me. But just in case, I’ve asked AT&T and Verizon to block cellphone coverage for this entire area so there can be no Tweets or Facebook postings about how boring or lame or long this speech is. If you want to make a comment, you’ll have to do it the old fashioned way, by shouting it out or throwing something at me.
You know, a lot has changed around here since I graduated from James River in 1993. Besides only going up to fifth grade, we had a lot fewer buildings and no Field House. And,a s some of you may know, instead of the Cardinals, our mascot was the River Rat.
Those were just some of the changes I noticed the last time I came back to James River in the fall of 2007. The reason for my visit was simple: to apologize. At the time I was teaching second grade, and -- having myself experienced the frustration day in and day out of students acting out and failing to following class rules -- I felt I owed my James River teachers an apology. Because even though you may not realize it from the articulate, well-adjusted person I am today, I was a quite a terror in elementary school.
That apology really goes to the heart of the message I want you to take home today. Which is this: You may not realize until later how lucky you have been to have nurturing teachers at James River who have been crucial in shaping the people you are today.
To help illustrate this I’m going to tell you a story in two parts. The first is about how I did not appreciate – and sometimes not even respect – my teachers when I was at James River. The second part is about how later I realized that their support was critical in shaping the person I became academically and professionally. And finally, I’m going to wrap up with some brief recommendations for you graduates about what you can take away from your James River experience.
I.
Let me start out by saying that the reason I ended up at James River in the first place is that my parents felt that public school was not for me. Of course, that may have been due to the fact that while still in Kindergarten I both threw a chair across the classroom AND told off my teacher. My report card was filled with O’s for outstanding and S’s for satisfactory when it came to reading, writing and math -- but always an N for “Needs Improvement” when it came to self-control.
So my parents sent me to James River starting in second grade. Here my behavior improved somewhat, but I still had what my Dad called a “short fuse.” As I’m sure some of my former teachers remember, I would throw a temper tantrum whenever something didn’t go my way. This was compounded by a fierce perfectionism, which meant that anything from a strikeout in Ms. Schoew’s gym class to a less than perfect paper in Ms. Daniel’s second grade could set me off.
As a result, I spent a good number of afternoons in the office of the headmistress, Ms. Shiers. I can remember sitting alone, waiting for her to come in, thinking of endless explanations for my behavior and ways to plead with her not to call my mom.
II.
Years later, after becoming a teacher, I saw my experience at James River differently. I wanted to go back and apologize to my teachers -- Ms. Daniel, Ms. Fielding, Ms. Gough and Ms. Keefer, among others -- for what I put them through. I realized not only the patience that being a teacher requires but also the passion and dedication you have to put into the job.
When I look back, I realize how important these and other teachers were to inspiring me to be creative and pursue my interests. In fourth and fifth grade, for instance, my teachers encouraged my interest in creative writing and helped me enroll in the Piedmont Area Young Author’s Contest, which I won both years. Their insistence that I had a unique gift for written expression stuck with me, acting almost like an internal compass as I pondered several career paths before settling on journalism.
Besides encouraging me to write, my James River teachers also dreamed up memorable projects that stick in my mind even today. They nurtured my interest in government through James Rivers’ famous “Hall of States” and a mock presidential debate in which I got to play Bill Clinton. And they launched my theatrical career as “Dark Chocolate,” the notorious arch villain in “Food Wars,” a Star Wars parody we put on in second grade.
Having nurturing teachers and building close relationships with them is crucial because that’s really how you learn the best. Years later, I went to a large university, where sometimes I felt like a little fish in a big sea and I missed that personal attention I got from my teachers at James River.
III.
So as you graduate today, just take a moment to think about how lucky you have been these past nine years, or however long you’ve been here. No doubt, like me, you’ve had teachers during that time who’ve inspired you and brought out the best in you.
As you take the next step in your academic lives, try and replicate those close relationships. Because that’s really the environment where your best learning will take place.
And before you leave today, take a moment to thank those teachers who’ve helped get you here. Don’t make the mistake I did and wait 14 years.
Oh. And also, if any of you told off the teacher, now’s probably a good time to apologize for that, too.
Congratulations 8th grade class of 2011!
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