Page 36 - 2007 Wardlaw Hartridge

Dear Seniors,
Wardlaw-i Iartridge
S nool
'indents to Lead and Succeed
• hough i have onl\ been with you lor two years, it has been a pleasure to learn your many strengths. “1am large. 1contain multitudes...” said Walt Whitman in Song of Myself and he indeed could have been writing about the Class of2007. had he lived a bit longer. In your time here, so many ol you have become scholars, artists, athletes, actors, musicians, leaders, activists and more. As great as you are. you have also dealt with disappointment, tragedy, sorrow and failure, along with the usual cardinal sins that are sewn firmly into the human genome. Our goal always is to help you find the paths to goodness and greatness and weather the inevitable storms along the way. As you take leave of us and move into a new phase of life, we cannot help wondering what you will become and you. undoubtedly, have a host of questions for yourself. I imagine the following poem, by Mary Ruefle. as a dream about these questions and their elusive answers:
1he 1land
The teacher asks a question.
You know the answer, you suspect
you are the only one in the classroom
who knows the answer, because the person in question is yourself, and on that
you are the greatest living authority,
but you don't raise your hand.
You raise the top of your desk
and take out an apple.
You look out the window.
You don't raise your hand and there is
some essential beauty in your fingers,
which aren’t even drumming, but lie
flat and peaceful.
The teacher repeats the question.
Outside the window, on an overhanging branch,
a robin is ruffling its feathers and spring is in the air.
So what will this season hold for you? What will you offer the waiting world and those in it who are closest to you? Your many experiences here, positive and negative, will help you with the challenges that lie ahead, and so will the companions who know you best. Make the effort to keep those connections alive, as you will find great value in them. 1expect you will set worthy goals and. on behalf o f your teachers. 1 wish you the best o f fortune. W e look forward to hearing about your progress.
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