By Nathan Foster
Hello. My name is Nathan Foster, and I am a total nerd. I’m on science team. I follow current events way too closely. I wikipedia binge about everything from ancient battles to weird diseases. I actually enjoyed sophomore chemistry.
A few months ago, I don’t think I could have said that in front of 500 classmates. But the second half of senior year has changed me. We’re at the very end of our thirteen years of taxpayer-funded education, and at the beginning of so-called “adulthood” and “maturity.” Although I don’t feel particularly grown up or mature yet, being so close to life beyond high school and being responsible for important decisions for the first has given me self-confidence. The thought of embarrassing myself in front of you guys just doesn’t hold the kind of weight it used to.
We’re heading off to college, employment, or a gap year, and all we’re going to take from South are three things: friends we’ve made, things we’ve learned, and our experiences. Missing out or hiding one’s true self for the sake of avoiding embarrassment is a wasted opportunity.
If this speech is coming across as incredibly profound, which doesn’t seem particularly likely, it’s an experience to give it. If you’re all bored out of your minds or secretly laughing at me, that’s an experience too. Either way, it’s one I do not regret.
Class of 2014, think of all the experiences we’ve had. We’ve aced tests and flunked them, gone on dates and gone through breakups, made friends who will last a lifetime, and found things we’re passionate about, be they ceramics or genetics or football or speech and debate. We’ve had our first jobs. We’ve traveled across the world – maybe on one of South’s many China trips, or maybe on a family vacation.
When I sat in this field house at eighth grade graduation, I had no idea what I was getting into. I wasn’t prepared for the late nights when I completed essays on Hamlet or the Chinese Communist Revolution long after my parents had told me to go to bed. Or the insecurity that comes with not knowing who your friends are. Or the utter stupidity of the SAT.
But I also couldn’t have imagined all of the incredible people I would meet – people not afraid to be weirdos; people smart, skilled, and dedicated to learning about what intrigues them; people friendly and caring and way more socially adept than me. I couldn’t have predicted that I’d go from routinely turning in writing assignments a week late as a freshman to getting an A in Creative Writing as a senior. I had no way of knowing that molecule-building sets are fun to play with, that yoga is actually a pretty good wellness class, that my friends would put so much time and energy into squirting each other with water guns.
Of course, it’s not just about how South changes us. It’s also about the changes we leave behind. South Senate, led by the incomparable Jack Lovett; our class officers; farming club and community service club and a half-dozen other social action groups – they’ve all left our school, and our community, better than they found it. Everybody who has played a sport, or performed in our not quite big enough auditorium, has left their mark on this school and improved our time here.
In particular, I’d like to thank Sasha Restrepo and Jeremy Oshins. In response to the three suicides which rocked our community earlier this year, they organized a mental health awareness day called “A Different Lens,” bringing in everybody from academic psychologists to people who have struggled through eating disorders to talk to students about depression, suicide, and mental health in general. Even at the worst of times – especially at the worst of times – we supported each other. On the horrible days immediately after the news of the suicides broke, hugging became an acceptable means of saying hello, and teachers used classes to talk with their students – just talk about what had happened, how everybody was feeling.
We supported each other because that’s what we do. This community, these people, these experiences – they’re what make us who we are.
To my teachers: Thank you for caring. Thank you for working your butts off to make me a smart, successful human being.
To my friends: Thank you for being there. Thank you for helping me be myself. Thank you for showing me that enjoying life is something you do together.
And to the Class of 2014: We’re about to leave Newton South for good. Take a second to think about what you’re going to take with you, and what you’re going to leave behind. Don’t forget to be yourself. And thank you for an awesome four years.
