To the graduates: It’s your life

Congratulations go out to the Unionville High School Class of 2009. You’ve achieved a major accomplishment on your way to living the rest of your lives. You’ve survived the 12-year sentence of government run education.

Some of you worked very hard to get to this point, others, did the minimum necessary to pass classes. And at this point you should all be able to write a simple declarative sentence, understand one when you read it, and perform basic math functions such as adding a column of figures.

It’s all just a beginning, whether you’ll now start your working life, enter the military or continue your formal education.

More than 340 of you graduated in a splendid little ceremony at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, on June 8, receiving sound advice from School Superintendent Sharon Parker and from Phys. Ed Department Chairman Joseph Herman. It was advice to take to heart.

As Ms. Parker said, invoking the suggestion of her 5-year-old granddaughter, do remember to say please and thank you. Basic civility is always in order, yet often lacking in contemporary society. It’s a matter of being considerate.

And it follows from two principles most have heard before. One principle is the Golden Rule: Treat other people as you want to be treated. The other is a corollary to the first: That which is distasteful to you, don’t do to others.

And know that Mr. Herman was dead on when he told you to be brave and never quit.

Those of you who worked hard to get good grades have already been following that advice. Good for you. The rest of you need to learn the lessons of perseverance, of resolve. Dreams don’t come to fruition just by wishing. It takes work, more than what’s demanded for high school graduation.

But there’s more to learn. Learn to distinguish between objectivity and subjectivity, between truth and fact. Reality, truth, is objective, universal and eternal. Facts are transitory. Personal perceptions of reality are subjective. Don’t confuse your own opinion with truth. Always question your premises when faced with new facts and admit when you’re wrong. Be a seeker of truth no matter what you do for a living.

And with all that, take time to enjoy your friends, your families and your own abilities. It’s your life. Live it to the fullest.

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