the academy journal
Commencement Address
Delivered by Leann Hill
W
elcome, all!
Bishop Keith, Principals
Schadegg and Irwin, faculty, family and
friends, and graduates.
I would like to take this opportunity to say
thank you to everyone at ANC, including donors
who made it possible for my kids to attend this
fine institution. Their time here has put them all in
great standing to be their best selves in life. Gerry
and I are eternally grateful. Thank you.
Today I am lucky enough to have been invit-
ed to address both the parents and then the 2017
graduating class of awesomeness.
Fellow parents. Today we stand together, proud
of all of our kids and their many accomplishments.
Good for them, but I want to take a minute to say
good for us too – the parents! We took our job se-
riously! We attended years of events during their
elementary school career: class trips, feasts, plays,
concerts. We walked the halls and oohed and aa-
hed at their artwork. We ensured that homework
was done, clothes were clean and backpacks were
filled with notebooks, above mentioned home-
work and healthy food. Then, four years ago we
watched as our gangly teens entered high school
and with our hearts in our mouths, we let them
go. Although we still felt that of course, they need-
ed us at every turn, we stood back, knowing that
we had given them roots and trusting that it was
time for them to spread their wings. Knowing that
only by practicing independence, could they gain
it. We might still have been wringing our hands
in worry about what lay ahead for them but we
stopped micromanaging them and guess what?
We watched as our offspring took the baton we
had handed them and soar! It wasn’t always easy
watching them navigate life and its challenges, but
as hard as it was to pull back and let them practice
for college and adulthood, we did it…. and they
did it! Look before you and see this bunch of well
adjusted, capable and self-assured human beings
and give yourselves, parents, a round of applause!
Graduating seniors, congratulations on this
milestone accomplishment. Soon you will be
leaving home and heading out to your respective
colleges, gap years or employment opportunities.
Soon you will get to be fully in charge of your
lives. Yikes. No one will be there to wake you up,
do your laundry or make sure you are doing the
things required of you. That is what you’ve been
practicing these last four years. Practicing your
independence. It’s a powerful position you will be
in, when you know that you are making decisions
that will affect the rest of your life. These decisions
include the small ones like getting up and going to
class, doing the required work, being a part of your
new community and broadening your horizons.
But they will also involve other bigger decisions,
like who you associate with, what your social lives
look like, how much you party and what you par-
take in. I just referred to you as a bunch of well
adjusted, capable and self-assured human beings
– You are those things! They weren’t just random
adjectives I used to describe you. You are brave
and strong and full of purpose and potential. Re-
member that and make us and yourselves proud.
Choose your friends wisely. They will be the
people who will be your support, your tribe. They
will either help and encourage you to be the best
version of yourself and to succeed Or they will
drag you down pathways that will end up causing
you stress and pain. I wish for all of you, a tribe of
supporters who will elevate you and cheer you on
to succeed, encourage you to try new things and to
take full advantage of the opportunities that will
be available to you. I also hope that you will be that
kind of supporter for the people in your lives.
On the subject of choices, one day when this
life’s journey is done, most of us would like to hear
the reassuring words “ Well done, thou good and
faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few
things, I will make thee ruler over many”. Each
day as you make your life choices, remember that
those choices will, in the end, define who you are,
and what you will become, so if there is one thing
that you can take away from today, I would ask you
to be careful and mindful of your choices.
I hope for all of you, a life that is easy breezy.
I would, however, be remiss in not saying, that
sadly, most of you won’t get to sail through life.
There will be challenges. I hope in the face of some
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