Graduation 2011

I was asked to write something for the Commencement Baccalaureate at my school this year. The theme was Community, and this is what I came up with. Sorry to those who won't get all of the random Willamette references. I guess I am more of a Bearcat than I realized. 

This is for the seniors,
for the football players,
for the sorority sisters,
for the long boarders, cyclists, and rock climbers,
for the pint night drinkers,
the acapella group singers,
the late night procrastinators,
the early morning wake and bakers,
for the only person of color in your classes,
for the loud kid that thought he knew it all,
this is for the Willamette Class of 2011.

There are some people who are socked that their four years
are over and others who thought they'd never end,
some who aren't ready to let go and
others who want to leave and never look back,
but no matter how each of you feel about leaving,
there are things that you share, that we all know well,
things that you have experienced that are coming to an end.

No more wandering around Goudy hoping you'll find someone you know,
no more Tessie's wraps,
no more having to choose between walking over the skybridge
or dodging traffic on the street,
no more late night dates with Mark O. Hatfield,
no more putting on shorts because it's sunny outside
just to be caught in a rainstorm 15 minutes later,
no more ResLife and JBoard or risk of being written up,
no more meeting people at the Bistro, study groups in Smullin,
or walking up the 4 flights of stairs in Eaton,
no more lengthy peer bong tournaments on nights
when you know you should be studying,
no more aimless procrastination on facebook, twitter, youtube, stumbleupon, tumblr,
and whatever you think might be interesting to look up instead of writing your papers,
no more people blasting their music during quiet hours or people telling you to turn your music down,
no more sweaty, drunken fraternity dances, and
no more President M. Lee Pelton.

But whether you wish you had a bit more time or are ready to leave,
I encourage you all to breathe this moment in,
to know that this is one of the final times you will all be
together in this room, but not the final time you'll be together in spirit.
From this moment on, push and pull for each other,
let your experience here crash into the walls of your heart and move you,
whether it be to make someone as happy as you were here
or to make sure that they will never be as miserable.
And I hope your lives are seriously funny, spontaneously planned,
and most of all devastatingly happy,
so when the world comes knocking as it is right now,
you'll turn the doorknob excitedly, knowing that
you were somebody, are somebody, and will become somebody amazing
as you open the door with 440 amazing graduates standing beside you.

Congratulations Class of 2011. You will be missed.