TRA Graduation 2014, Faculty Address
Thank you Peter, and thank you again graduates for inviting
me to give your commencement address today.
I’m especially honored that you asked me to do this after only one year
teaching at the River Academy. I’m sure
future classes won’t make the same mistake.
We come now to that part of the ceremony where I, on behalf
of the school, am expected to impart to you some final, sage advice that will
guide and inspire you as you leave this place and commence the next chapter of
your life.
And you, seniors, may be wondering: After all the topics
we’ve already covered in class; after all the books we’ve read and discussed; after
all our over-caffeinated conversations at Café Mela; after all the pearls of
wisdom and knowledge our teachers have showered upon us over the years … what
could Mr. Koch possibly say that we haven’t already heard?
Let’s face it: you’re right.
In our Humane Letters class alone we spent nearly 250 hours this year
sitting around tables wrestling with the ultimate questions of life, the
universe, and everything. Those hours of
instruction have been multiplied time and again in all the classes you’ve taken
during your years at the River.
And I can’t help but think that if we teachers have taken
advantage of all our time together, then certainly we must have already given
you all the tools and advice we can think of.
We’ve already said all we can say to prepare you as you go from this
place. And now, sadly, the clock has run
out. And our time together is over. So it goes.
But perhaps there’s something more to say. One last bit of instruction. A final exhortation. And so, I’ve chosen to send you off with these
words of ancient wisdom: This above all else, guard your heart.
Above all else, guard your heart, because your heart, says
Solomon in Proverbs 4, is the wellspring of your life. Whatever is in your heart – your desires, your
goals, your fears, your affections – the orientation of your heart will
determine the course of your life.
