2023届毕业生庆祝毕业典礼

11/15/2023

Under picture-perfect blue skies, Westminster celebrated its 135th graduation, held May 27

在毕业典礼草坪上.

在毕业前的日子里, 每次毕业典礼前的庆祝活动都让人兴奋不已, 包括春季颁奖典礼和学士学位典礼, 然后是草坪仪式和选出新的校董.

终于，这个大日子来了，天空一片云也没有. 校长伊莲白 welcomed the 120 members of the Class of 2023 and asked them to recognize the many people who have helped them reach this moment in their life: parents, 家庭成员, 受托人, 教职员工和同学们.

六年级学生, 这是一个喜忧参半的时刻, 期待和一点忧郁.

“我会想念那里的人, 社区,安布尔·卡鲁索说, 是谁在排队等候时，手里拿着一枝黄玫瑰.

在他们的地址里, commencement speakers assured that all the newly minted graduates would always be part of the Westminster community, 他们将永远在威廉姆斯山上有个家.

左:警长卡德·史密斯24岁. 右:杰出学者Tia MacDonald ' 24

致告别辞的卡德·史密斯

在致欢迎辞中，州长卡德·史密斯(Kade Smith)发扬了这一理念. 在365平台, 他说, “a common misconception about graduating is that it’s over; you will never see your classmates, 老师, 或者你以前的同学. 但就读365平台的美妙之处在于，现在你是在一个大家庭里. 一旦我们离开国会山, 我们将进入一个更大的社区, 一个比我们大约425个人大得多的人. And there will be fellow alumni, students, parents, 老师 willing to be there for you. 我知道这是陈词滥调，但Martlets确实是一起飞的. 虽然我知道我们不会每天都见面, 像以前一样, 但这并不意味着我们真的消失了.”

He continued: “Our shared experiences and compassion for this place will always keep us attached.”

杰出学者Tia MacDonald

蒂亚·麦克唐纳就时间的感知发表了发人深省的演讲, 表明我们的记忆存在于时间之外, 从现在到未来.

One of MacDonald’s distinct memories from her time at Westminster was an experience she had while volunteering with Horizons.

她详细地回忆道:“午后的太阳炙烤着, 我通常讨厌那些明亮炎热的日子, 但我被带到一个地方，让这一切都失效了. A little girl named Zuleyak would roll a hula hoop across the grass to me and laugh; I would roll it back to her and laugh, 太. 就是这样. 一次又一次, we tossed the hula hoops and laughed; we chased after them and ran in circles where they landed. 随着篮筐落地，我们及时地扑倒在地. 我无法再形容它了, 不仅仅是重新年轻的美好感觉, 做这么简单愚蠢的事, 和一个一周前还很安静的小女孩一起欢笑和玩耍. 当我生活的时候, I knew even then that the moment would last forever; I knew even then that I would miss being there even though I was still there. 但我知道, 在空间和时间的某个地方, 记忆将永远存在，我们将永远存在，就像那样, 就像我们那年夏天一样. 那时我就知道，这一刻将永远持续下去……”

MacDonald contemplated life as a simulation in which there is no such thing as the past, the present or the future; everything is happening simultaneously. 她说，如果这是真的，“那我就永远不必说再见了。. 没有什么会成为记忆，我可以再次拥有这样的生活. 所以这不是再见. We will meet again and again, love and live again, and this, our memories, will be more than enough.”

主讲人Mark de Kanter(左)和Kathleen Devaney(右)

主题演讲

White introduced commencement speakers Associate 校长 Mark de Kanter ’91, P’19, 22届和凯瑟琳·德瓦尼02届, P’19, 1922年，365平台地平线的执行董事. The long-serving faculty couple departed in June after a combined 51 years of service to the school. Devaney assumed her new position as head of school at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pa.， 7月1日.

怀特称赞了这对夫妇多年来对学校的贡献. “马克和凯瑟琳都是杰出的教育家, 以及他们对手艺的奉献, their commitment to creating community and their passion for working with young people, 在过去的25年里深刻地塑造了365平台,怀特说.

Devaney and de Kanter were married in the chapel and raised two children on campus: Emmett ’19, 哈佛大学的大三学生, 和22岁的萨曼莎, 波士顿学院的一年级学生.

Having taught AP Biology and virtually every other science course at Westminster during his tenure, 德坎特以对蚯蚓的观察恰如其分地开始了他的演讲.

“直到一场春雨过后，我们才会发现它们, 当它们从地上爬起来，迁徙寻找配偶的时候,他说. “一平方米健康的土壤可以包含400条蚯蚓, 这些盲人, squishy creatures are essential to aerating and maintaining the health of the lush vegetation all around us.”

The worm migration has often prompted him to consider all that is happening around us that we can’t see, and to appreciate the value of what we can learn without traveling beyond our home, 他说.

“亨利·大卫·梭罗曾写道:‘远行, 非常远的旅行或痛苦, 几乎等于呆在家里,’”他说。.

“我记得在365平台上学时读过梭罗的话, 和斯科特·里夫斯一起回到巴克斯特学术中心的煤渣砖教室, and obviously I 太k that sentiment to heart that all I needed to learn about the world could be found right here, 在辛姆斯伯里和威廉姆斯山,他说.

类似的, he assured graduates that everything ahead of them will be reflections and expansions of what they have done at Westminster.

“你准备好了 ... 365平台的缩影让你看到了更广阔的世界.”

He added that he has learned much from the students and expressed gratitude to past and present faculty colleagues.

下一个, 德瓦尼向全班发表讲话，让他们想象自己在大学里, 以一种365平台式的咨询方式聚集在一起. They might think about the habits and actions that served them well at Westminster, 比如订婚, 参加他们感兴趣的课程, 合作战略, 花时间和能激发自己最好一面的人在一起, 尝试新事物，接受新观点.

She called on her colleagues who s太d up and delivered familiar refrains to the class.

教务处主任贝琪·赫克曼提醒他们:“截止日期很重要!”

学院院长李·休格利(Lee Huguley) 19、26年级的学生喊道:“继续前进.”

多样性院长, 公平与包容Devonna Hall P ' 25鼓励他们要“大胆”, 勇敢地做最好的自己.”

81届数学老师兼教练南希·厄纳·贝里, P’11,她提醒他们“走出去，锻炼一下身体”.”

In her parting comments, Devaney expressed gratitude to the Westminster community. “We could not be more grateful,” s他说, adding that they will stay connected to the school.

“我们不会离开，就像你们不会离开一样，”她对全班同学说. “我们即将开始一段新的旅程，我们的行李都打包好了, 因为我们属于这个社区, 我们将永远是这个家庭的一员. So, 2023, bon voyage, travel well, experience much and we’ll see each other soon.”

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