Reverend Father McGinn, Mr. Giambelluca, faculty, family, friends, and fellow classmates:

I am honored and humbled to represent the Class of 2008 in bidding you farewell. First, thank you for affording us the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed at Jesuit High School. We deeply appreciate the time, patience, and dedication of those who have worked so passionately for us. May we cherish the memories of our time here, and we hope that this class has made some small contribution to this school that has been educating young men for more than 160 years.

Many of us have at some point dreamed about this day, whether in anticipation of the next step in our lives or simply to revel in the new sense of freedom that graduation affords us. I wish that I could stand before you and offer some life-altering piece of advice that applies to each one of you.  Unfortunately, I have no more life experience than any one of you and, quite frankly, I am clueless about what the future may hold. 

I do know, however, that whatever it may hold, Jesuit High School has prepared us well for the obstacles we may face. Jesuit has challenged us to learn and to grow both inside and outside of school. It has taught us to be men of faith and men for others and has taught us to keep our lives in perspective and recognize how truly blessed we are to have great teachers, supportive friends, and loving families.

Tonight is the culmination of four or five years of studies, and as we progress, we must never forget what we have learned and how we have grown. Most importantly, we must not forget the friendships we have forged and the memories we have created.

Twenty-five years from now we may not remember the quadratic formula or how to balance a chemical equation. But I am confident we will remember those special classes and passionate teachers who taught us the true importance and joy of learning, and in doing so, profoundly affected our lives.

We have been told since the first day we stepped through the doors of Jesuit High School that the relationships we form in our years here will be ones we cherish for the rest of our lives. We have come this far, and although this phase of our years together is over, no matter what diverse paths we now take, we will always be bound as the Class of 2008.

Now, it is time to say goodbye to our school, our teachers, and our classmates. It is time to move onto the next step in our lives and to prepare for life beyond Jesuit High School. 

As we leave this ceremony tonight, let us remember that we will face choices that will shape our lives. Let us never forget as we face these decisions to rely on the values that Jesuit has instilled in us. Our education is only of value if we use it. May we recognize that successes and challenges are both parts of life. It is how we deal with them that will determine the quality of our lives.

Thank you and God bless you.

Fr. Anthony McGinn, S.J., president of Jesuit High School, speaks at graduation.

My fellow graduates who are of the Class of 2008:

This evening as the curtains opened, hundreds of cameras were focused on you. Never before have you been photographed so much. Some of these photographs will find their way into scrapbooks or picture frames alongside that photograph of you on the day when you first put on a Jesuit uniform.

Tonight we celebrate the contrast and continuity between then and now. We celebrate the beginning of your growth into the man that God has planned you to become.

At the end of your years at Jesuit, your perspective is different. You are, to some degree, wiser and amore confident than you were at age 14. I ask you to look back. What advice would you give yourself? What was that young man like who started Jesuit a few years ago? What were his anxieties and his hopes? What advice would you give him now? If you could write a letter to him, what would you say?

My letter to myself at 14 would advise patience, persistence, and trust in Providence. If I had developed those tools early in my life, my years at Jesuit would have been far easier. Many obstacles seem insurmountable because we lack patience and persistence to deal with them effectively.

In nineteen hundred sixty-one, the Jesuits did not concern themselves with promoting the self-esteem of their students. In that respect nothing much has changed. Our objective is to empower you to make wise, difficult, self-giving choices that fulfill your responsibilities to your family, to society, and to God. Self-esteem is a by-product; it results from successfully meeting our challenges; it results from the resilience we show when we fail. Your self-esteem is a means to an end. It is not our purpose.

Jesuit is in the business of challenging and encouraging, as a friend and guide. We have challenged you to become competent, compassionate, and committed to the truth.

We do not want you to feel good about yourself when you are dishonest, disrespectful, and disengaged from your responsibilities.

We don't want you to feel our unconditional approval when you are unforgiving, unfaithful, unreliable, and ungrateful.

We don't want you to feel good about yourself when you are self-indulgent, self-absorbed, and self-righteous.

Our mission is to help you develop the head, the heart, and the skills to fulfill God's plan.

My final words of advice to you are words that I myself need to remember frequently. Be patient, be persistent, and trust in Providence.