Traditionally, we endow seniors with the privilege to share their wisdom with the Darlington Community. We are expected to have life-altering messages that are the answer to every problem we will ever encounter.
Personally, I don't have the answer to life like some people do. I don’t know what I want to major in. I don't know what I want to be when I’m older. I don't even know what I’m going to have for lunch today. However, the one thing that will be true for others, and myself, is that we can all learn from and have experiences that are true to ourselves alone.
Our experiences are formed over a lifetime. The number of experiences we have depend on how we spend our time. We face many challenges in today’s world that keep us from living in the moment. Relying on our iPhone to avoid interaction with others is a more and more familiar scene. We are all guilty of it. I often find myself browsing YouTube or, as Coach Smith would say, “watching silly cat videos,” and then before I know it, two hours of my life has flown by that I will never get back. I’m then forced to stay up late to finish Mr. Shorey’s calculus training circuit and forgo the opportunity to spend that time socializing with friends and have a somewhat valuable conversation. I’m not advocating that we stop watching the latest SNL or Jake Paul videos, but we should evaluate how we spend our time and make the most of the opportunities around us.
We owe it to ourselves to live in the moment and not waste away our time. Throughout life, we are going to have good and bad experiences. We should learn from the bad ones and enjoy the good ones. Because of my experiences, I am beginning to learn the importance of timeliness (the key word there is "beginning"). I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been late to different venues because I wrongly assumed the start time of the event… and we all know what assuming does to people. I’ve taken and failed enough surprise quizzes to know that sometimes it is important to make time and do the reading the night before. And I’ve also learned that it's a really bad idea to wait until the day before to write a speech.
But from my good experiences, I’ve made everlasting friendships and memories, have been introduced to new ideas, and taught valuable life lessons. And there’s no way I could have experienced all that on my own. I am who I am because of my friends and the time I have spent with them. The great thing about Darlington is that all of my friends are different and come from different backgrounds ... the Darlington Community is wide ranging. And that’s okay. We all bring a piece of the puzzle that eventually makes up Darlington School.
There are great deals of things you can learn and experience from your friends. Rand has tried to teach me all of the shortcuts in Rome (and still yells at me when I miss a turn). I’ve gone through many packets of Sam and David Kim’s Korean seaweed with Smith, spent many late nights being mentored by Victor Xu’s Chinese philosophy, and learned how to dance with the Vietnamese Daddy Cool, otherwise known as Long. Regardless, we all gain a valuable education here at Darlington. But at the end of the day, it’s your friend sitting next to you in class, or at lunch, or in chapel that can offer a valuable unique perspective.
Concluding my spiel, my main points isn’t to preach that you should always be on time, or never slack off, or always goes out and have a great time with friends. I instead encourage everyone to make the most of your experiences. Take the bad ones for what they are and roll with it. Enjoy the good ones for what they are and make the most of it. Don't be worried about tomorrow, and don't get caught up with yesterday’s news. Be confident that you can live your life learning and growing and enjoying all of life’s moments. Spend time with friends. And most importantly, spend time doing what you love.
Editor's Note: David Hagler, student body president, presented this Senior Speech to his classmates and teachers during Assembly on Aug. 28. Various seniors will give Senior Speeches throughout the school year.
