Being chosen as the baccalaureate speaker by the class of 2020 was one of the greatest honors of my life. To say that I was disappointed to not able to address them officially would be an incredible understatement. To the class of 2020, I hope this presentation lets each one of you know that you were and continue to be a very special group to me. You are without question the CLASS of 2020!
You are the Class of 2020
How can one describe such a group?
The unexpected end of high school
Bringing to a conclusion
An unforgettable group
Riding as the torchbearers of Darlington
This is the story of your
Heartbreak, by way of the unforeseen
All at once, Bringing a stop to
The remarkable vision of your dreams
You never stopped pressing forward
And yet, this is the most unbelievable part of it:
Covid-19 took a normal year away from you
The virus drove a wedge
Firmly in the hearts of your community
All along, these were the plans
You told yourself, that you would ride this year out smoothly
And this seemed to be the way everyone thought
The chance to play that last game
The chance to display your college on your uniform
The chance to say a last goodbye
We watched and saw it all:
Your sadness, your pain, your disappointment
Erasing the very idea of
Finishing the year out strong
Your heartache and your tears
Overcoming
Your sense of determination
Here is your hope
destroyed
The unforeseen laughing: its plans
Unstoppable - there’s no longer the sound of
Your joy as you are inducted into Darlington alumni, now the Class of 2020
absolutely overruled - behold
The truth of your reality
Yes, this is what is true
You repeated over and over again:
Wisdom more than knowledge
Service beyond self
Honor above everything
But now we are witnesses to this reality:
Your Senior year was erased
We had almost believed
There is a way to stay joyful
There is a way to get through it
There is a way to come out stronger on the other side
Now we no better
For you
We can say that your Senior year is
wrapped up in this one realization:
The single greatest moment in your time at Darlington
Is concluding….
How clearly we can see it
So what’s so great about the Class of 2020?
Just one thing:
That the strings that hold you together
Are unbelievably strong
And not easily broken
Now read this back... backwards (from "How Clearly we can see it...").
