Good evening everyone, and thank you for coming.

On behalf of all my fellow

classmates, I would like to thank you tremendously for being here in support of us on an evening

as special as this. And to the Class of 2011, my fellow classmates, I say, “Congratulations.” Is

there much else to say? We’ve made it. So as to not bore everyone with the routine explanation

of college matriculation and future plans, I will say this: All of us who will graduate tomorrow

have been accepted to a great institution or program and will go on to become lifelong

benefactors of this institution. Get ready Pingree: you have got eighty or more million dollar

benefactor sitting amongst you today. Jokes aside, I am sure the future is bright. However, I do

not believe it is the upcoming college educations, majors or degrees that will make our futures so

bright, but rather what I have seen over the last four years that leads me to believe this is a class

Pingree will soon begin to miss.

We are certainly not the most mundane graduating class to ever walk these halls. As

Forrest Gump’s Momma might say, “Pingree’s Class of 2011 is like a box of chocolates, you

never know what you’re gunna’ get.” We are a confused group of scholars, artists, athletes,

thespians and musicians; as Pingree’s “Cross-Training” posters will display and flaunt around

campus or in your mailboxes at home. We have mathematicians, star running backs, poets,

painters and pianists. And in each of us, you will find another distinction in which we thrive,

aside from what can be seen on the surface. Every member of the Class of 2011 has had our own

version of cross training during our last few years, and I am confident that these abilities will

serve us well in the future.

If you were to ask me of one characteristic that I believe all of this year’s graduating

students have, I would most certainly explain our ability to adapt. There has been plenty to adapt

to: Whether it be the new schedule, the change of dress code, or a constant change of headmaster

1
which seemed to be taking on a keen similarity to the changing of the guards until Dr. Johnson

found his seat at the head. To all in the Pingree community these changes have been felt. And

just 2 days ago, when weather forced us out of the prom we expected, we took the move to

Gloucester in stride. To my fellow classmates I applaud your courage, strength and outgoing

attitudes for welcoming in every new headmaster and adjusting to every change in the Pingree

we were accustomed to just four short years ago. I think it is fair to say that high school is most

definitely a time for change; But Pingree’s Class of 2011 didn’t live only in the cliché

transformations of these awkward teenage years, but rather maturation and exploration beyond

that of very few Pingree students before or to come. This class of students sitting before me has

the strongest will of any group of young adults you will ever meet. Through much of the fall I

think it felt to many of us that Pingree just wasn’t the same; it wasn’t what we had experienced

for the last 3 years. But, sometime around the end of the fall or beginning of winter, I remember

stepping back and seeing that through all the change, Pingree was still Pingree. Sure enough,

about that time when each of us realized that we were still experiencing Pingree, we were

mailing out our applications for some new place. Well, isn’t that just one big kick in the butt!

The minute we thought we had this place all figured out we were suddenly finding someplace

else to go. And sure enough when the spring rolled around, so did the acceptance letters and final

decisions. For most of us, Graduation will come as a bitter sweet ending to our careers here at

Pingree. We will love the opportunity to move on, explore college, gap-years, or whatever future

plans await us, but I am also positive that we will miss this place. We will leave Pingree and its

halls, classrooms, playing fields and performance stages, but they will never leave us.

Again, I find myself struggling to separate my words from some repetitive and homey

feeling hallmark card, but don’t those cards always seem to be right? Parents - doesn’t it seem

2
like this time has flown? I’ve been assured many a time that my own parents can remember the

first day Brandon and I hopped into a car pool and headed off to our first day at Pingree. For

many of us, the memories of those first days, weeks, or years are strong, but parents we know

you won’t ever forget. Moms and Dads - today I know it may seem like your sons and daughters

are moving on. And sure, we’re leaving home in a few short months and your connections with

us will change - as they have changed since that first day we set foot on this campus. Surely

today we don’t resemble the cute and little teens we were back then, but remember we have

matured and are ready for what there is to come. You have blessed us with the opportunity to

attend school here at Pingree, and let me assure you that it is one decision you will never regret.

Your children are the most well prepared and well rounded individuals for all of life’s

challenges. Students thank your parents tonight for this great growing experience and education

that they have provided you these last four years. Parents, thank Pingree faculty, they turned your

14 or 15 year old little twerp into a cool, collected, and organized scholar ready for college life.

Consider all that money and time put into your son or daughter, well spent. I promise you, that

proud feeling welling up inside of you will only become stronger when you see what we are

capable of. You’ve all raised incredible teens into extraordinary young adults. Yes, Mr. and Mrs.

St. Pierre, even Kevin. To all of the parents of the class of 2011, we love and admire you in

every way.

When I think about the last four years at Pingree I remember a lot of time spent in the

classroom, a lot of time spent on the playing fields, and a lot of time talking to Skip. What unites

all three aspects of Pingree life, class, extra-curricular, and social life? I’ll tell you what, it’s this

faculty. The problem with our faculty here at Pingree, is that we have too many astonishing

people. I’m sure if you asked any of these students here which teacher they enjoyed having most

3
in their time at Pingree, any one of us could give you some poignant, confident answer that

teacher X is amazing. But, I’m also sure that just a second later; we are already second guessing

which faculty member we have chosen. Whether it is Paul in the Kitchen, Skip or Frank from

B&G, or Ms. Carps and Mr. Glessner from Language and History, the faculty at Pingree is what

makes this place go ‘round. And I’m terribly sorry to make a bug analogy, but the faculty at

Pingree are like ants in nature. They can carry 10 times their own weight and do so with ease.

They pick each of us up off the ground when that math problem has beaten us to no avail, or they

lift us higher with consistent encouragement and drive even after all is said and done. Pingree’s

faculty is nothing short of amazing. To all the faculty here at Pingree, on behalf of all my fellow

classmates I would like to say thank you. Thank you for teaching us, thank you for guiding us,

and most importantly thank you for being our friends.

Those of my fellow classmates out there rolling your eyes, I know where your coming

from. These faculty members have taught us so much, but they have not taught us nearly as

much as we have taught each other. Class of 2011, look to your left and your right. These are the

people who have shaped the last four years of your life. We all are products of our environment

and these are the best people in the world you could have possibly surrounded yourself with.

When all is said and done here on Sunday evening, I hope you reminisce in all that we have

accomplished, in all that we’ve seen TOGETHER. Don’t let go of these friendships, take them

with you wherever you go. And in ten years let’s come back here and hug and shake hands like

we have for the last four years. The future is bright for Pingree’s Class of 2011, of that I am sure.

Congratulations, everyone, we did it.

4
5