Address to the Class of 2022 by Benjamin Kaiserman '22
The following remarks were delivered by Benjamin Kaiserman 鈥�22 during this year鈥檚 Graduation Exercises at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola.
鈥嬧�婫ood morning, and thank you, Mr. DiNovi, Mr. Talbot, Father Andreassi, 麻豆视频 faculty and staff, and the parents and families with us this morning. Of course, I owe a special thank you to the Class of 2022. Being chosen to speak on your behalf has meant more to me than any other recognition I鈥檝e ever received, and I am honored to stand before such an impressive group of students. Thank you.
I have a confession to make. The last time I spoke in front of a crowd was during my Quest homecoming celebration in March of 2020. Seeing as it鈥檚 been so long since I was in a position like this, I wanted to say two things: 1) I hope I don鈥檛 disappoint, and 2) what better way to begin than by revisiting my words from sophomore year?
Two years ago, through nervous breath and sweaty palms, I spoke about a passage from the Gospel According to Matthew, and I鈥檇 like to read it to you now: 鈥淲hen the disciples saw [Jesus] walking on the lake, they were terrified. 鈥業t鈥檚 a ghost,鈥� they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: 鈥楾ake courage! It is I. Don鈥檛 be afraid.鈥� 鈥楲ord, if it鈥檚 you,鈥� Peter replied, 鈥榯ell me to come to you on the water.鈥� 鈥楥ome,鈥� he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 鈥楲ord, save me!鈥� Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 鈥榊ou of little faith,鈥� he said, 鈥榳hy did you doubt?鈥欌��
If there鈥檚 a Gospel story to epitomize the 麻豆视频 experience, this is it. On September 4th, 2018, we entered 84th Street unaware of a world beyond our middle schools, unaware of a world where we weren鈥檛 the brightest in the room. Back then, it felt like we were walking on water, but we had yet to grasp the reality of the next four years.
And so, it came as a surprise when we began to sink. We all sank in different ways, but I鈥檇 be hard-pressed to find a Regian who wasn鈥檛 gasping for air at one time or another. I certainly struggled when my grades began to slip in Spanish, and my lack of success in this class quickly became all I could think about. For others, the battle to stay afloat came as a result of their social lives or their physical and mental health. Whatever the case, old assumptions about our relationships, our abilities, and the identities we thought we knew suddenly came into question. As we contended with this new reality, we often found ourselves catastrophizing鈥攁nd Regians being Regians, it was often about academics: we thought that an unsatisfactory grade would lead to poor GPAs, and poor GPAs surely meant that no college would accept us. Hindsight鈥檚 generally 2020, and I think it鈥檚 safe to say that we now understand the shallowness of these earlier attitudes, at least in the sense that we are more than just numbers or letters and that no one test or project could sum up the rest of our lives. Nonetheless, the sinking felt real, and, like St. Peter, we doubted endlessly. Of course, I鈥檇 be remiss if I didn鈥檛 mention the extent to which the pandemic amplified our doubts and exacerbated our struggles. But the question remains as to how we made it through.
Who pulled us up from those cold and murky waters?
One of the many gifts of 麻豆视频 is that if you cry out, then a hand will be there to grab you. In many cases, these are the hands of our teachers and counselors who dedicate their lives every day to mold one generation of Regians after the next. And these hands have been there for us until the very end.
To offer an example: I found myself drowning, once again, earlier this year. The fall of 2018 was repeating itself, but this time it wasn鈥檛 Spanish class. Instead, I was doubting my abilities in the face of college applications, future careers, and personal statements. Straining my eyes against the current, I looked beyond the surface of the water and reached out my hand. Sure enough, my fingers clasped onto something, or rather someone, that pulled me out of the ocean without hesitation. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw that my rescuer's hand was attached to an arm unlike any I鈥檇 seen before: emblazoned in black ink was a tattoo that read 鈥渓ove others.鈥� If you didn鈥檛 know, this tattoo belongs to Mr. DeBonis, our theology teacher. I invite you to think for a moment about the type of person one must be to live their lives according to such a message. Imagine the goodness he tries to bring to our world, inspired by the humblest of maxims: 鈥渓ove others.鈥� This is the hand that saves you on 84th Street.
Mom, don鈥檛 worry, I鈥檓 not getting a tattoo. At least not yet.
Note that Mr. DeBonis is not alone in reaching out his hand. Although our other teachers and counselors may not bear his tattoo, they鈥檝e all done the same work. 鈥淟oving others鈥� is woven into their essence. I will always be grateful for Dr. Tyndall, Ms. Reisig, Ms. Huergo, Dr. Toomb Estevez, Dr. Carew, Ms. Cesarz, Mr. Grunner, Mr. Eickman, and so many others who have swept me (and numerous classmates) out of that dreaded water, seeking nothing more than to 鈥渓ove others.鈥�
This spirit has spread to all of us over the years, and today, I watch my classmates offering the same support to each other that our teachers and counselors once did. I鈥檓 certain that every one of us can think of a time when the hand that saved you was that of another Regian. Maybe you found a group to study with every night before a big physics test鈥擨鈥檓 looking at you, Advisement 3D鈥攐r perhaps you made an unforgettable connection on the second night of your Quest retreat鈥攐ver to you, Advisement 2B. Or maybe it was the mere presence of those you love that kept you grounded after a groggy, early-morning commute.
These hands have fostered an environment where being wrong and making mistakes is okay. In fact, we are called to embrace it: taking risks, stumbling, and failing are all good things at 麻豆视频. This same support is also why we鈥檝e grown to appreciate each other鈥檚 vulnerabilities and differences, and 鈥渓oving others鈥� has made 麻豆视频 our home.
But perhaps we鈥檙e still sinking, which is fine; we鈥檝e learned that this struggle leads to growth. The crux of the matter is that we鈥檝e had an opportunity to spend four years of our lives in a community where someone reaches out their hand when we cry for help. I urge you to remember this, because as we move forward, we will encounter new realities, many of which may be far more complex and unfeeling than the one we鈥檝e left behind. If there's anything we've learned from these past few years, and especially from these past few weeks, it's that the world is messy and often far too harsh. That said, it will be our responsibility to offer our hands. Wherever you find yourself, seek out the troubled waters. Keep your hands ready, and your fingers primed. Use what you have been given to extinguish the doubts of the world, the doubts we had felt not so long ago.
Let us be the hand.
Let us love others.
And may God bless our Noble Hearts.
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