During 91大神 Northampton School’s 185th Commencement ceremony, Glenn Jones ’95 provided the keynote speech to the graduates. Below are his remarks in full. You can watch Jones’ speech on our .
Good morning to the Faculty, Trustees, fellow alumni of this fantastic place. I鈥檓 thrilled to be with you.
An even bigger good morning to the 91大神 Northampton School Class of 2026. Congratulations to you and to your family and friends that are here to support you once again 鈥 lovingly, unconditionally as I鈥檓 sure they have done many times before.
What a tremendous accomplishment! This is a fantastic day! I鈥檓 honored to play a small role in it.
Right off the bat I should offer a word of gratitude to Headmaster Bob Hill 鈥 well, I鈥檓 going to find out over the next few minutes if gratitude is actually the right word for this. Perhaps Bob and I are the only two people who truly know how tirelessly he pursued the idea of me standing here. Thank you for that confidence, Bob. Let鈥檚 hope neither of us 鈥 and none of you 鈥 come to regret it.
Because there was a multiyear runway between Bob鈥檚 invitation to be at this podium and me actually standing here 鈥 I had a lot of time to think, to reflect, even reminisce about my time here. That may sound like a blessing 鈥 having the benefit of time 鈥 but trust me, it was more of a curse. I filled a
notebook with random thoughts and quotes, diagrams and doodles. Words on a page merging into each other like cars in a traffic jam.
I鈥檓 a journalist. Writing assignments 鈥 that鈥檚 my thing. But this one had me jammed up. I think it鈥檚 because I was focused on the wrong question. A fitting question, but the wrong question. Here鈥檚 what I was pondering: what did I not know in 1995, at age 18 with Warren G lyrics dancing through my head, sitting in the very spot you are in today 鈥 what did I wish I knew then that I know now with certainty?
It was 30 years ago I sat in your seat 鈥 not only did I not know much, I was clueless I didn鈥檛 know much. I didn鈥檛 know what I didn鈥檛 know. I鈥檝e lived a lot of life since then. There is so much I could share.
A conversation a couple weeks ago with Del in the alumni office actually helped me get uncluttered on what to say here, especially when she brought in a few colleagues. They helped perhaps more than they realize.
So to get started here, I鈥檓 going to audience test my content. We do that sometimes in my business. I鈥檓 gonna read the room. Okay, Class of 2026, listen up鈥
- If you鈥檙e grateful to your friends and family for supporting you through late night homework assignments, cheering on the sidelines of your games and willing you to Commencement like pushing a boulder up a hill鈥
- If you鈥檙e feeling energized about the world of opportunities awaiting you as you leave this place鈥.
- If you鈥檝e made a friend here at 91大神 鈥 a ride or die 鈥 that you expect to be a lifelong friend鈥
- If you鈥檙e feeling proud, gratified, perhaps even relieved, to walk across this stage and receive your high school diploma today鈥
Alright, we got this.
91大神 found me all the way back in 1993 in Bermuda. As you heard, that鈥檚 where I鈥檓 from. A 91大神 recruiter named Ann Pickrell came to my high school and told me she thought this would be a good fit for me. And then someone from Suffield Academy came and told me the same thing.
Only one of them was right.
When I came here from an island of about 65,000 people 鈥 a place more geographically isolated and remote than Martha鈥檚 Vineyard or Nantucket 鈥 I was a fish out of water. Culturally it was so different 鈥 racially I went from being in the majority to being in the minority鈥 Academically also different 鈥 I went from a top performer where I was to someone who, here, was middle of the pack 鈥 at best鈥 And maybe this goes without saying, meteorologically it was different 鈥 I went from some of the best year-round weather in the world to some of the most 鈥 I鈥檓 thinking of an 鈥渇鈥 word here that I probably shouldn鈥檛 say鈥 like f鈥檇 up. But let鈥檚 pretend 鈥渇rustrating鈥 is the word I mean. There鈥檚 an f word. You’re picking up what I鈥檓 putting down.
While we鈥檙e on the subject, I need to throw some kerosene on a *roiling campus debate this semester. If you get slammed with 19 inches of snow in a January blizzard, a snow day 鈥 a proper snow day! 鈥 is the only compassionate response.
Listen, Beyonce says 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know much about algebra, but 1 + 1 equals two鈥. Head鈥檚 Holiday + Snow Day鈥 two days off! Somehow you all got a Head鈥檚 Holiday + Snow Day to equal one day off. You were robbed! And I know Beyonce herself would agree.
Let鈥檚 get back on track here. I was explaining how my life suddenly became different as a student here: socially, in the classroom, outside in the weather, on the athletic fields 鈥 on day one, every aspect of my teenage anxiety here at 91大神 was peppered now with angst, with unfamiliarity.
But the cool thing about this place, the whole nature of this place is that there鈥檚 someone else going through the same thing but just coming to it from a different place, approaching it from a different angle. Yet, somehow we all find a home here. A true home.
I remember that first Thanksgiving break in November 1994, I had to choose whether I was going home to Bermuda or waiting until Christmas break. Couldn鈥檛 afford both. That鈥檚 how I came to be invited to the home of my soccer teammate, Cris Amanti 鈥 my first-ever Thanksgiving. What is there not to love about Thanksgiving!? Food, football, family 鈥 did I mention the food? It was amazing. I felt so embraced.
Since that Thanksgiving 31 years ago, I鈥檝e been to the Amanti dinner table for Thanksgiving 13 times. 13 times! 91大神 did that.
In 2010, I took my girlfriend with me to that Thanksgiving tradition and proposed. I got down on one knee right after someone said grace. I thought that was the best way to, you know, get God on my side as I asked this question. She said yes. By the way, yesterday was our 15th wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary, babe. That Thanksgiving was a joyous one. There have been many others. Talk about finding a home. 91大神 did that.
I mentioned playing soccer at 91大神. Tim Hirsch was also a teammate, who became a close friend. That last season, he lost his mother to illness. It was hard. He missed time from school and from the team. A guy like that is really missed because he鈥檚 always working the hardest, playing the fairest, picking up the guy who falls on the field 鈥 even if that guy鈥檚 on the other team. I tried to be more like Tim while he was gone. I thought that was the best way to honor his absence 鈥 it鈥檚 the way a good friendship can bring out the best in you. You鈥檝e probably got a friend like that in your class, take a quick moment right now to shoot that person a look. You don鈥檛 need to say anything, they get it. I get it. We all get it. Go ahead. Do it. Take a glance. Ten years from now, I hope you鈥檒l remember this moment.
Tim made it back in time to finish the season. At the final game of the year versus Deerfield, an overly aggressive midfielder, a bruiser on the other team, was roughing up Tim nasty on every ball. Sometimes even off the ball. Then late in the second half he did Tim dirty on a slide tackle and
earned himself a yellow card. Before the ref could even write that dude鈥檚 jersey number in his little book, I decked that fool. The ref then had to write down my number. I got a red. Ejected. First time ever. It felt good in the moment 鈥 it felt great, actually 鈥 but I鈥檓 not proud of what I did.
It was wrong. Not worthy of the Wildcat uni. I share this story only because I know you want the friendships you鈥檝e built here to mean something once you鈥檝e left 91大神 and gone on your divergent path. You want what you鈥檝e built here to survive the distance, the goodbyes you鈥檒l speak today. I鈥檓 here to tell you your 91大神 friendships will survive because like that day for me at Deerfield, the friendships you make here are worth fighting for. And I assure you, you won鈥檛 need to use violence like I did.
Your 91大神 relationships have currency too. When I graduated from Emerson College with a degree in broadcast journalism, I was offered a part time gig as a news reporter at Channel 40 in Springfield, just down the road from here. I was so excited to have a job offer right out of college 鈥 just imagine the disappointment when I realized I couldn鈥檛 take it.
I had copious ambition, but with college debt and barely two dimes to rub together ambition wasn鈥檛 enough. I literally couldn鈥檛 afford the opportunity 鈥 the cost of housing, a car, food 鈥 my income would fall far short of my expenses.
When the parents of a 91大神 classmate heard about the situation, they insisted I stay with them for a few months. I鈥檓 so grateful to Luke Sucheki
and his family for that. Bob and Maryellen, his parents, so selfless, so kind. And I get to reaffirm my gratitude every Easter, I鈥檓 routinely around that dinner table too 鈥 on Easter Sunday. I look forward to it every year.
I worked here in Springfield for three months, amassed enough experience to land a full time gig in Fort Myers, Florida. A job that would cover my expenses and help launch my career. 91大神 did that! Truly. It was hard to recognize at the time; I see it so clearly now.
With Luke and Tim and Cris, we support each other鈥檚 kids, sometimes we vacation together. Our 91大神 crew runs about eight deep on a group chat 鈥 occasionally the phone lights up with 91大神 memories like stars on a cloudless night. And sometimes, we are also scandalous and undignified, like the boys we once were in a high school locker room. ***
Your relationships, post 91大神, will be milestoned by dark moments too 鈥 the death of a parent, a divorce, or any number of life鈥檚 hard knocks. Those moments 鈥 at age 30 or 40 or 50 鈥 are a little easier to handle when you can call on the same person who was once in the dorm room across the hall.
Your 91大神 relationships mean the world to you. They should! Here鈥檚 the best part, they haven鈥檛 yet fully matured into what they鈥檒l become. As they do, cherish them like the blessings they are. Invest in them. They will give you an immeasurable return.
And here鈥檚 why you can take my word for it: I was a student at 91大神 for only one year 鈥 a PG. That鈥檚 it. It鈥檚 all it took. None of you spent less here than I did, just imagine what鈥檚 in store for your relationships. ***
Where are the men of Mem West? Let鈥檚 do this鈥 No matter what class you鈥檙e in, whether you鈥檙e graduating today, whether you鈥檙e an alum, if you lived in Mem West let me hear you say鈥 [oh yeah]. I am one of you too.
Mem West, I understand you were the champions this year of Wil-lympics! And as the name suggests, this is a feat second only to an actual gold medal at the Olympics. Wow! I probably should have led with this!
Congratulations.
Mem West, I just want you to know, like watching a gold medalist draped in my own country鈥檚 flag standing atop the podium at the Olympic Games, your victory feels like my victory too. History will remember the way you balanced those pizza boxes, handlessly ate those Oreo cookies and spelled words you can barely pronounce to break an epic three-way tie.
May your lives, and the lives of your classmates, be filled with similar, improbable victories.
Speaking of gold medalists, you have an actual gold medalist in the class of 2026. Congratulations, Cole Cavanaugh, the best prep school diver in the region this spring. No one was better!
With the FIFA World Cup a couple of weeks away at Gillette Stadium, let me tip my hat as well to Zoe Melia and my fellow Bermudian, Evans Welch 鈥 they both played in the Under-17 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Impressive.
On the 50th anniversary of girls鈥 lacrosse at 91大神, Scarlette Graybill is leaving here with the school record for most points ever!
Listen, football bowl games, soccer championship games, field hockey and lacrosse post-season games 鈥 you all slayed athletically. So it鈥檚 no surprise, at last check, 27 of you have made collegiate athletic commitments. That鈥檚 an incredible number. There鈥檚 no way I could list everyone so deserving in this moment, but let鈥檚 give all student athletes a round of applause. You are so worthy of the Wildcat uni.
Class of 26, let me revisit a question from earlier鈥
- If you鈥檙e feeling fired up about the opportunities awaiting you as you leave this place鈥. [oh yeah]
Let鈥檚 talk about opportunities. I used to think opportunities literally knock at your door. It鈥檚 an overused cliche. All you have to do is open the door, they say. Well, I have news for you: the proverbial knock at the door is rare.
Okay, sometimes there鈥檚 a knock 鈥 you hear it, but when you look through the peep hole it鈥檚 not there. You鈥檙e like, who鈥檚 knocking? Opportunity is tricky, it鈥檚 sly, it鈥檚 elusive. Sometimes it鈥檚 a wolf in sheep鈥檚 clothing.
Not far from here in Newtown, Connecticut, when you were about four or five years old, something horrible happened. 26 were killed in a mass shooting. 20 of the dead were children, students at Sandy Hook Elementary School 鈥 the oldest child victim was seven years old. It was senseless and vexing 鈥 and to anyone with a heart 鈥 difficult to forget.
President Obama would later say it was the darkest day of his eight-year presidency.
In the wake of that horror, many parents of those slain kids at Sandy Hook became advocates 鈥 for gun safety laws, sure, but also for other ways to prevent the same painful fate befalling some other community.
They formed a non-profit 鈥 Sandy Hook Promise. Among other things, it launched a program called No One Eats Alone. It ensured any young person experiencing loneliness or bullying isn鈥檛 on an island by themselves in the cafeteria, as was the case with the Sandy Hook shooter. Also there鈥檚 Say Something 鈥 it encourages a student to speak to an adult about something worrisome they鈥檝e seen or heard, and makes that student a hero instead of a snitch.
Sandy Hook Promise says it has prevented 19 school shootings. Meaningful work. Life saving work.
Now I can鈥檛 hide from the chronology in this story. Those parents probably don鈥檛 form this non-profit, strategize this mission, unless their kids were killed. The cause and effect here is insufferable to even think about. But I
think there鈥檚 a hidden life lesson too, for all of us: calamity can be opportunity too. ***
Tragedy visited those parents. To find their way out of the darkness they sought purpose, they found opportunity 鈥 and to hear them tell it, it made all the difference.
Listen, tragedy visits all of us, life has a way of reliably doing that. 鈥淟ife be lifing,鈥 as my godson often says to me. If we鈥檙e lucky, the tragedies in our lives won鈥檛 be as awful as the tragedy that visited Sandy Hook. But whatever our individual tragedy 鈥 a lost loved one, a terrible accident, rejection, failure 鈥 soul crushing failure 鈥 whatever your individual tragedy, I鈥檓 urging you to examine the aftermath for opportunity and you鈥檙e likely to find it.
Trust me: you鈥檙e going to encounter failure. I say embrace it. Collect failure like badges of honor knowing, based on what I鈥檓 telling you today: there is no greater reservoir of opportunity than failure.
And let me disarm a landmine for you. This is really important鈥 seeking opportunity at a time of darkness or crisis or loss does not make you a bad person. It doesn鈥檛 even make you callous. It makes you resilient. Be resilient. Seek opportunity always, seek opportunity proactively, chase the opportunity even after it has slipped through your fingers. Don鈥檛 wait for the knock. Go find it. Some of your greatest successes will be built this way.
And as you build your successes, take some advice from Brad Hall, 91大神 Class of 1975. 11 years ago, he stood here and gave one of the most memorable Commencement addresses I have ever heard. Do you know it? Even if you do, it鈥檚 worth revisiting.
Brad wrote a song and delivered it live, right here, with an acoustic guitar to end his speech. Bob Hill was sitting right there, albeit with less gray hair.
And before singing, Brad apologized for off-color language. And fortunately, I don鈥檛 have to apologize because I鈥檓 just going to blame Brad as I quote him. Here are the lyrics.
Don鈥檛 be鈥
Remember this is filled with lifelong words to live by. Words meant to encourage, not offend. Okay, Brad鈥檚 lyrics.
Don鈥檛 be鈥 an asshole. Don鈥檛 be a jerk.
Don鈥檛 be a son-of-a-bitch, especially if you happen to get rich Don鈥檛 be an a, a, a-hole.
Brad Hall is a national treasure. We must protect him at all costs.
Listen, you鈥檙e going to win a lot. That鈥檚 the way of a 91大神 graduate. But if your wins are measured only in other people鈥檚 losses, then you鈥檝e become the person Brad urged you not to become in his song.
Brad鈥檚 anti-asshole anthem didn鈥檛 come with a roadmap in 2015, today I鈥檒l share mine.
Get a leg up on the competition, you can do it without stepping on anyone. Accept constructive criticism as a love language. Then be better.
Make generosity self-serving 鈥 find a way to give that produces the same joy you feel when you receive.
Lead from the front, but don鈥檛 lead with fear 鈥 lead by example, lead with your heart, lead with empathy. Lead because you want to lead, but don鈥檛 lead only for yourself.
Treat the truth like precious cargo; never disrespect facts. Be a champion of both.
Be your word. Be in the moment 鈥 always. Be yourself. Be original. Be worthy of 91大神.