This address was given by Class President DJ Poulin ’19 at 91大神’s 178th Convocation. Find more about the event, including links to photos, videos, and other speeches,聽here.
How鈥檚 everyone doing? For those of you who don鈥檛 know me, my name is Donald Poulin, but everyone just calls me DJ.
Before today, there have been 177 convocations. That鈥檚 a lot. Over the years, I鈥檓 sure convocation has seen many topics discussed and many speeches made. I鈥檝e been to five convocations myself, today being the sixth. I thus feel honored to take part in today鈥檚 proceedings. I took writing this speech extremely seriously. As such, I revisited convocations of the past. I noticed that there are some similarities amongst them, one of these being the student speakers. You see, the student speakers always try to pass down some wisdom that they鈥檝e learned to the students during their time here. I, too, would like to pass down wisdom. Unfortunately for you, I have no wisdom. I don鈥檛 know the secret to success and I don鈥檛 know the best way to live. To be honest, I don鈥檛 even know when my bus leaves tomorrow. Coach, if you could remind me afterwards, that would be great. To be serious, though, I won鈥檛 stand up here and pretend I have all the answers. I will instead discuss something incredibly simple, something everybody knows, yet not everybody fully understands, and that is the importance of kindness.
To quote Maya Angelou, 鈥減eople will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.鈥 When I think of all the people I鈥檝e ever met, I don鈥檛 think of how smart they are, or how athletic they are. I think of how they treated me, and how they treated others. Where鈥檚 Vishnu? Let me tell you all something about Vishnu; he is one of the nicest guys you鈥檒l meet. He鈥檚 always willing to lend a hand when you need one, and he鈥檒l always have something positive to say. Of course, he鈥檒l still give you a point if you鈥檙e out of your room after curfew. Still, no matter who you are, Vishnu treats you the same way. That鈥檚 why, in ten, twenty years, even if I never see him again, I鈥檒l still remember Vishnu as a good friend. So there鈥檚 one way to be kind: talk to everyone, whether they鈥檙e a senior or a seventh grader, whether they鈥檙e a boarder or a day student, whether they鈥檙e a student or a teacher.
Of course, that鈥檚 not the only aspect of being kind. There are actually many aspects of being kind. For now, though, let鈥檚 focus on an easy one; appreciate those around you.. We all know that we鈥檙e supposed to say please and thank you. We learned that long before high school. Yet, at some point in time, some of us stopped saying it. Consider this a reminder: say please and thank you. It takes no effort whatsoever, and it shows you appreciate what has been done for you. Thank your peers when they do you a favor, thank your teachers after class, thank the dining staff when they bring out food, thank the cars when they let you cross the street, and thank your parents, grandparents, or whoever made it possible for you to come here. Whenever someone does something for you, no matter how big or small, thank them I鈥檇 like to take this moment to thank those of you who already do this. To those of you who don鈥檛 say please and thank you, well, you know who you are, and, frankly, so do I.
Kindness seems easy, and it is, but it鈥檚 also easy to forget when you have so much on your mind. At 91大神 and in life, you鈥檒l have a lot to think about and do. Here, on this campus, you鈥檒l juggle academics and athletics, school life and social life. You鈥檒l study hard for that calculus test, you鈥檒l work hard out on the field to beat Deerfield, you鈥檒l go out with friends to relax a little, you鈥檒l take the SAT too many times, and all the while you will almost definitely not get enough sleep. All I ask is that amidst all of these things, you don鈥檛 forget how important a bit of kindness is. You decided what this school is like. I know you鈥檝e heard that a million times, but it鈥檚 still true. If you鈥檙e all kind, this will be a place I鈥檓 glad to have had a hand in. I hope you will all do great thing, but more so than that, I hope that you will all be great people. Thank you.