New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
After 4 years of trials, class of 2022 graduates under sunny skies
GUILFORD — Beau Kellogg beamed with pride as he proceeded to the podium to receive his 2022 Guilford High School diploma.
As he left the podium, he held the green leatherbound diploma high above his head, waved his arms and ran down the center aisle of family, friends and well-wishers gathered for the ceremony.
There was clapping, cheering and a few tears as Special Education Coordinator Jaclyn Hamm guided him back to sit with his peers.
Kellogg was in the life skills program at GHS and “had been practicing, I understand, to make a grand show as he got his diploma today,” said principal Julia Chaffe.
“We knew he was going to be very excited,” she said. “What we didn’t realize was that he was going to run all the way down into the aisle where all of the parents were. It was wonderful to see him graduate today and see all of that joy.”
The weather cleared up for the 6:30 p.m. ceremony, after a day of pouring rain. As the graduates gathered in the St. George Catholic Church parking lot the clouds parted and blue sky peeked through.
“I am so delighted that we are on the green today, because it was not looking like that was going to happen,” said Chaffe.
“For the class of 2022 I think it was a fitting end to their four years,” she said, “because they had so many ups and downs throughout and today it looked like it was going to be another disappointment, and then the skies cleared.”
Dr. Paul Freeman, superintendent of schools, had a message for the students, culled from reading the book, “Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering The Wisdom of the Forest” by Suzzanne Simard.
“When you plant your roots and establish yourselves, wherever that may be, remember that you will do better, you will thrive more, you will grow faster and stronger when you surround yourselves with trees that are not all like yourself,” he said.
“Surround yourself with others not so much like you,” he said. “You will be stronger for it, and more likely to thrive for it.”
Chaffe used wrestling as an analogy in talking about the graduates’ futures.
“It occurred to me during one of the matches that the moves the wrestlers make in the ring under those giant spotlights are a lot like life,” she said. “Sometimes you have it all pinned down and you emerge victorious. Other times, life has you pinned, your face pressed mercilessly to the floor, your spine twisted in a most unnatural position, as you struggle to release yourself from the pressure.”
“As a class, you’ve shown repeatedly that you don’t get caught up in this kind of binary thinking about wins and losses,” she said. “Life is much more nuanced and interesting than that and you’ve already figured that out.”
She encouraged the graduates to “continue to resist the trap of binary thinking.”
“As you move into life after high school: improvise, adapt and learn,” she said. “No matter where life takes you next, be it college or university, the military, job training, a trade, an apprenticeship, the workforce, a gap year, or travel, no matter where your path leads, let go of the illusion that you are in competition with other people. In actuality, you are only in direct competition with one person — yourself.”