Dear Seniors (A Prequel)

Dear Seniors:

The calendar tells me May is just around the corner and planning meeting after planning meeting has confirmed that our annual spring events like junior ring, honors convocation, mother-son Mass & brunch, prom, Baccalaureate Mass and graduation are all quickly approaching.

In just a few days, you will finish your final exams, take a couple of AP tests, practice walking in academic regalia, and have “Pomp & Circumstance” ingrained in your brains.

As your principal, I have the honor of being one of the last to deliver parting words on graduation. So today I offer you some random thoughts, a prequel, to memories that have started to flood my conscious.

As I do so, I’d like to invite you to take a trip back in time with me as I chronocial your journey and advances in technology simultaneously.

Let’s start our journey back in the fall of 2012. You came to Vianney as freshman, a little scared, a little nervous, but hopefully a little excited about the possibilities that would lie ahead. As you passed through the halls from Coach O’s Modern World History class to Coach Hamilton’s Freshman Forensic Science class, our world was changing. Google unveiled NOW, a feature that automatically alerted you to relevant information about where you were and what you were supposed to be doing. It was like a mind-reading personal assistant: If you were going on a trip, it told you about traffic on the way to the airport, gave you your boarding pass, showed you the weather at your destination, told you how to get to your appointment, and showed you the best restaurants near your hotel.  It never got the credit it rightfully deserved, but it too was a prequel of things to come.  I only wish they would have reminded you more to do your homework, get to class on time, hug your mom, and respect your dad with a little more effort than you chose to do without a technology widget. 

 As you entered your sophomore year, you were excited about the possibilities of no longer being the “new class” in the school. You were a little older, a little taller, and (hopefully) a little wiser. You worked hard to get through courses like Geometry, Chemistry, and Religion and of some of you were brave enough to complete Honors Algebra II! While you were busy with extracurricular events, finding your voice in our community, and studying to bolster your transcript, Amazon announced it would start using drones to deliver packages to your doorstep. Google Glass allowed people to view the world in a very different light, and 4k television sets changed how we watched our news, movies, and sporting events while Chromecast allowed you to fling and stream Netflix, webpages, and any other media you loved directly from your laptop, tablet, or iPhone to your new high definition display!

Finally in the fall of 2014, you charged into Vianney excited to begin your junior year. You were very optimistic that junior year was going to be a good one, and it was. Finally you had choice in the classes you could take. Some of you pursued ACC, AP, and honors level courses.  Some of you got elbows deep in technology, architectural drawing, and the arts.

You were upperclassmen, and let’s be honest, you might have been more powerful around here than the senior class at the time. In the world outside of Vianney, big ideas were on the horizon. Apple Pay made it faster and more secure to purchase items with the wave of your phone; new technologies and innovations hit the market in artificial intelligence, robotics, augmented reality, and 3-D printing spaces that paved the way for a major shift in society.

  

In the fall of 2015, you finally became the mighty Seniors of Vianney. You had the school at your fingertips. You effortlessly displayed incredible spirit and passion during homecoming and spring spirit week. You were challenged and had to give it your all in Mrs. Finley’s Senior English and Mr. Petersen’s Calculus courses. While you were doing this, Apple was sending you phone calls and texts through your Apple Watch and you were worrying about sitting too long and lowering your Fitbit stats.

So, you entered as freshman with Google NOW telling you what to do and when to do it, you left with the excitement of information on your wrists 24-7. Just think about the progress and put it all in perspective. If you need another frame of reference, think about your iphones.  They were first released in 2007—you were only in the 3^rd grade and that was a year AFTER Twitter was introduced in San Francisco!

I want you to think about the monumental changes that took place in our world between Twitter and the iWatch – the time it took you to go from 2nd to 12th grade.

The twenty-first century is a fast-moving environment. We can only begin to imagine what the world will look like in four years when you again take the stage to graduate, this time from college. It will truly be a brave new world, and YOU will be our new leaders.

Maybe YOU will invent a cool new AP that will make our lives easier. Maybe one of YOU will have a major medical breakthrough or find a cure for cancer. Maybe YOU will help the human race finally make long distance space travel possible.

Look deep into your heart and remember, YOU have the knowledge, YOU have the potential, but most importantly, YOU have the drive to make anything possible. 

Make the most of your skills. Take from Vianney the memories and the confidence that YOU can accomplish anything you set your mind to. Carpe Diem – Seize the Day – don’t just sit idle waiting for life to come to you. And finally, my last piece of advice for you: When you finally make it big with that great idea, don’t forget to send a thank you check to your old high school principal – I’m counting on you!!!……….just kidding!

GOOD LUCK CLASS OF 2016 – MAKE US PROUD!!!