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Welcoming Address to the Class of 2012 August 22, 2008 << Previous | 1 | 2 
Members of Earlham's Class of 2012 are welcomed at Chase Stage — the same site where the College holds its Commencement Exercises. You have traveled to, studied, lived or performed in over 100 different countries (from Bangladesh to Brazil, Nepal to New Zealand, Costa Rica to China, Paraguay to Palestine, Indonesia to Ireland, Honduras to Hungary and Botswana to Belize). Many of you have hosted international students in your homes. Some have participated in programs like Youth for Understanding, AFS, Rotary International, School Year Abroad, People to People, Amigos, the Concordia Language Camps and the Experiment in International Living. You have studied and or speak fluently at least 50 different languages. Special summer or pre-college experiences and internships have included the Student Conservation Association, the Appalachian Service Project, Seeds of Peace, Outward Bound, Peace Jam, the Earth Service Corps, Global Works, Close-Up, Youth for Understanding, the Quaker Youth Pilgrimage, the Resource Center for Non-Violence, the National Science Foundation and the Woolman Semester. Those students taking a gap year in their educational pursuits used that time to travel in Belgium or Argentina with AFS, become immersed in the language and culture of Venezuela, participate with the National Outdoor Leadership and Student Conservation Association programs, worked with Common Ground in New Orleans, studied at the American School in Switzerland or the CCI Renaissance School in Italy, volunteered with AmeriCorps, worked in Alaska, interned with the Museum of Northern Arizona, or gained life experience while discovering familiar and new corners of the world. Indeed, you are a very talented class. Many of you play one or more musical instruments, giving rehearsal and performance time to jazz, symphonic and pep band, wind ensemble, drum line, marching band, indie or garage bands, all-city orchestras and competing at the state, national and international level for ability recognition on more than 26 different instruments, including — but not limited to — piano, ukulele, trumpet, mandolin, cello, harp, piccolo, viola, accordion, saxophone, dulcimer, flute, oboe and banjo. Others have been a part of school, church, state or community choral groups, madrigal singers, gospel voices, chorales, jazz combo, a cappella choir, barbershop quartet or swing choir. Others have committed significant time to learning, performing and/or teaching dance, including ballet, jazz, tap, belly, contra, ballroom, hip hop, Latin, Irish step, swing and modern. You have performed on stage or worked behind the scenes or in the pit during theatrical productions in your high school, community theaters or summer theatre companies. You've performed in, directed, staged managed, costumed, painted and built sets or designed lighting for Bye Bye Birdie, Dracula, The Crucible, Romeo and Juliet, The Wizard of Ox, Twelfth Night, Music Man, The Pirates of Penzance and The Laramie Project, to name several. Nearly half of you have played at least one varsity sport, with most having participated on multiple varsity teams including ice hockey, soccer, tennis, Ultimate Frisbee, softball, water polo, lacrosse, gymnastics, football, fencing, trampoline and tumbling, cricket, boxing, basketball, track and field events, crew, skiing and bowling. Many of you are engaged in equestrian competition or, in other ways, are serious about horses. You have set school, district, regional and state records and have been recognized for your sportsmanship. Almost true for every student, you have committed significant volunteer hours in serving others, whether working on local or national political campaigns, helping physically disabled children conquer their fears of riding a horse, constructing homes, teaching English as a second language, serving meals regularly at a local soup kitchen, restoring trails in our national parks, organizing blood and food drives at your high school, recycling, removing invasive plant species or educating your peers about STDs and AIDS. You've given freely of your time to and raised funds for such organizations as the Red Cross, St. Jude's Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, Roots and Shoots, Special Olympics, the American Cancer Society, Heifer International, Easter Seals, the Ronald McDonald House, the ASPCA, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Amnesty International. These commitments have taken you from the Appalachian Mountains to East Africa, from inner city Los Angeles to rural South Dakota and from New Orleans to the Dominican Republic. You have more often described these experiences as gifts to yourselves, experiences that have enhanced and changed your lives rather than as simply doing good deeds for others. During the school year you've been active with student government, 4-H, Amnesty International, speech and debate, Model United Nations, scouting, academic competition, newspaper or yearbook staffs, Science Olympiad, peer tutoring, the Gay-Straight Alliance, SAAD, mock trial and the martial arts — all in addition to your involvement with theatre, music and athletics. Several of you are founders of clubs and organizations at your school. For fun, you figure skate, rock climb, practice yoga, skateboard, repair motorcycles, weave, sew, knit, kayak, windsurf, play chess, care for bonsai trees, practice your woodworking skills, and do magic. In after school and summer jobs you have been a farm laborer, sign waver, barista, make-up artist, bean picker, beach tag checker, golf cart attendant, sous chef, lifeguard, forklift driver, salmon stocker, little league umpire, nanny, ranch hand, disc jockey, logger, vegetable chopper, chocolatier, Web designer, professional fitting specialist, book cleaner and tailor. Every fast food chain with which I am familiar has employed you, creating sandwiches, serving coffee and bagels, slicing pizza or dishing up wonderful cold dairy and non-dairy confections. And a number of you have bagged groceries, restocked shelves or cashiered at both chain and family food markets. In addition to providing customer service at Best Buy, Red Lobster, Cracker Barrel, Panera, Steak-n-Shake, Popeye's, Quiznos, McDonalds, Old Navy, Bob Evans, Skyline Chili, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Arby's, Wendy's, Target and Wal-Mart, you have worked for less familiar companies such as Rosie's Bakery, That Guy's Family Farm, Cheddar's Casual Café, Rhonda's Wharfside Restaurant, Stuffy's and the Little Bear Ice Cream Parlor. Twenty-one of you are alumni of Earlham's Explore-A-College program. Fifty-four of you attended one of the summer "pre-registration" programs on campus. Nineteen have just returned from hiking the Uinta Mountains in Utah or canoeing the boundary waters of Canada with Earlham's Wilderness program, and twelve of you participated in the first June Wilderness in the Adirondacks. Fifteen of you came to campus in late July to work with the faculty in the Summer Writing Intensive, and 27 students participated in the Global Associates Program with new international students. Fifteen of you have joined current Bonner Scholars, recognized for your commitment to service. Among you are a student who skated in the U.S. figure skating championships as a junior; a student who performed Stravinsky's Firebird Suite at Carnegie Hall and Gershwin's An American in Paris at Tanglewood; a student whose favorite food is cupcakes and whose second favorite food is carrots; one who set his school's record for the greatest number of steals (30) in a soccer season; a student recognized by her school's Spanish club as having the best salsa recipe; a student in the process of achieving, along with her cousins, a Guinness World Record; a student who plans to get a tattoo when she's 18; a semifinalist in the 2003 World Science Fiction Convention Writing Contest; a student who thinks the distance between Earlham and his house is perfect; a student who shares a secret with Senator John Kerry; another who assisted with the recovery of eight seismometers off the coast of Washington; a student who hates bananas and another who chose to apply to Earlham because Indiana didn't observe Daylight Savings Time (but we do); a student who retraced the footsteps of Charles Darwin on Santiago Island in the Galapagos; a student who built a sailboat that floats; a student who dreams of being the first person in his family to graduate from college; one who was compared to Santana in a recent talent show; a member of both the Hong Kong and Hungarian national Judo teams; a student who knows how to properly hang a pair of jeans; a state junior chess champion; a student who danced with professionals who have choreographed for Britney Spears, NSYNC and Janet Jackson; a state and national champion tumbling and trampoline competitor; a student who discovered Earlham on a road sign while visiting colleges in the Midwest; a student with perfect pitch and another who has a cat that weighs 32 pounds; a member of a choir — only the second in history — to sing in the Sistine Chapel; a student who is a "virtual sinkhole of cephalopod knowledge," and a student who successfully hung a spoon from his nose in front of Doug Bennett and the Homecoming Class of 1987. These are just some of your many super powers which we hope you will choose to continue to share with all of us. We in admissions have enjoyed the process of getting to know you and look forward, along with Earlham's faculty and current students, to becoming even better acquainted. We hope you have fun discovering each other's special and unique gifts and exploring ways in which, combined, "your powers can change the world." Again, we extend a warm welcome. — EC — Contact: Mark Blackmon, director of
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Earlham
College · 801 National Road West · Richmond,
Indiana 47374-4095 |