Salutatorian Morgan Anderson's address: Beyond smallness…
By Morgan Anderson
Good afternoon, School Board members., administration, faculty, staff, students, family, friends, community members, and fellow classmates of the Class of 2011.
Writing usually comes easily to me. I can sit down on the beach, in my room or at a desk and just start scribbling. This was hard. Finding the right words to sum up 13 years in 5 minutes is impossible. We really have come so far.
Saint Thomas Aquinas once said, “The things that we love tell us what we are.” Have you ever heard an entire town cheer and clap at once? I have and I love it. I love laughing, seeing my friends’ smiles over ice cream cones at the Tuck Shop. I love long summer nights, the air crisp and the stars clear, bodies in groups huddled on the beach against the night — voices floating on the breeze.
Memory is a funny thing. Sometimes we block things out; we choose to remember certain details and leave out others. I will always remember my childhood here. I will always remember the old wooden playground, splinters and all. I will always remember being on top of the world in our first grade reading loft and our six-year-old dreams of catching leprechauns. I will always remember the friendship on those rainy nights aboard the schooner trip in 7th grade, and the end of 11th grade when we were seniors for the week.
Everyone on this Island has done more for me than I could ever begin to repay, nor do they expect me to. There is so much compassion here it can be overwhelming. When you have nothing left, but ashes and a cement foundation, people will open their homes, their arms and their hearts. I will always remember everyone lining the street, wearing red, white and blue and waving flags for the boy who would have become a great father.
This Island is a puzzle. Every piece means something different to each person. It is a getaway, a paradise and a shelter, but you can, at times, become lost here in the comfort of its smallness. Yet, most of us can move beyond that comfort, take the strength that comes with it, and go out into the world knowing that the ferry runs till midnight should we need to return home.
Life can be unpredictable, painful and challenging, but it can also be thrilling, beautiful and full of wonder. To my classmates: Always say what you mean, and love without boundaries. I would like to thank my friends. As stubborn as I am, you did not give up on me, even when I really wanted you to. You taught me that when you love someone, you do not give up on them. I will miss all of you more than you can imagine. You are wonderful. And yes, Andrew, the mother of the class will still worry about you in five years.
Mom and Dad, you were my guardians when I was little, my teachers as I grew and learned, and now you are two of my best friends. Never fear, it will not seem as if I am gone. I will be calling you when I’m upset, when I need advice on schoolwork, when I need help with my people skills, or when I find an injured bird or bunny that needs saving.
I knew this day was coming, we all did; this bittersweet ending, and beginning, was inevitable. We will all take our own paths, and go wherever we choose. Some of us may keep in touch, and others may not. Regardless, I will always remember every one of you. Author Jodi Picoult once said, “All any of us wanted, really, was to know that we counted. That someone else’s life would not have been as rich without us here.” I know that my life would not have been quite as rich and beautiful and lovely without every one of my teachers, classmates, friends and family members. Every one of you has made my life unbelievably full.
Perhaps this 5 minutes was not so hard, after all.
