This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
With words of advice about grace, friendship and handling fear, the Class of 2014 took their first steps down the path of their futures on May 24 at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga.
A picture-perfect day was the backdrop for Harker’s 13th upper school graduation. In front of a stage filled with the board of trustees, administration and faculty, Butch Keller, upper school head, started the ceremony with a few words about this year’s graduating class: “You have had the opportunity to lead through good times … and adversity … and you did so with grace.” He then introduced Kevin Duraiswamy ’14, the class valedictorian.
In his speech, Duraiswamy chose to focus on friendship. While each graduate has different interests and different paths ahead, and while Harker has provided a different set of skills for each, “Harker has given us each other.” Through class time spent working together, extracurriculars spent triumphing and failing together, and time spent just hanging out as kids, “our friends are the ones who keep us human,” he said. “In each other,” he concluded, “we have companions to last a lifetime.”
Duraiswamy’s speech segued beautifully into this year’s song sung by the 2014 Graduation Chorus: “We Are One” by Brian Tate, conducted by upper school music teacher Susan Nace. The lyrics perfectly complemented the valedictory address about standing together and forging lasting bonds.
The keynote speaker was Rahim Fazal, technology entrepreneur, founder of Involver and executive at Oracle, whose comedic timing, youthful energy and inspiring story resonated perfectly with the soon-to-be graduates. After gently teasing the class about the resort-like nature of the campus, he introduced his topic: “There are many paths to success.” Urging the students that following the conservative path was the way to future regrets, he said, “One thing that will rob you of your full potential” is fear … “the fear that makes you forget there are many paths to life.”
He related his own story: millionaire startup CEO by his senior year in high school, then rejected by all seven colleges to which he applied. An ego check, a stint at community college, and some hustling to meet academics who could help him resulted in a place as the youngest-ever MBA student without a university degree at Canada’s top management school. “Had I been in fear of rejection,” he cautioned, “in search for that one ‘yes’ after ‘no,’ after ‘no,’ after ‘no,’ I wouldn’t be here today.” It is creativity, which he defined as taking anything other than a predictable, safe path, that leads to all successes. “Put your ego aside and unleash your creativity.”
Even as his investors at Involver ousted him as CEO for lack of leadership, he stayed long enough to find and train a replacement and turn the company around. He says now of the reasons for his removal, “Fear of failure kept me from asking for help.” The lessons he learned were to be kinder to himself, take care of his health, nurture deep relationships and ask for help when he needs it. “Mistakes are life’s way of telling you that you’re trying hard enough,” he said, echoing a common Harker refrain that it’s the process that matters more than the product.
Chris Nikoloff, head of school, gave his traditional final address to the class, this year drawing on a cultural phenomenon for inspiration: the Disney movie “Frozen” and its ubiquitous hit song, “Let It Go.” Exploring what the “it” should be, Nikoloff advised the students to let go of the shadows that conspire to hold them back.
Victor Adler, the dean of the Class of 2014, had the privilege of reading the names of the seniors as they stepped forward to receive their diplomas and take a final bow in front of the supportive families and teachers who guided them through their Harker years. In the final beloved tradition of the day, the seniors processed through a gauntlet of those teachers and passed into the day as proud Harker alumni.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
With words of advice about grace, friendship and handling fear, the Class of 2014 took their first steps down the path of their futures on May 24 at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga.
A picture-perfect day was the backdrop for Harker’s 13th upper school graduation. In front of a stage filled with the board of trustees, administration and faculty, Butch Keller, upper school head, started the ceremony with a few words about this year’s graduating class: “You have had the opportunity to lead through good times … and adversity … and you did so with grace.” He then introduced Kevin Duraiswamy ’14, the class valedictorian.
In his speech, Duraiswamy chose to focus on friendship. While each graduate has different interests and different paths ahead, and while Harker has provided a different set of skills for each, “Harker has given us each other.” Through class time spent working together, extracurriculars spent triumphing and failing together, and time spent just hanging out as kids, “our friends are the ones who keep us human,” he said. “In each other,” he concluded, “we have companions to last a lifetime.”
Duraiswamy’s speech segued beautifully into this year’s song sung by the 2014 Graduation Chorus: “We Are One” by Brian Tate, conducted by upper school music teacher Susan Nace. The lyrics perfectly complemented the valedictory address about standing together and forging lasting bonds.
The keynote speaker was Rahim Fazal, technology entrepreneur, founder of Involver and executive at Oracle, whose comedic timing, youthful energy and inspiring story resonated perfectly with the soon-to-be graduates. After gently teasing the class about the resort-like nature of the campus, he introduced his topic: “There are many paths to success.” Urging the students that following the conservative path was the way to future regrets, he said, “One thing that will rob you of your full potential” is fear … “the fear that makes you forget there are many paths to life.”
He related his own story: millionaire startup CEO by his senior year in high school, then rejected by all seven colleges to which he applied. An ego check, a stint at community college, and some hustling to meet academics who could help him resulted in a place as the youngest-ever MBA student without a university degree at Canada’s top management school. “Had I been in fear of rejection,” he cautioned, “in search for that one ‘yes’ after ‘no,’ after ‘no,’ after ‘no,’ I wouldn’t be here today.” It is creativity, which he defined as taking anything other than a predictable, safe path, that leads to all successes. “Put your ego aside and unleash your creativity.”
Even as his investors at Involver ousted him as CEO for lack of leadership, he stayed long enough to find and train a replacement and turn the company around. He says now of the reasons for his removal, “Fear of failure kept me from asking for help.” The lessons he learned were to be kinder to himself, take care of his health, nurture deep relationships and ask for help when he needs it. “Mistakes are life’s way of telling you that you’re trying hard enough,” he said, echoing a common Harker refrain that it’s the process that matters more than the product.
Chris Nikoloff, head of school, gave his traditional final address to the class, this year drawing on a cultural phenomenon for inspiration: the Disney movie “Frozen” and its ubiquitous hit song, “Let It Go.” Exploring what the “it” should be, Nikoloff advised the students to let go of the shadows that conspire to hold them back.
Victor Adler, the dean of the Class of 2014, had the privilege of reading the names of the seniors as they stepped forward to receive their diplomas and take a final bow in front of the supportive families and teachers who guided them through their Harker years. In the final beloved tradition of the day, the seniors processed through a gauntlet of those teachers and passed into the day as proud Harker alumni.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
With words of advice about grace, friendship and handling fear, the Class of 2014 took their first steps down the path of their futures on May 24 at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga.
A picture-perfect day was the backdrop for Harker’s 13th upper school graduation. In front of a stage filled with the board of trustees, administration and faculty, Butch Keller, upper school head, started the ceremony with a few words about this year’s graduating class: “You have had the opportunity to lead through good times … and adversity … and you did so with grace.” He then introduced Kevin Duraiswamy ’14, the class valedictorian.
In his speech, Duraiswamy chose to focus on friendship. While each graduate has different interests and different paths ahead, and while Harker has provided a different set of skills for each, “Harker has given us each other.” Through class time spent working together, extracurriculars spent triumphing and failing together, and time spent just hanging out as kids, “our friends are the ones who keep us human,” he said. “In each other,” he concluded, “we have companions to last a lifetime.”
Duraiswamy’s speech segued beautifully into this year’s song sung by the 2014 Graduation Chorus: “We Are One” by Brian Tate, conducted by upper school music teacher Susan Nace. The lyrics perfectly complemented the valedictory address about standing together and forging lasting bonds.
The keynote speaker was Rahim Fazal, technology entrepreneur, founder of Involver and executive at Oracle, whose comedic timing, youthful energy and inspiring story resonated perfectly with the soon-to-be graduates. After gently teasing the class about the resort-like nature of the campus, he introduced his topic: “There are many paths to success.” Urging the students that following the conservative path was the way to future regrets, he said, “One thing that will rob you of your full potential” is fear … “the fear that makes you forget there are many paths to life.”
He related his own story: millionaire startup CEO by his senior year in high school, then rejected by all seven colleges to which he applied. An ego check, a stint at community college, and some hustling to meet academics who could help him resulted in a place as the youngest-ever MBA student without a university degree at Canada’s top management school. “Had I been in fear of rejection,” he cautioned, “in search for that one ‘yes’ after ‘no,’ after ‘no,’ after ‘no,’ I wouldn’t be here today.” It is creativity, which he defined as taking anything other than a predictable, safe path, that leads to all successes. “Put your ego aside and unleash your creativity.”
Even as his investors at Involver ousted him as CEO for lack of leadership, he stayed long enough to find and train a replacement and turn the company around. He says now of the reasons for his removal, “Fear of failure kept me from asking for help.” The lessons he learned were to be kinder to himself, take care of his health, nurture deep relationships and ask for help when he needs it. “Mistakes are life’s way of telling you that you’re trying hard enough,” he said, echoing a common Harker refrain that it’s the process that matters more than the product.
Chris Nikoloff, head of school, gave his traditional final address to the class, this year drawing on a cultural phenomenon for inspiration: the Disney movie “Frozen” and its ubiquitous hit song, “Let It Go.” Exploring what the “it” should be, Nikoloff advised the students to let go of the shadows that conspire to hold them back.
Victor Adler, the dean of the Class of 2014, had the privilege of reading the names of the seniors as they stepped forward to receive their diplomas and take a final bow in front of the supportive families and teachers who guided them through their Harker years. In the final beloved tradition of the day, the seniors processed through a gauntlet of those teachers and passed into the day as proud Harker alumni.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Days before the 2014 graduation ceremony, the classes of 2014 and 2015 gathered at the upper school quad for this year’s baccalaureate ceremony. This traditional event bid the seniors a bittersweet farewell and welcomed grade 11 students into their upcoming roles as Harker seniors.
After an introduction by Upper School Head Butch Keller, Anthony Silk, upper school math teacher and this year’s faculty speaker, took his spot at the podium.
Silk asked the students in the audience to close their eyes and envision what success looks like for them and how they might achieve it.
First on Silk’s list of steps was learning how to take risks. He recalled a story in which he tried skydiving for the first time during college, an experience that forced him out of his comfort zone but helped him learn a valuable lesson. “Taking a risk doesn’t mean doing something risky, something you’re completely unprepared for. It means doing something where the outcome is unknown. But that’s OK.”
Silk also discussed failure, and why it isn’t actually failing. After losing a job that he had mentioned in an earlier anecdote, he ended up working on a cruise ship, which he enjoyed because it gave him the opportunity to be out at sea and working with people. His next challenge was to find something that combined this newfound enthusiasm for helping people with his love for mathematics. It was then that his best friend advised him to become a teacher, which led him to Harker. “Remember, when you can’t see your future, find someone who can,” he said.
Next up was Efrey Noten, grade 12, this year’s student baccalaureate speaker. Noten’s speech emphasized a quality that he felt many people forget after leaving college and entering the work force: compassion. Referencing a graduation speech given by author David Foster Wallace, he retold a parable about two young fish who encounter another, older fish, who greets them and asks how the water is. One of the younger fish then looks at the other and asks, “What the hell is water?”
“Mr. Wallace clarified by saying that the fish story shows us that the stuff most obvious and common to us is the stuff we have the most trouble perceiving or conceptualizing,” Noten said, adding that graduates would find themselves getting up every day to work a challenging job, come home tired, eat and retire to bed. “The so-called rat race I’ve just described often causes us to react to minor inconveniences with irrational, internalized rage,” Noten said.
“I just ask that if you find yourself repeating the same ceremony day in and day out, that you become actively aware and compassionate of the people around you,” he said. “Do not let yourself forget, as the two young fish did, what water is.”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Days before the 2014 graduation ceremony, the classes of 2014 and 2015 gathered at the upper school quad for this year’s baccalaureate ceremony. This traditional event bid the seniors a bittersweet farewell and welcomed grade 11 students into their upcoming roles as Harker seniors.
After an introduction by Upper School Head Butch Keller, Anthony Silk, upper school math teacher and this year’s faculty speaker, took his spot at the podium.
Silk asked the students in the audience to close their eyes and envision what success looks like for them and how they might achieve it.
First on Silk’s list of steps was learning how to take risks. He recalled a story in which he tried skydiving for the first time during college, an experience that forced him out of his comfort zone but helped him learn a valuable lesson. “Taking a risk doesn’t mean doing something risky, something you’re completely unprepared for. It means doing something where the outcome is unknown. But that’s OK.”
Silk also discussed failure, and why it isn’t actually failing. After losing a job that he had mentioned in an earlier anecdote, he ended up working on a cruise ship, which he enjoyed because it gave him the opportunity to be out at sea and working with people. His next challenge was to find something that combined this newfound enthusiasm for helping people with his love for mathematics. It was then that his best friend advised him to become a teacher, which led him to Harker. “Remember, when you can’t see your future, find someone who can,” he said.
Next up was Efrey Noten, grade 12, this year’s student baccalaureate speaker. Noten’s speech emphasized a quality that he felt many people forget after leaving college and entering the work force: compassion. Referencing a graduation speech given by author David Foster Wallace, he retold a parable about two young fish who encounter another, older fish, who greets them and asks how the water is. One of the younger fish then looks at the other and asks, “What the hell is water?”
“Mr. Wallace clarified by saying that the fish story shows us that the stuff most obvious and common to us is the stuff we have the most trouble perceiving or conceptualizing,” Noten said, adding that graduates would find themselves getting up every day to work a challenging job, come home tired, eat and retire to bed. “The so-called rat race I’ve just described often causes us to react to minor inconveniences with irrational, internalized rage,” Noten said.
“I just ask that if you find yourself repeating the same ceremony day in and day out, that you become actively aware and compassionate of the people around you,” he said. “Do not let yourself forget, as the two young fish did, what water is.”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Days before the 2014 graduation ceremony, the classes of 2014 and 2015 gathered at the upper school quad for this year’s baccalaureate ceremony. This traditional event bid the seniors a bittersweet farewell and welcomed grade 11 students into their upcoming roles as Harker seniors.
After an introduction by Upper School Head Butch Keller, Anthony Silk, upper school math teacher and this year’s faculty speaker, took his spot at the podium.
Silk asked the students in the audience to close their eyes and envision what success looks like for them and how they might achieve it.
First on Silk’s list of steps was learning how to take risks. He recalled a story in which he tried skydiving for the first time during college, an experience that forced him out of his comfort zone but helped him learn a valuable lesson. “Taking a risk doesn’t mean doing something risky, something you’re completely unprepared for. It means doing something where the outcome is unknown. But that’s OK.”
Silk also discussed failure, and why it isn’t actually failing. After losing a job that he had mentioned in an earlier anecdote, he ended up working on a cruise ship, which he enjoyed because it gave him the opportunity to be out at sea and working with people. His next challenge was to find something that combined this newfound enthusiasm for helping people with his love for mathematics. It was then that his best friend advised him to become a teacher, which led him to Harker. “Remember, when you can’t see your future, find someone who can,” he said.
Next up was Efrey Noten, grade 12, this year’s student baccalaureate speaker. Noten’s speech emphasized a quality that he felt many people forget after leaving college and entering the work force: compassion. Referencing a graduation speech given by author David Foster Wallace, he retold a parable about two young fish who encounter another, older fish, who greets them and asks how the water is. One of the younger fish then looks at the other and asks, “What the hell is water?”
“Mr. Wallace clarified by saying that the fish story shows us that the stuff most obvious and common to us is the stuff we have the most trouble perceiving or conceptualizing,” Noten said, adding that graduates would find themselves getting up every day to work a challenging job, come home tired, eat and retire to bed. “The so-called rat race I’ve just described often causes us to react to minor inconveniences with irrational, internalized rage,” Noten said.
“I just ask that if you find yourself repeating the same ceremony day in and day out, that you become actively aware and compassionate of the people around you,” he said. “Do not let yourself forget, as the two young fish did, what water is.”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
In early June a promotion ceremony was held for Harker’s grade 8 class, marking the end of students’ middle school years.
Kicking off the touching ceremony, Cindy Ellis, middle school head, welcomed the eighth graders and congratulated them on reaching this important milestone and beginning a new stage in their academic lives.
Julie Pinzás, middle school Spanish teacher and Class of 2018 advisory dean, gave a moving farewell address to the soon-to-be upper school students, encouraging them to welcome the many opportunities that await them over the next four years.
Next up was a beautiful performance of the song “Home” by the middle school vocal groups Harmonics and Vivace.
A welcome address to the Class of 2018 was delivered by rising senior Sarah Bean, who will be next year’s upper school ASB president.
Finally, members of the grade 8 class received their promotion certificates from Chris Nikoloff, head of school, and Ellis, who made some warm closing remarks. A special happening, not listed in the program, followed as the eighth graders surprised teachers with their own special “thank-you” slideshow, which they had secretly created earlier. The slideshow included numerous memorable moments shot by the students throughout the school year.
The ceremony concluded, as in years past, with the singing of “The Harker School Song,” followed by a recessional and well-attended reception held in the amphitheater.