Remarks by Anna Elliot, Class of 2003,
at Milton Academy's Commencement
June 6, 2003

Good morning. Thank you. Mr. President, Doctor Robertson, trustees, faculty, family, friends, students and the Class of '03. As some of you may already know I grew up in France. In France they have this wonderful technique for teaching us called humiliation. When my math teacher would give the test back, she would give them out in order from highest to lowest grade and, of course, I was always the last kid to get the test back. And she stood in front of the class and cackled, ha-ha-ha, guess what the engineer got this time. Oo-la-la, maybe she will be a mathematician one day. 3 out of 20. Quel improvement. Up from zero from last week. Idiote.

And I had this other teacher who was always screaming at me. Get your head out of the clouds, and also throwing chalk in my face whenever I was daydreaming. He called me useless butterfly brain. I was always such a space cadet. I still am. And then one fine day I arrived at Milton. And like Mr. Fitz said, I walked into that first class with Miss Neely and she said, All right, kids. Let's take our shoes off. And I said, What is this place? And she gave us this big paper and paint brushes and she said, Okay, now let's have a conversation with the paint. I said, Yes. I'm in my element, another butterfly brain.

And then I saw this assembly with this skit. I had never seen a skit before. It was the first time I had ever seen a skit, and it was hilarious, and then someone showed me this independent student newspaper. Milton was simply overflowing with student energy and creativity and talent. I was in total culture shock but also in total bliss. And once I grew accustomed to my life at Milton, I started learning more about what it's like to be 18 years old in America.

And it's really a funny thing because our parents have done everything they can to give us the best lives possible, and I can't even begin to imagine the sacrifices and the amount of work that our parents have gone through in order for us to go to a school like Milton, but if you read in between the lines I honestly sometimes feel like my parents are saying, You know, what, kid, I sent to you this school because, well, I had all these ideals and we made a few flaky mistakes along the way. Now we have given you everything so you can save the world.Talk about high expectations.

Just a few days ago for graduation rehearsal we were told “don't wear anything too creative, don't fidget, look interested even though you may not be.” Miss Brewer. The eyes of the world are watching. You would think this was France or something. “Don't fidget.”

The problem is our whole generation has had everything given to us so, yes, on the one hand we are extremely grateful, but on the other we are sometimes passive and sometimes apathetic, and we don't know what to do about it. Martin Luther King said, "It's that creative minority that always changes history." That creative minority that always changes history. Milton's legacy is just that. Creative and daring leaders.

If Milton is to be true to its motto, it mustn't follow the trends of society towards conformity and sterility. Milton must dare to be a place that attracts this creative minority of thinkers and activists who will gather here to change history, reject the status quo, and improve our world. We don't know what the best voice is to use for change. We don't know how to stop a war, challenge an administration, or reclaim our media.

We don't know because we were told don't make the same mistakes we did, behave. And we feel powerless like we can't make a difference, like it is completely out of our control so we clamp the blinders on and keep going on with our daily lives. We don't vote. We don't know how to change anything because it is all so complicated, and it is so much easier to worry about homework and not deal with this chaotic outside world. Amidst this overwhelming confusion there also lies a kind of inner sadness. A certain kind of hollowness that I don't really know what to call, and I can't really put my finger on it, but I really believe that there is something calling out within all of us and we are not listening to it. I'm talking about that voice that you hear sometimes right before you go to sleep after you stop thinking about all those tests you have and the fight you just had and the meetings you have tomorrow, after all that kind of calms down and goes away you are left with a silence and a voice that's kind of saying, “Hey, psst, Anna, what is the meaning in your life?” And it's so easy to kind of just do a U-turn whenever you see this trouble part of you and so easy to say, “Whoa, I do not want to go there right now.”

And yet, yet I have found that if I truly listen to this little voice and nurture it and let it sing a little, when I surrender my philosophical, analytical, academic self, that is when I find this overwhelming light spirit within me, and I begin to see so much enchanting beauty everywhere. It's that elated feeling you get sometimes in sports when you are in the zone of giving everything up and just letting your body make that perfectly effortlessly. It is about listening more to that part of you that speaks through improvised jazz, freestyle poetry, and abstract painting. It's like pure bliss is just entering yourself and allowing you to you release all the joy you have inside.

And it is difficult. It takes courage to confront what is deepest within us. But I'm convinced if we can do this, if we can cultivate a peaceful center to our lives and combine that with the intelligence and confidence that Milton has given us, if we can put our education to the best of its use and nourish that awareness, we will be able to accomplish anything. And this may sound hopeful, but I really don't think it is naive, we will be able to look at the problems of the world in the eye and take a deep, compassionate breath and say, Okay, I am ready.

Milton and our parents have given this extraordinary gift and tremendous burden, and when I look at the eclectic brilliance and talent that is unique to this class, I'm confident that we can let our intellect and our inner strength guide us to take on the challenges of our generation. I can't think of a better gift for the world. Thank you.