Dear Class of 2012...

4:26 PM Elizabeth Seckman 20 Comments


Caleb...officially graduated.
"Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are to some extent a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece by thought, choice, courage, and determination."
                                                                                                         John Luther

The Seckman Family...graduation night
Welcome to my son, Caleb...he's guest blogging today. Sort of. He saved his Valedictorian address on my Word program, thereby making it easily accessible for his proud mom to cut, paste, and post to her blog. 
Ripped from my hard drive...here is Caleb Seckman's Valedictorian address to Magnolia High School. As you can see, he's a young man who is all about character. Thanks, Caleb, for making Mom's life easy. :-)


Class of 2012, we know where we have been. Many of us have known each other since we were in kindergarten.  We know what we have done.  We set new test standards and brought home state championship trophies in football and track.
Our actions or inactions directly resulted in who we were. As students, we learned that to have academic success, we had to study; to be good athletes, we had to train; to excel at band or any other skill; we had to practice.
      We did that well, but it is in the past. Now, it is time for us to look forward. We are officially adults, and as adults, we are entering a world that is suffering from difficulties of historic proportions. As nations war and debts spin out of control across the globe, it lays a heavy burden upon our generation. 
      Each and every one of us, however, is endowed with an ability that will carry us to success if we keep one key fact in mind. Just as the actions of the child reflected in the substance of the student...our success in life will be contingent upon our continued acceptance of accountability.
      It is not enough to just be responsible. We must to be willing to answer for our choices. Make no excuses. Point no fingers of blame. If we are to succeed, we have to make smart decisions. We have to work hard; and we have to learn from our mistakes, not hide from them or justify them away.
      Let us enter the world boldly, and make our mark. Not as the “Entitlement Generation” but as the generation of real change. Let us abandon the “take care of me attitude” and return to a time when people passionately heeded the call of President John F. Kennedy to “Ask not what your country can do for you–
 ask what you can do for your country.” Let us remember the pride of a great nation and become a renewed nation of leaders and workers who seek solutions over hand outs, and personal responsibility over scapegoats.
      Class of 2012- we have begun a legacy of achievement, now we must continue that tradition and be the leaders America needs to move us from a society of victims to victors.
      Thank you and God bless.

20 comments:

  1. You should be exceptionally proud. Caleb sounds like a very bright young man!

    P.S I love your family photo!

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  2. Dear Caleb,

    You don't know me from Adam (or Dave) but just wanted to give *you* a shout out and say... THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!

    Good on you for offering up such a positive speech and a great challenge to your classmates.

    As a dad to three young boys, I can only hope that my lads turn out to be as intelligent and smart as you appear to be.

    Good luck in live and go get 'em, kid :)

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    1. Good luck in LIFE, I meant...

      Duh, and I'm a "writer" sigh :)

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    2. That's why writers get editors. :)
      Thanks Mark!

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    3. And I'm sure your lads will be wonderful. You're putting them first, exposing them to the half naked ladies at Victoria's...that's how I developed mine!

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  3. Wow! How lucky are you to have such a super smart kid who just gets it, you know? Good luck Caleb and Congrats!

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    1. Aw thanks, Cassie. I always tease that he was born old. He's worked hard to raise his mother.

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  4. This is AMAZING! What a proud mom you must be! Congrats to Caleb and what a fabulous address. Love it!

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    1. Thanks Leigh. And I am so proud of him. Just can't believe how fast the time went.

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  5. Great speech! I love the "point no fingers of blame." That's a great line.

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    1. Thanks...I'll pass it along to Caleb. And welcome, glad to have you on the blog!

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  6. Fantastic speech and a fantastic attitude!

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  7. That was a fantastic speech! You raised a very smart boy!

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    1. Thanks. I did it all myself. His dad's job was to look pretty.

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  8. Congratulations to you AND your son. What an accomplishment!

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  9. PS...

    Congrats to you too, you made the finals of my photo caption contest :)

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    1. Yay me! I will start spending those bragging rights like an American abuses credit!!

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