Embrace the Impossible!

The following remarks were given at Commencement on May 31, 2024:   

In April of 1997, I weighed my options and decided that I would attend Boston University for college. Like you all, I went to a small PK-12 school with a graduating class of 48 students.

 

When I got to BU, while most of my classmates had a desktop computer and a few had laptops, I did not have one to bring to college at the time. So, I spent a lot of time in the computer lab checking email, writing papers and lab reports, and using instant messenger to chat with friends from high school. It was a time when we were at the cusp of a technological transformation.

 

Over my four years at BU, technologically, a lot changed. While I feel even older saying this now, the truth is this modern technology has only existed for a tiny fraction of the human timeline. Over my college years, laptops became more common, cell phones became popular, and a website called Google became the place to go for information instead of one called AskJeeves.com.

 

Recently I received a thank you card which got me thinking about the parallels with today. It had the following quote by Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis: “Most of the things worth doing in the world were declared impossible before they were done.” This got me thinking about the similarities with today.

 

There are innovations that we use today that just seemed impossible when you all started your schooling journey.

 

For Oli and Xavier, our two Lifers, while they were in the Lower School, the first iPad had just been launched and Brimmer was an early adopter of an iPad program in the classroom. Today’s PK and Kindergartners know how to navigate the device like experts.

 

For Enyi, Raymond, Sydney, Baden, Laird, Jazzy, Anson, Mikayla, and Kyle who arrived in Middle School, TikTok launched in the US, shifting the ways in which the world thought about video consumption and how information was shared. Today’s Middle School students can put a video presentation together in a matter of minutes.

 

The 24 of you who joined Brimmer in the Upper School are not immune to technological advances during your time with us. In addition to innovations that came out of COVID, we’ve seen an explosion of Artificial Intelligence over the last 18 months, most resulting from access to ChatGPT, and that change has only just begun to take shape.

 

Even though some of the promises to us older folks, such as hoverboards and flying cars from Back to the Future 2, have not become a reality, over your time in school the impossible became possible. As you look ahead to your next adventure, the same will hold true. You are entering college at a time of tremendous change and potential. It is a time of great technological advancement, but also one for which the Humanities will play a bigger role. Mark Cuban, Shark Tank investor, world famous entrepreneur, and co-owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has said in interviews with Bloomberg that the cognitive thinking skills along with the ability to critically think about different ideas developed in the Humanities are going to be crucial moving forward.

 

While we cannot fully predict what will become possible in the next 4 or 8 years, we know that the skills you developed at Brimmer are the building blocks for your future success. Seminars and Harkness discussions taught you to listen carefully and build evidence-based arguments. Lab reports helped you learn how to discern good data from bad data. Creative Arts and STEAM classes helped you unlock your creativity and think freely. World language classes did more than help you learn another language; they taught you to appreciate another culture and gave you a new perspective. Math classes helped you build mental algorithms to be solution-oriented and not just focused on the problem. All of this will guide you through the demands of our rapidly changing world. For those of you going into technologically driven studies, lean into the skills you learned in your Humanities classes. And for those who are pursuing other fields, do not shy away from AI but instead ethically embrace it and demonstrate how the skillset you developed at Brimmer is an asset.

 

As we come to the close of our program, Class of 2024, I have one final assignment for you. It is one that I ask each year as we near the end. There are few times in our lives when we are surrounded by friends and family for the sole purpose of celebrating the moment that has arrived, and today is one of them. I want you to stand up and look around the tent. Capture a mental picture of those who are here for you and record how it makes you feel. Family members and friends that you‘ve counted on look on with immense pride and admiration. Teachers who have seen you grow up in our halls, and classmates who have been part of your daily lives, are all here with you to mark this special occasion.

 

Class of 2024, embrace the impossible. I can now officially say you are all 100% done. Congratulations!