There are moments in our lives we have bookmarked. We’ve skimmed the pages and think we know how the chapter will read as we approach the next “checkpoint”. High school graduation is one of those milestones, and, yet, life has a way of reminding us that while planning is a great skill for a research paper, adaptability is perhaps the superior tool for navigating life.
As we watched the Class of 2025 walk across the stage at Proctor’s 177th Commencement, we celebrated 102 students, each with a unique journey to and through Proctor. Each of our graduates had unanticipated zigs and zags at Proctor, none bigger than the loss of classmate Patrick Moore ’25 in August of this past year.
Alongside Patrick’s family, we have mourned and healed and worked to understand the Patty-sized hole that we have all felt since his passing. We watched, with awe, as Patrick’s father, Mark, stood on stage and delivered one of the most powerful commencement addresses we’ve ever heard. We were reminded, again, that grief and joy can, in fact, walk hand in hand, fingers interlocked, forever.
Mark Moore, P’25 described their family’s journey since August 24, 2024 when their lives changed forever and offered the Class of 2025 wisdom only learned through suffering. “I came with one simple message for your class: show up. Show up for each other. Show up for others when they need you. I hope you will replicate what you have done here in the future communities you will join during the arc of your lives…I suggest that you not drift after today’s ceremony. Stay together…It will not always be like today. There will be hard days. The unimaginable repeated in this class. You will need the love of those beside you and they will need the love you can provide.”
Mark added, “During the most difficult and confounding of times, you showed up for our family. You helped us walk through the mud, clean the mud off of us, and build sand castles out of that mud. The unimaginable has unleashed a wave of love. We tend to hide our love in normal times. Until Patrick’s death I did not know there was this much love in the world.”
A Proctor graduation is unlike any other in its full embrace of a complete spectrum of emotions. Perhaps we feel these emotions more acutely at Commencement than we do at other times of the year because we are all exhausted as the year comes to a close. More likely it is because we care so deeply about our students and the jagged path toward adulthood we have walked with them. We know how many hours our faculty have spent mentoring, guiding, challenging, how many hours their parents and guardians have spent loving them unconditionally, how many obstacles they have overcome, and how much they have accomplished. Their journey has been our journey. Their pride is our pride. Together, we celebrate this milestone for the Class of 2025.
One of our Senior Speakers, Cade Wiley ‘25, opened the remarks for the day by noting, “Our class woke at 5:00 am the other day to watch the sunrise from the top of the ski area. From the top, the entirety of Proctor’s campus can fit in the palm of your hand. It’s amazing that something so complex can be so simple…The most important part of our Proctor journey happens after we walk across the stage, when we put into action what we learned at Proctor. I’m so excited to see how we will each change the world.”
Our other Senior Speaker Dillo Radwan ‘25 shared, “In absolutely no other place could I have transformed from who I was as a rambunctious 14 year old freshman to who I am today…As I look at our class, you are scholars, musicians, athletes, but most of all, you are all great people…Parents, when you look at your kid today and see that smile on their face, know that it is Proctor that has put them on this journey.”
Valedictorian, Madi McSorely ‘25 offered, “It was in these moments of challenge that I learned the most. I had to figure out who I was without the piece of me I felt was most important. It was only when I stepped away that I saw the whole of Proctor…No matter how perfectly you think you have your life planned out, it will have unexpected detours…Do the things that are scary. Do the things that are hard. And do them again and again.”
Over and over throughout the weekend we were reminded how special this class is, how resilient, kind, compassionate, curious, and fun. We have seen time and again, even before Mark even reminded us, this class show up for each other and for this community. Class of 2025, you will be missed and remembered. Your impact has been deep. Now go and have that same kind of impact at your college and in your communities after Proctor!
Check out more photos from Commencement Weekend Here!
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