Visitation Commencement Address. Amy Rauenhorst Goldman June 4, 2017

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1 Visitation Commencement Address Amy Rauenhorst Goldman June 4, 2017 Thank you Mrs. Gavic for that very kind introduction. And my gratitude to Sr. Mary Denise and all of the Sisters for hosting us at the 144 th commencement for Visitation. It is such an honor to be addressing all of you today. There are so many familiar faces in the audience students, parents, Sisters, administration, faculty, family and dear friends. You are all essential parts of this distinctive Visitation community. I am especially grateful to the Sisters who have shaped so many lives and inspire us to live in commitment to others. Today we celebrate the most important work of this community, and that is to prepare our students to go out into our world. This class of 2017 is especially dear to me because my daughter Julia is a part of this accomplished, poised and talented group of young women. Today is the culmination of years of dedication, hard work, service, and some fun too. Papers, tests, quizzes, AP exams, service projects, clubs, choir, sports, plays, orchestra, band, dance, ministry, robotics, yearbook, student government, newspaper, and so much more add up to your collective rich and full high school experience. To graduate today is indeed an accomplishment, and this whole community couldn t be more proud of you. So, let s start with applauding you! [APPLAUSE] When I graduated from Visitation in 1982, Dave Koch, the father of my classmate Carol, was the commencement speaker. The main point of his speech still sticks with me. He told us that life is like rewinding a film after you watched a movie the reels spin faster and faster as the film rewinds, just like life goes faster the older we get. Now, clearly much has changed since I graduated almost 35 years ago. For one thing, most of you have probably never used a film projector and Mr. Koch s image of a reel-to-reel may be lost on you. If that is the case, you can ask anyone over 50 after this ceremony how a reelto-reel projector rewinds. And then you can return the favor by teaching them how to snapchat. The main headline from Mr. Koch s speech was an early echo of your senior year virtue - to live in the present moment. You have focused this year on St. Jane de Chantal s observation that, At each moment we can offer God little things with great love. A wonderful message to absorb. But the metaphor of a film projector also points to the fact that our lives are a collection of many acts and various scenes, large and small. Graduation is one major highlight of the movie of your life so far. Graduation remains a significant highlight from the much longer movie of my life. You and I share this experience of being Vis girls, even though we come from different generations. When I sat where you are now, I felt so many conflicting emotions. I expect you feel that way today, too. I was proud to have graduated from such a demanding and at the same time supportive school. I was tired from all the hard work. I was excited to go to college. I couldn t wait for summer! But, deep down, I was also anxious about leaving, and what the future would hold. 1

2 My life since graduation has taken me to so many places. Obviously, I live in Minnesota today with my family, but I have also lived in Washington DC, France, Boston, Korea, California and Croatia, and I have visited over 60 countries. The world is such a rich and diverse place, and every experience has been so different from the wealth and history of Europe, to the vast cultural diversity of a changing Africa, to the growth and dynamism of an Asia on the move. I have felt joys and sadness, and faced opportunities and challenges in all of these places. I have stayed in ratty hostels and nice hotels, and have lived out of a backpack for months at a time. Throughout these diverse experiences, my life has had one constant this Visitation community. It took me a long time to understood how deep, strong and integral my Visitation roots are in my life. I fundamentally believe that I can trace part of every success I have had to my experiences here. There is nothing like a Vis experience, and I can say that is still true today I see this through my children s lives as students here. What does it mean to have Visitation roots? It doesn t matter whether you graduated before my 1982 class, or are ready to receive your diploma today. There are three dimensions of a Visitation education that endure across generations. These are: strength, optimism and kindness. As you will see, all three are anchored in a foundation of faith. Let s start with strength. When I arrived on campus for my freshman year of college, something you will all be experiencing in the next few months, I was intimidated. At Georgetown, one of the ice breaker questions for students was, Where did you prep? as the assumption was you were coming from a boarding school within a day s drive of Washington. When I confessed I was from Minnesota, I was asked if we had air conditioning. Was there an airport large enough for a commercial flight home, and, and I am not kidding you, did I live in a teepee. On that first lonely day, after my parents flew home, I went to the bookstore to buy my books and overheard a fellow student in the next aisle introduce himself in the following way: I m from Paris, but my parents live in New Jersey. I felt like everyone had a more exotic background than this Midwestern girl from flyover land. But as I started to get into the rhythm of college, I discovered that I was as well prepared as any of my classmates from East Coast prep schools. I knew who I was, where I was from, and what that meant. I was from an amazing place. Minnesota Nice. Land of 10,000 lakes and ten million cabins. An economic powerhouse that punches far above its weight. The Northern Lights. People who know how to make things, and fix things. Neighbors who know one another. Families before work. And for us at Visitation -- not for school, but for life. I couldn t dream of pretending I was from anywhere else. By the end of my freshman year, many of my friends would tease me that I worked for the Minnesota Department of Commerce because of how actively I would promote our home state and all its wonders. I enjoyed wearing my crescent as it was often an icebreaker to a conversation with someone new. Knowing that I came from good roots propelled me forward. This gave me strength. 2

3 And yes, you are going to be so well prepared for the academics ahead. Visitation taught me to write, to think critically, to speak up, to be optimistic and most importantly to pray and work when the times got tough and KNOW that I was a Vis girl and could handle it. When I was at Visitation, we didn t have the Salesian virtues spelled out as you do now. Thanks to innovations by the sisters and my fellow classmate Mrs. Williams, we now have very clear definitions of what the sisters lives embody. But that doesn t mean that these virtues weren t front and center when I was at school here. I left for college prepared to act out your sophomore year virtue - Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength Going forward into your future there will be moments and situations that require your deep strength to conquer. At such times, you can draw on this virtue from your Visitation roots. You will know that gentleness will make you strong and give you hope. During his recent TED talk, Pope Francis called for a revolution of tenderness his call to action is for us to be gentle. Tenderness is the path of choice for the strongest, most courageous men and women, Pope Francis declared. Tenderness is not weakness; it is fortitude. The second gift that we have been given by Visitation is the example of optimism and joy that the sisters and this community they have built show us every day. After college, during the early act when I was living out of a backpack, I was briefly staying with an Irish order of Sisters during a summer of mass riots and political upheaval in South Korea. One night, I heard the demonstrations outside the convent walls and felt the shaking of tear gas canisters exploding. Next came the acrid smell of the gas. Of course, I couldn t understand the slogans the rioters were shouting but became pretty certain that it was death to the Minnesotan staying with the Sisters. I crept upstairs to where the Sisters were sleeping, but became too timid to wake any of them. And they were all sleeping very soundly. So, instead, I laid wake all night pretty terrified. The next morning at breakfast, I asked them about what happened last night and was met with calm and certainty, and a little bit of good natured teasing. These sisters reminded me that we were safely held in God s hands, even as the trade unionists and student demonstrators clashed with riot police nearby. And the sisters were right, of course. That was just one of many experiences I have had in my life that confirm your Freshman year virtue - to live joyously and courageously never doubt that God has your back. Stay as optimistic about your future as you feel today keep the 18 year-old-sense of joy and confidence alive throughout your life and you will achieve your aspirations. Now, the third gift you are graduating with is a call to kindness. The Sisters have taught you to be kind. Your junior year virtue spells this out, gain hearts by kindness. Once you leave Vis, you will be creating new communities for yourself. Please, recreate the glue of our Visitation community in your new communities and homes by being kind. I can say from my experience that striving to be kind in small and big matters is a foundation for a successful and happy life. When I was starting out professionally in Washington, DC after graduate school, I had the honor of meeting the late Lindy Boggs. 3

4 She was the first woman to represent the state of Louisiana in Congress, serving 9 terms, and later became Ambassador to the Holy See. She also was educated by Sisters. Ambassador Boggs was known to be the most gracious and kindest person in Washington and was also considered one of the most influential. Invitations to her house were highly sought after and she managed to broker many compromises over a gracious dinner. Her motto, said in her southern drawl, was you catch more flies with honey. Funny I first heard that one at Vis from another gracious Southerner, Sr. Marie Terese, or Sr. Honey as she was so appropriately nicknamed. Both women gained hearts by kindness, and kindness was their secret weapon to make our world a better place. As Maya Angelou reflected, I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Fast forward many years and many experiences. Our family moved to the Twin Cities from Zagreb, Croatia, and Julia started first grade here after 2 years at the American International School of Zagreb. At the American School, most families, just like ours, were living in Croatia as expatriates and usually moving to a new country every 2-3 years. Our head of school counseled parents to give our children roots and wings in order to cope with the constant transitions our children would have to make to a new school, new friends and a new home. Children need a deep sense of belonging, of roots, in order to become independent as they grow up, in order to have wings. When we moved to Minnesota, I was coming back to my roots but this was all new for the rest of my family. How would we give our children roots so deep and strong that they would thrive in this new home? Visitation emphasizes its roots in its mission statement a Visitation education is permeated by Salesian Spirituality. We admire the school for great academics, and for looking beyond academics to educate not only for school but for life. But there are lots of great schools in the Twin Cities. What makes Visitation so distinctive, what is the culture here, the secret sauce? The difference is that Visitation is guided by the Sisters, who have devoted their entire lives to educate and form you, to wrap you up in Salesian spirituality so you learn by their witness. You have learned to be strong, to be optimistic, and to be kind. When I met the first US Ambassador at Large for Global Women s Issues, Melanne Verveer, we discovered we both went to all girls schools run by Sisters. Ambassador Verveer went on to tell me that when she convened a meeting of women world leaders, 16 Prime Ministers and Presidents, they discovered that all of them has been educated by Sisters in all-girls schools. You share this unique experience and now contain the ingredients to make your own secret sauce. Your time at Visitation is a great gift that you will carry with you your entire life. Now it is time for you leave and embrace your next act. Now it is time for you to fly. As your families and Visitation have given you roots, we will now stand back as you try out your wings. So please remember this: 4

5 Your life is not scripted like a movie. You can set your direction. Don t pursue a major because you think it is what you are supposed to do. Pursue a major because it sounds interesting and even possibly exciting. Try out different pursuits as you set out on that great expedition called college. This is your opportunity to find your talents and match your talents to your passion. Be adventurous. Because of your deep roots you can travel far. You have the security, faith and support to embrace adventure. Now is your time to stretch your wings and fly. Don t miss this chance. Learn about the world, and learn about where the world needs you to be. And finally, I challenge you to do things that are hard. That is how you learn the most. If you succeed, great. And if you fail, you will learn even more than if you succeed. You have all the ingredients for success once you define what that means for you. The only thing standing in your way is not trying hard enough and not retaining and cultivating the confidence you have today. You are graduating at a time with the greatest opportunities for women to soar. You have your distinctive identity you will carry with you your Visitation roots. I have been grateful for the Sisters influence on my life since I graduated and I know this for certain if you make a conscious choice to nurture the strength, optimism and kindness you are rooted in, you will have incredible opportunities and experiences ahead of you. I learned to love poetry from the legendary Ms. O Connor, my English teacher at Vis, and will close with a quote from the American poet Mary Oliver as my wish for all of you, I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable, beautiful and afraid of nothing, as though I had wings. God Bless you, my fellow Vis Girls! 5

Claire Gorman. Visitation Graduation Speech and staff, family, friends, and classmates. We welcome you to the commencement

Claire Gorman. Visitation Graduation Speech and staff, family, friends, and classmates. We welcome you to the commencement Claire Gorman Visitation Graduation Speech 2016 Good afternoon, Sister Mary Denise, Sisters of the Visitation, Dr. Nichols, faculty and staff, family, friends, and classmates. We welcome you to the commencement