Following is an abridged version of the address given by salutatorian James Dalzell at the Holy Spirit High School commencement on June 6.
Class of 2021. Standing up here today I feel underqualified to be giving any of you advice after seeing all of your great accomplishments through our time at Holy Spirit High School — from state championships in football to national championships in crew and award winning performances in the arts department. It’s amazing all that you have been able to accomplish throughout our time here. But what makes Holy Spirit great, and this class in general is not awards, statistics or any other empirical measure, but it is who each and everyone of you have become. … Small acts of kindness in the hallways, and simple hellos made my years here so much better.
In spite of what everyone told me, I never would’ve imagined how fast high school would go by. … Maybe some of you are glad it went by fast, maybe some of you are hoping my speech would go by faster, but I think it’s important that we all slow down for a moment.
The one bit of advice I’d like to offer has to do with something I’ve realized about time. And I know what else you are thinking — why is the guy who keeps all of his work messily stuffed in a singular folder trying to talk to us about planning for the future? But through many viewings of the “Back to the Future” trilogy and “Interstellar,” I’d like to think I have become a sort of expert on the concept of time. Unfortunately I did not invent the flux capacitor or derive an equation for controlling gravity, but what I have done is discovered the power we have all been given to control time.
There is a saying in golf — one shot at a time. This means when I am walking up to hit my next shot I try to avoid thinking about the past or the future. Rather I focus on the particular shot I need to hit next, and enjoy the beauty of nature around me that God created. Sometimes it’s not always so easy, though. For instance, after a bad hole and possibly an errant tee shot — very common for me — it’s easy for my mind to start racing. Intrusive thoughts of “what have I just done” or “how is this going to affect my round” are common. During these times, it is important to disregard the past as it’s unchangeable and it’s important to not look too far ahead but to put my head down, and hit the next right shot to get my ball back in play.
Life is the same way. While facing adversity it is important not to worry and think too far ahead, but it is crucial to do the next right thing. … It is also important to stay in the moment when in times of prosperity, though. By living our lives one day at a time we can all maximize our potential in life but also slow down, and enjoy the simple pleasures on earth — sunsets, nature, God and each other. In this way, time ceases to exist as a limitation or a dimension but becomes more like water to a plant — water that we can utilize for good.
In the words of George Harrison, “It’s being here now that’s important. There’s no past and there’s no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can’t relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if there is one.”
On that note, I think I’ve taken up enough of your time now. It’s been great getting to know each and every one of you.
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