@viewbody: Someone once said you should leave something better than you found it. While I think the expression may have originated as a way to encourage people not to litter in national parks, the Class of 2002 has succeeded in making Tufts, an already renowned institution, that much better.
On a hot August morning four years ago we sat in these very same seats, exhausted from moving in but wrought with excitement and anticipation of what the next few years would hold. We could not imagine the friends we would make, the opportunities we would have, in the classroom and out, the places we would travel to, and the impact that being a Jumbo would have on the rest of our lives. Four years later, it has all gone by so quickly that it is still hard to comprehend.
In a few short hours, these chairs will be folded up again, gathering dust until August when they will be set out for a new generation of Tufts students. But even after we have been ushered off the Academic Quad and into the real world, the indelible mark that our class made on this university will not soon be forgotten.
And it is not simply the happy coincidence that we are the Sesquicentennial Class that makes us such an integral part of Tufts. We have been here as the university transitioned into a new millennium and a new era, from new buildings, new colleges, new student organizations, to new university leadership. As students, we played a major role in shaping this new Tufts.
President Bacow has looked to us this year as he has set out a vision for the future of the University. Even with only a year under his belt, he can recognize the unique nature of our class. As he toasted us at the President's Reception that kicked off Senior Week, he announced that we were the best senior class this university has ever seen. Granted he will probably say this every year, but we will always be remembered as his first graduating class at Tufts, the ones who shared our experiences so that he could fully understand what Tufts had meant to us.
Our class has worked with unwavering passion and commitment to make Tufts a community we are proud to call our own. As freshmen, we dove into our experience with enthusiasm and curiosity, soaking up all the university had to offer, often outside of the classroom as well as in. As sophomores we took the reigns, garnering much power and influence throughout the school, in student organizations, sports teams, academics and beyond.
As juniors we spread throughout the world, not forgetting our little hill as we explored what the rest of the globe had to offer. As seniors we were reunited, only to be struck shortly thereafter by tragedy. As a class and a community we came together, bonded by our common pain and our desire for the light and peace embodied in Tufts' motto. Throughout of all of this, the Class of 2002 has set itself apart from our predecessors, exceeding even our own expectations.
While our impact has been felt on Walnut Hill, it is time we take this drive and the skills we acquired here and again go out into the world. Everyone sitting at Commencement today has been given an incredible opportunity. We have been tremendously privileged to study under some of the world's best scholars, to be a part of a university that believes that learning does not just happen when a student is sitting behind a desk, and to have a network of teachers, advisors, family and friends who believe in our ability to do something extraordinary.
We cannot forsake this privilege. Tufts is such an incredible place that it becomes very easy to forget that we do not live in a perfect world or anywhere near it. The problems facing our society and the world are far too great to mention. The degree we receive today makes us part of an elite group, but it is not a one-way, single ticket to a better life. As they say in the movie Spiderman: with great power comes great responsibility. Our diplomas are a charge to take advantage of what we have been given but to also remember those who haven't had the same privileges, and those who helped us along the way.
I am sure throughout these next few days we will be told over and over again that we are the future. As trite as this seems, especially when printed on graduation cards, it is true. Those things our parents' generation could not accomplish now fall into our hands. It is we, graduating today, who will have to discover the cure for AIDS, revitalize our political system so that people want to have a voice in their own democracy, fix our crumbling and crippled public schools, and work to build a nation that appreciates and seeks to understand different cultures and ethnicities.
I am sure there are a few parents who are reading this and shaking their heads at my naivet?©. What they may not realize is that they have raised a generation of idealists, a group of young people who believe that change is possible and worth working to achieve.
Our four years at Tufts has only reinforced this notion. I truly believe that we, the Class of 2002, have the potential to change the world. So, as we sit in these chairs one last time, we should take a deep breath, because we have a lot of work to do. Good luck '02, and congratulations.
Erin Ross will receive a degree in political science today.
