"Go Well!"

On Sunday, June 4, eighty-five members of the Form of 2017 tossed their hats into the air and bid farewell to their years on the Circle during Groton School’s 132nd Prize Day ceremony.

It was a day filled with tradition—from the boater hats, to the prizes presented, to the emotion and gratitude that enveloped graduates and faculty in their final handshaking line.

Words of inspiration saturated the ceremony. Headmaster Temba Maqubela opened Prize Day with a talk dedicated to his experiences with students, sharing snapshots of a cultural experience over dinner at a student’s home and a lost rugby game that led another student to study organic chemistry. He covered topics such as scholarship, grit, and spirituality—and the decisive victories of the girls soccer team.

In his keynote speech, Christopher Shays—U.S. Rep. (R-CT) from 1987–2009—urged the Form of 2017 to determine their dreams so they can pursue them.

“Given the opportunities your parents and Groton School have provided you, floating aimlessly from place to place is not an acceptable option,” said Mr. Shays, who knew in high school that he wanted to be an elected official. “You owe it to yourself, and to those who have invested their time and love in you, to begin to understand who you are and what you want to become.”

Such self-awareness will not be a struggle, he advised, “when you patiently entertain your dreams and allow them to gradually motivate and guide you.”

Mr. Shays praised the headmaster for instilling an ethos of inclusion in Groton’s graduates. “Among all the other important lessons this class has learned, appreciating diversity and understanding the practical elements of inclusion—based on the hard lessons Temba, you, and your dear wife, Vuyelwa, learned in South Africa and here in the United States—are an integral part of this school and a rich and substantive part of every student’s DNA,” he said.

The former Congressman did not entirely avoid commenting on today’s political climate. “Graduates, I realize Donald Trump is on the recommended ‘subjects to avoid’ list, but having served in public office for thirty-four years, I can’t resist sharing a short and heartfelt observation with you,” he said, concluding, “he may be president, but he clearly is not a model you should seek to emulate.”

Earlier in the ceremony, Board of Trustees President Jonathan Klein P’ 08, ’11, ’18 also mentioned the presidency, in a discussion about handling the unexpected. He asked graduates to ponder events of the past year: “The host of a television reality show and frequently bankrupt real estate mogul, with no political or government experience, is elected forty-fifth president of the United States. The Chicago Cubs win the World Series. The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, is called a liberal by many. Britain votes to leave the European Union and a new strange word enters our vocabulary—Brexit.”

Mr. Klein stressed the importance of having an inner set of principles to guide decisions when facing the unexpected—the kind of moral compass instilled at Groton and carried with graduates throughout their lives.

Marcella Flibotte ’17—chosen as student Prize Day speaker by her peers—paid homage to the teachers who distinguish Groton. “We have all come to Groton because we share an affinity for learning. You can see this excitement on students’ faces when they discuss math and poetry with Mr. Creamer, or how their eyes light up when they talk about a U.S. history class with Mr. Lyons,” she said.

Her speech, sprinkled with humor, contained a few confessions, including a quandary over Beyoncé tickets purchased for a concert the night before a final SAT. “We had a dilemma on our hands,” she confided. “To go, or not to go. Fifth formers are the most responsible students on campus and must efficiently use their time to get good grades and test scores for the upcoming college process.” The punchline: they went. But they still “slayed” the SAT.

After an analysis of every form, full of both wisdom and wisecracks, Marcella concluded: “We are all well equipped to handle any situation that may come our way because we will approach it with the excitement of a Second Former, a bit of sass of a Third Former, the optimism of a Fourth Former, the hard work of a Fifth Former, and the confidence and fearlessness of a Sixth Former.”

At the end of Prize Day, when the headmaster—like the headmasters before him—told the Form of 2017 to “go well,” those fearless Sixth Formers became graduates, and off they went, equipped for the all too real and reliably unpredictable world.

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