A Charge to the Class of 2023

In early May, we gathered on the nearby turf field to celebrate our 140th day of school during this, the 140th anniversary of WardlaLAartridge. We recognize the precious legacy which has been entrusted to us as we stand on the shoulders of so many who have called LA home over 14 decades and we are grateful to them. Seniors – you are already a part of that legacy and are about to embark on the next exciting chapter in a book that you largely write yourself. Along the way, you have had help, of course: parents, other family members, teachers, coaches, friends, and experiences, both good and bad, experiences that shape your attitudes, behaviors, and responses to the world around you.

At our founding, in 1882, the world was a far different place. I wonder what it must have been like to be a student then. Women did not have the right to vote and would not for another 36 years. Television would not come to market for 45 more years. And it would take another 73 years before the vaccine for polio would be introduced. But for students in 1882, the world around them was changing, and evolving rapidly. Large scale developments in transportation, growth of urban centers, and the rise of manufacturing all impacted daily lives as the century turned. 

The century that followed saw two world wars, the great depression, but also sweeping changes to improve workplace safety and the creation of safety nets such as social security were introduced. The civil rights movement of the mid-century was a catalyst for deep societal change and we see those efforts continuing to this day. In 1976, The Wardlaw School for boys and The Hartridge School for girls merged and for the first time here, students enjoyed a coeducational experience. 

The history of our world, our country, and our school is one of continual change. This is part of what makes our learning community so unique. 

Indeed, change is the inevitable constant in life. Every place in which we live and move changes us. But it works both ways: we change the places in which we live and move, too. The world may be big, but you have an impact on it, and your impact will grow with time.

Take a moment, seniors, and consider what it has been like to be a member of the WardlaLAartridge Class of 2023. Who were you when you came here? And who are you now? Changes large and small, seen and unseen, have formed the you that sits here today. 

I expect you are both excited and a bit anxious about college. You should be. The promise of change can be both wonderful and scary. Embrace it because you have already shown yourselves to be incredibly adaptive, resourceful, and resilient. Anyone remember a global pandemic?  

The fact that you have succeeded despite the majority of your high school career taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic means you are strong and perhaps stronger than you may have thought you were. More resilient, probably, than you ever imagined you would need to be. Remember these times because life will deliver unexpected challenges and obstacles that seem unsurmountable. The pandemic wasn’t the last obstacle you will face.  

Have hope and take stock of your skill set and mindset. Never forget how innovative you and your teachers were during your time here. LA has always intended to raise innovative learners, people who readily embrace, and also create new things – but the pandemic years introduced the necessity to innovate on a scale few had seen before. You may cringe when you recall temperature screening, the plexiglass shields separating us physically in the classroom, and at lunch, the mandatory testing and quarantining and contact tracing – oh boy. That was new and it was hard. But we did it. 

And now, seniors, we look ahead to the next chapter in your life. What great adventures await you? What will our school be like when you return for Fall Fair and in 10 years’ time at our 150th anniversary? Class of 2023, where will you be in 2033 and what will you be doing?

We don’t have answers to those questions, but that is part of the excitement, isn’t it? I do know this. You, Class of 2023, are about to join the ranks of LA alums, pioneering thinkers who dare to dream, to work, to challenge each other and themselves, and to excel.  

Remember your roots here at LA, where you will always be grounded in a history and part of a legacy of 140 years. This is a gift indeed. 

We are very proud of you, seniors, for you embody the WHIL – the WardlaLAartridge Innovative Learner mindset and it has seen you through a lot. This mindset has allowed you to seize many unique opportunities not available elsewhere:

• Earning a Global Scholars designation.
• Completing a rigorous Capstone research project on par with work typically seen in graduate school programs.
• Stepping onto the stage, field, pool, or court for the first time and discovering a new talent and passion for theater, song, or band.
• Representing with integrity, poise and polish your school and community as member of Model United Nations, Affinity Club founder, peer tutor, or community service team worker in Plainfield and with InterFaith Rise.
• Conducting and publishing authentic laboratory research in partnership with professors at Princeton University.
• Writing, casting, filming and editing an original film for the Indie Film Festival, and so much more.  

Soon you will move on to colleges and universities across the country and beyond its borders; you will be changed by the experience but remember, you will impact the people you meet, the institutions you join. 

I leave you with what is requisite in commencement addresses, and that is a bit of advice. A charge, if you will. Three strong recommendations:

• Always surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you. Those may be people you admire, or they may be people who need your help and support, but they are people who inspire you to try hard, to grow, to be kind.
• Always remember how effective you were as part of a team. We get more done together than we can on our own. 
• Always remember to ask for help and be just as willing to give help. 

And always remember how proud we are of you, the WardlaLAartridge Class of 2023. 

Onward!