Salvete Omnes,
It is already a cliche to say that 2020 has been a tumultuous year.
This year, in fact the whole of our education, has been marked by the rise of a global pandemic, a pandemic that has forced us into isolation and taken the life of a member of our community. Every aspect of our lives has been disrupted, and it is unlikely that things will ever truly return to normal.
With the murder of George Floyd, we have seen protests spring up unmatched in number and frequency by any since the start of the Black Lives Matter movement.
We are living through a year that will determine the course of America’s history, the course of the world’s history. We are living in a time of great uncertainty, and no one is really sure which way things are going to go. Everything has come into question.
But there is one thing that is certain: we are all prepared.
We all have spent at least some time translating Latin into English. In Latin, each sentence becomes a logic puzzle in its own right. Many of the seniors who are graduating with me have written an extended essay, and are familiar with the patience and intuition required to find and interpret sources.
We are familiar with problem solving of all varieties, and are ready for what will come next, regardless what comes. Although now more than ever things definitely feel uncertain, I believe that whatever the outcome of the tumult is, we will be able to face it.
We will be the generation to put an end to climate change, because we will have to be. We will be the generation to rethink the abusive relationship between the public and the law, because things cannot continue as they are. We will be the generation to establish stable, peaceful relationships between the world powers, because we will need to ensure a peaceful future for the generations that will follow.
We as a generation will overcome, and we as a community will take care of eachother. While I am grateful for the education I have received, I will never forget the compassionate people I have been able to make friends with. I hope that next year, the underclassmen who will be seniors and juniors and sophomores and the incoming freshmen will continue to take care of each other, and that this class of 2020 will stay in touch.
I will miss every one of you, but am satisfied with having known you at all. I know that we are all going places. Wherever you are headed, I wish you all the best.
Valete,
Desmond Keuper
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