Make It Matter

Hello, and welcome grads of 2024! Graduates, please make sure your tassel is on the right side of your cap as you sit here as a student one last time. 

Typically, the purpose of the Head of School speech at a graduation ceremony is to capture some insight to send with the grads as they go. At this time in this moment with this crowd, it is my duty and honour to pass on sage wisdom as our graduates embark on this massive post-secondary journey. Since I haven’t had the time nor space to know if I am a sage advice giver, I have instead curated some messages from some of my favourite writers.

Correction. I have gathered three key thoughts from three mustached men. 

Why mustaches, you ask? To be honest, I am not sure. Typically I would be somewhat suspicious of a garden of nose hair, but somehow, three of my favourite philosophers all rocked the Upper Lipholstery. I am not sure the mustache maketh the man, and I imagine this advice actually has nothing to do with facial hair, but I nose-ticed my three sage advice humans all had a mouth eyebrow in common. Perhaps I felt I musht listen. 

For example, I have one book that I have read more than twenty times in my life. The cover is tattered, and the wear of the edges where my fingers turn the pages reflects the urgency with which I consume the story. My favourite writer is Tom Robbins – mustache number one. 

Jitterbug Perfume is a novel by Tom Robbins that intertwines multiple storylines across centuries and continents, exploring themes of love, immortality, and ultimately, the quest for meaning. As a seeker of meaning myself, when I met this book in my late teens, it was transformational. The narrative follows characters seeking the elusive secret of eternal life, embodied in a mystical perfume. And really, the novel is about a beet. Like the vegetable. A dark red beet. 

In amongst the beets and many messages of meaning, Robbins says, “Our individuality is all, all, that we have. There are those who barter it for security, those who repress it for what they believe is the betterment of the whole society, but blessed in the twinkle of the morning star is the one who nurtures it and rides it in, in grace and love and wit, from peculiar station to peculiar station along life’s bittersweet route.”

Robbins invites readers to embrace individuality, even peculiarity, and ponder the interconnectedness of all living things. Robbins maintains the social imperative that we must know ourselves to truly know life. He advises that we must know in, to know out. 

Deep, I know. Deep meaning and a beet, all in one book.

Interestingly, one of my other favourite philosophers also rocked the snout caterpillar. Where Robbins challenges us to know our individuality so we can know the world, Ted Lasso – mustache number two – gives us instructions on HOW to do the knowing. 

In a famous scene from the Apple TV series, Jason Sudeikis playing the character Ted Lasso is challenged to a dart competition in a British Pub. While being underestimated by a worthy opponent, Lasso tells an anecdote, eventually sharing his idea of a key to life. Lasso says, “Be curious, not judgmental.” 

In this ethos lies the essence of growth, for curiosity expands our horizons while judgment constricts them. To be curious is to embrace the unknown with a sense of wonder, to inquire without preconceived notions. In contrast, judgment builds barriers, dividing us from one another and hindering the potential for connection.

So. 

Mustache number one says, embrace your individuality and know yourself. Mustache number two says, go through life leading with curiosity and not judgment.  

The final mustached man with a message is my father, who is one of my heroes. He spoke at my graduation ceremony, and he gave advice to my grad class. First he quoted the old adage: “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” He compelled us to stay in touch. Then, he recommended, if we felt so inclined, that we develop a nightly habit to keep us connected on a larger scale. He said, “Each night, before you go to sleep, ask yourself two questions: What did I learn about myself today? And what did I learn about others and the world?” 

My dad’s advice encouraged us to deliberately practice connection and reflection. We can curate our own sage advice and wisdom by mining each day for lessons and staying a student… even when we are a graduate. The classroom is just going to look a little different now. 

Is it just me or are these philosophers with face foliage on to something?  

Note of interest, Tom Robbins, Jason Sudeikis, and my father all rid themselves of their lip sweaters. They parted with their nose-y neighbours. They whiskered them away. 

The mustaches may be gone, but the advice lives on.

Ultimately, the three key thoughts from the three formerly mustached men work nicely together. 

Embrace individuality. Stay curious. Connect and reflect.  

With these messages, we have a stash of advice to take with us. 

Okay grads, it’s almost time. I mustache you to move on from highschool. It’s hairy important. I could keep growing but I’ll stop…

Graduates, the tassel on your grad cap, on the right side, represents your status as a high school student. At this time, please move the tassel to the left, and as you do so, symbolically transition from student to graduate. You have left your permanent mark on the school, and now we encourage you to find your place beyond the campus.