We've been celebrating Senior Week and all these students have accomplished and will accomplish. It's made me think about all the classes I've had the pleasure of knowing during my time by the Lakeside. Every class is unique and speical in it's own way. Today's messages are from a few alumni from the decade of the 2010s. I still remember these alumni when they were students and am so proud of the alduts they have become. As I read their messages, I am struck by the wisdom of their words; something really special from alumni who graduated less than a decade ago.
My heart goes out to you during this time of pandemic in our country. Who would have guessed a virus could put this much of a pause on so many people's personal lives. I am truly sorry your senior year was cut short. As you approach May 16th I challenge you to take a day to reflect on your experience at Darlington and how it has shaped you into the person you are today. Then write your teachers thank you letters, set up a Zoom call with your entire senior class and post about your favorite Darlington memory. Senioritis is looking a little different in 2020 so it is up to you to keep the spirit of the end of your senior year alive, virtually!
I will help get you started, remember Lower School field day, remember memorizing your lines for the school play? Your first day of High School, all those memories by the Lakeside on a Friday night, the famous Middle School highly competitive Halloween parade, becoming a senior and finally getting to wear the coveted gray polo? These are just a few of the unique memories you create at Darlington.
On May 16 whether you are on the chapel lawn or not, I hope you listen to Bridge Over Troubled Water and shed a few tears and then smile from ear to ear because of the incredible chapter you are about to close, and look with excitement to the new chapter that lies ahead of you. You have so much to be proud of!
I hope you stay in touch, and value the memories made in this special place for the rest of your life.
While these are tough and troubling times in the world we currently live in, rest assured, your undoubted hard work and dedication into completing your senior year won’t be unnoticed. It’s been eight years since I graduated Darlington after having attended school there for 14 years. I’m sure many of you are wondering how you won’t be able to do certain things for the last time: your last sports event, potentially your last favorite class, last concert, maybe last time in chapel, etc. I can assure you that I do not remember any of those specific moments. Instead, it was the random acts of living in the present that have stuck with me the longest: any moment walking past the lake on the way to class, walking up the Science Building steps thinking I was summiting Mount Everest, or hanging out with friends in the library (by what we deemed “studying”). As I look back on those moments, I remember how grateful I am to have attended Darlington. Having gone there for so long, I didn’t know really anything else outside of it. When I graduated, I didn’t just move away from my own family, but my Darlington family as well. When you graduate from here, you will certainly move away from your friends and favorite teachers, but when you drop by and visit, occasionally, as I used, it will seem almost as if no time elapsed.
The impact that Darlington had on my life and your’s is not something I could put a finger on immediately after I graduated. It wasn’t until years later that my medical school roommate asked me the impact going to a private school had on shaping my career. I realized that it is not just one thing, not something that can even be put into words, but it is those moments or rather a feeling when you realize that it was only your Darlington education that helped you get there. When asked to write this email, even I couldn’t recall all the activities I participated in or counsels I sat on. However, I do remember the lasting impact that my teachers had on me, how I had to work hard at both school and sports to achieve my goals, and how those every day moments allowed me to be the person that I am today. I hope that they do the same for you one day and that you come to realize the positive individual impact that Darlington has had on your life.
As I sit here in my apartment in San Antonio preparing for my first medical board certification exam, I am fearful of the total impact this virus has on our community. Although, my belief in hope in institutions like Darlington, reminds me that they produce some of the brightest minds like yourself, who can hopefully change the world in the not-so-distant future. Once you graduate Darlington, going back to campus will have a different vibe, a feeling of accomplishment, and while you have left your daily friends, you have picked up the Darlington Alumni Community. For our graduation, we were gifted Dr. Seuss’s book “Oh the Places You’ll Go.” Your time at Darlington is coming to a close in about a month and a half in a bittersweet fashion, but I encourage you, also, to follow the words of Dr. Seuss, “Don’t cry cause it’s over, smile because it happened.”
Hold your head up! Probably not what you expected at the beginning of a letter, but in these uncertain times, it is definitely something to remember. I understand that as a senior you may feel slighted and a bit angry about the current world situation and the impact it has on your senior year. However, in life, one thing to always remember, and a phrase my father has repeatedly said to me is, "control what you can control". That said, you cannot control the current pandemic we are in and how it impacts your senior year but you can control how you react to it. I recommend that you focus on all of the memories that you currently have from Darlington because as you grow up, you will learn to cherish those times more and more.
In 2010, I embarked on a journey leaving my home in the Bahamas to come to Rome, Georgia. I was scared, nervous and uneasy, but when I first stepped on campus and met my brothers in Summerbell and Ms. Barnes, the headmaster at the time, who presented us with all of the food we could ask for, those initial feelings subsided.
Originally, I came to Darlington to be a part of the Soccer Academy, so when I told my friends at home that I was going to Rome, they all assumed I meant Rome, Italy and that I was going to become a pro, I never corrected them haha. My time with the Soccer Academy was great. We trained hard, travelled the country, visited top class restaurants and bonded on those long bus rides across the country. While a part of the academy, I also was a part of the band. Junior year I decided to make the switch from soccer to football. The switch was great. I still remember coming out of the tiger, playing with my teammates and those after game meals. Other memories include RUMPUS, Halloween horror nights, spending time in the dorms, sporting events and the list goes on. To that end, my memories may not be the same as yours, but I'm sure you cherish the memories you have just as much as I cherish mine, and that’s what you should focus on now.
Furthermore, in terms of advice, if you go to college, think about what career you want long term and the major that will get you there. Talk to students in classes above you and ask which classes and teachers to take, it makes a big difference. If you don't go to college, do something you love and something you are passionate about. Lastly, stay in touch with family/ loved ones, exercise regularly, read often and learn about money and personal finance - everyone has to deal with money, make sure you're good at it because if you're not, you'll regret it.
As I hope this letter isn't too long already, the memories you have made at Darlington, are ones you will never forget. I wish you the best on your next endeavor in life and remember that AIN'T NOTHING LIKE A TIGER ON A FRIDAY NIGHT!
