Excerpts from the 2024 Commencement Address

Anxiousness can make us feel quite alone. I think of anxiousness as a form of fear, frozen in a time frame. With the grace that comes with more time, we step out of that time frame and move forward. This is the gift of perspective that frees us from paralysis.

Stone Ridge, for me, was a place that cushioned life’s sorrows. It was the safest place. It was the place that shined God’s unfailing grace on me when I was admitted to Stone Ridge in 2006 and promised the security of financial aid to be able to attend.

Why did Stone Ridge soften sorrows for me? Because it gave me the space to remember my intrinsic human dignity. To know, with utmost certainty, that I was a child of God. That meant that I was as carefree as a child: unconcerned about my appearance, bold enough to attempt stand-up comedy while leading daily assemblies, having an openness of heart to be friends with every member of my class, joking with respectful confidence with my teachers, or even my audacity to take Drama I as the only senior in a class of all freshmen.

Connection, belonging, sincerity, serenity, self-awareness, selflessness, and humor (with some self-deprecation) are supplements for your soul, all of which I received daily at Stone Ridge and continue to each time I return, awash with a perspective that frees me from the paralysis of anxiousness. It is human to fear and to have unease. This is a part of our human condition that no supplement or lifestyle choice can ever fully dispel from us. And that’s okay.

You may have some anxiousness and unease about starting college this year. You may wonder: Will I get along with my roommate or make friends? Will I survive homesickness? Will classes be hard? How many gallon-size containers of Goldfish in my dorm is too many? And then, just as you did as freshmen and now, as the graduating Class of 2024, you will ease in. You will fill out your surroundings because, just as natural as it is to fear, it is also natural to adapt, learn, connect, and belong. You will learn that, even in lonely moments, you are never alone. God’s hand is on your shoulder, the people and places that were home to you before are still there, with open doors and open arms, and new friends will clothe you in the comfort of knowing that you are known and understood.

"When you leave Stone Ridge, you will go off and do so many outstanding things. But, I say to you, as I say to myself, the most outstanding things can also be the most ordinary ones."

There are many truths to reality, including the truth of anxiousness and unease. But where these are conditions of your reality, there are some immovable, capital-T truths that are enough and that exist beyond the time frames of fear.

Commencements are, rightfully, days where you are encouraged to soar. You are urged, even, to go change the world. And I know that each of you will. I know this because changing the world starts and often even stays centered on your ability to prioritize the capital-T truths of life. I know that Stone Ridge is a place that has nurtured your ability to recognize those priorities and center them.

When you leave Stone Ridge, you will go off and do so many outstanding things. But, I say to you, as I say to myself, the most outstanding things can also be the most ordinary ones. The ordinary things are often the most essential ones, the capital-T truths, that are already within you and around you:

• Cherish your parents (and call them). You will disagree with them, maybe argue with them, and want to defy them. That’s life. But you’re here because of them, and they love you in the form closest to what the elixir of God’s love is.
   
• Remember your friends. You may, like me, find that the first few years after Stone Ridge are fertile ground for the hometown reunions at Einstein Bagels, Starbucks, or elsewhere in Bethesda. And you will make friends in college, at your internships and jobs, and elsewhere. Sometimes, though, you lose track and communication becomes infrequent. Try, though, to keep those friends in your heart, and, freely text them no matter how much time has passed. Rest assured that your friends will always find you, reach you, and remind you of your happiness.
   
• Revel in nostalgia. The memories stay with you to buoy you through life’s uncharted waters. The past doesn’t have to be unmoored from your future or the present. It is connected in important ways that will help keep you grounded and able to push out of the paralysis of anxiousness. Remember what you sounded like when you laughed at assemblies and events at Stone Ridge; recall even the warm, salty tears that you’ve cried in sad moments; preserve always the kindness in your heart.
   
• Love yourself. Love who you were at Stone Ridge and the ways in which you will continue to be that person. But also love the person you may change, in some ways, to become as you grow and develop. Recognize yourself in the mirror of your heart at each stage. Even when you fear you are lost, you are not; you are just on your way.
   
• Consider others. You have served the broader communities you’ve come to know through Social Action and global awareness. But each day is filled with interactions. Sometimes it may be with the person you want to honk at on Old Georgetown Road or that you want to prod to move faster in the checkout aisle at Target. It’s okay to have negative moments. But try to consider, with empathy, how human those people are and how alike you are as a result. Be forgiving and generous, say something nice, and embody the Golden Rule.
   
• Trust in God. Your hope can always be founded in God. God alone is enough.

I wish for each of you the grace of your Stone Ridge days, the joyful youth and wonder radiating off your beautiful beings today. And also the perspective to face the unknowns of your coming days, where you will harness some of the wisdom that comes from weathering tougher challenges and existing in anxiousness within each fleeting time frame in order to move forward.

This moment, your Commencement, is also a time frame. It is one you will remember some aspects of and forget some of, too. What won’t fade is the capital-T truth that you existed in this time frame as a child of God, full of dignity, imbued with all of the core qualities that make you who you are and will continue to be, and that make all of us so unbelievably proud of you.

Congratulations, my fellow new alumnae: the Stone Ridge Class of 2024! ❤