Emily Zoback '08
Senior Speech
May 18, 2008
Good afternoon class of 2008, families, friends, relatives, faculty, staff, administration, alumni, and distinguished guests. It is an honor to address you on behalf of the class of 2008.
It is an honor because our class is special. We are the last class to remember Moonlight Café in Dana Commons and the General Store in the University Center. Most of us can recall that infamous night at the president's house when the Red Sox won the World Series - which, even as a Yankee fan, I won't soon forget. Our freshman year was the last time that Spree Day was almost kept a secret…almost. We, as a class, can recall when the Bioscience Center was simply a parking lot. Members of the Class of 2008 have given birth to the 12th Man Crew, Spiritual Haze, and the Ultimate Frisbee Club Team. With new programs and institutions like these, we have left a legacy for future members of the Clark community to enjoy, and we should be proud of this. We should also be proud of our mastery of an understood Clark language, foreign to anyone who has not attended a party at 39, 46, 70, 73, 90, 56, 1, or, of course, 35.
Of course we know that Clark's motto is "Challenge Convention, Change our World." We've all heard it an endless number of times, but how often do we all truly stop to think about how we epitomize this tag-line so near and dear to our hearts? And what about Clark's signatures - "Make a Difference," "Learn Through Inquiry," and "Experience Diverse Cultures?" It's easy to get bogged down in overstated watchwords, but the truth is that each Clarkie's experience here has mirrored many of the slogans we laugh at. I suggest we stop thinking of how the mottos match our experience, and start thinking more about how we've shaped our own experience here.
"Make a Difference." This is the slogan drilled into us since we began applying to schools. It is an inherent sort of obligation or commitment each of us makes simply by being a Clarkie. Whether we are volunteering at Jeremiah's Inn or the Boys and Girls Club or tutoring students at a local school, we are making a difference in the community. On a more global level, members of our class have travelled abroad to places like Nicaragua, Madagascar, and Namibia, often to help improve conditions for those less fortunate. The Making a Difference Scholars, of which I am a proud member, have sponsored events like Just Do It Day - a day of community service in which hundreds of Clarkies participate. We, the class of 2008, are setting high goals to change public policy, to change societal norms, to change the world.
"Learn Through Inquiry." Acquiring and expanding knowledge is about knowing which questions to ask and how to ask them. Over the past four years, we have learned, through hands-on experiences, how to problem solve and how to challenge ourselves. Our experiences with Academic Spree Day have been eye opening and humbling. These lessons and experiences with learning through inquiry have prepared us for whatever might come our way.
"Experience Diverse Cultures." Diversity at Clark is not only manifested in the representation of over 50 countries and almost all 50 states, but it is communicated through student groups and activities as well. I remember my first "so this is why the diversity of Clark is special" moment - I was in a psychology class early in my Clark career, discussing a unit as it pertained to different cultures. In this class of fifteen or so students, we represented perspectives from five or six countries, and even a few religions. It was at this moment that I knew I was in the right place. I felt comfortable, home. Arguably more important though, is the diversity in our ways of thinking. The minds in this class are unrivaled in their variety, and with each event we attend, we are inundated with culture - with passion - with Clark. I cannot wait to learn what we, as members of the class of 2008 accomplish in the years to come.
Clark's signatures are alive throughout the nooks and crannies of this campus. But, people are what brings this campus to life. The friends we have made here, the faculty, the administration - all have allowed us to make the memories we will cherish forever. We have been forever changed by our Clark experiences, and we have lived a lifetime in these four short years. While I hope that I have impacted the lives of many in today's audience, I need you to know how important all of you have been to my life. We belong to a shared family. We have supported each other, laughed together, celebrated together, cried together, and have been changed forever.
These past four years have not been easy for any of us - we have been challenged beyond our limits, academically, socially, emotionally. Losing my father this past October was the most difficult experience I have encountered in my life, thus far, but there are no other people I would have rather been surrounded by than all of you. My father was an honorary Clarkie - he loved this place as much as his own alma mater, and he would have smiled, knowing that I had the support of such incredible friends and family. It is comforting to know that the members of this class, the faculty, the administration, the entire university, share my love for Clark - this is what makes Clark, Clark.
People often ask me why I came to Clark. I think the more important and relevant question is why I stayed at Clark. It is not so much what draws people to this university, though that is, of course, important. More telling is what makes students want to come back each year. I think it is the unwritten, commonly accepted culture of leadership, compassion, acceptance, growth, and support that forms the glue binding us all together--the magnet which keeps us coming back for more.
Our daily activities, though, will soon be simply memories, and this, for me, is the hardest part to grasp. Most people who know me well know that there exists a special bond between me and my camera. *In fact… "say cheese!" (take out camera to take a picture).* Besides a desire to capture people and moments in time, somewhere in the back of my mind, there has been a reluctant recognition that all of this will soon be coming to an end. I encourage each of you, no matter where you are going to be, to stop once in a while, and remember how you got to where you are. We all share an un-severable bond that sets us apart. We all have Clark in common - Clark is what brought us all together four years ago and Clark is the institution that has prepared us for the next steps we are about to take, whatever those may be. This place, and the experiences we have had here - this is our bond. I would not trade the family I have made here or the memories that have been formed for anything in the world, and for that, I am grateful.
I am proud to be a member of the Class of 2008, and I know our legacy will live on. I wish each person the best of luck in whatever comes next, and I encourage everyone to enjoy these last moments as undergraduates on campus. Take one last picture with Freud, visit your freshman year residence hall room one more time, head to the Grind or to Dana Commons to relive some special evenings. And remember that you can always come back - and your friends will be your friends for life - because of Clark.
So class of 2008: Thank you for the past four years; Thank you for being a part of my life - for being a part of each others' lives.
Congratulations, we're graduating!