2008 Govenor Thomas Johnson High School Graduation Speech Frederick, MD
By: Jo Ellen Nutter

Good afternoon

It is a delight to be here

When I received the invitation to speak at your baccalaureate I began to reminisce.

High School graduation seems very long ago for me.

And yet I can still remember the feelings.
Glad it was over; looking forward to what was next, being sad to leave my friends and familiar ground.

I went to school here
I was part of the first class to go all the way through from 7th through 12th grade.
When TJ opened it was a junior high 7-9th grades and a senior high 10-12th grade.
Our class motto was “All the way through in 72”
The math majors are probably figuring out my age right now
I was a November baby keep that in mind while you calculate

You are all on a threshold ready to step over;
step over……….Into adult life

I am a missionary nurse
I do cross cultural work
I have spent the last eighteen months living and working in Panama with the five different cultures that live there

When you agree to enter a foreign culture to work you have to agree and get comfy with the fact that you won’t know
You won’t know the language at first
You won’t know what is expected of you
You won’t know what acceptable behavior is and what is not
It is part of the deal

There were times when I was lost, I didn’t know the rules or the clues or the cues
I have made mistakes
I have traveled down one way streets the wrong way
Asked for a broken bone instead of a receipt
Asked for a kiss instead of a glass……………oops

And you will too
It might not be asking for a fracture instead of a receipt

But you need to remember that you are crossing over
Going in to a foreign land
One in which you have not yet traveled

You know the rules at school
What outfit is acceptable, what is not.
How to act to get what you need
but
You are about to enter a place where the rules are different
It doesn’t matter if you are moving on to the work force, the military, technical school or college.
It is going to be new
Be alert, be aware and learn
But most of all be assured…….That the world needs you

It needs your energy, your ingenuity, and your enthusiasm
Remember that you are ready, that doesn’t mean you will get it all right
But you are ready

Take time to have a chat with yourself …..remind yourself; I did it, look what I did, I have a high school diploma
Don’t rush past this, let it sink

Then prepare yourselves to learn more

Learn to enjoy your accomplishments and share them with family and friends who love you

There is a little book that has helped me tremendously
It is called The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
It is a compilation of a lot of wisdom from many sources
The concept is that the wisdom for a fulfilling life boils down to these four agreements
And if you can agree with yourself to always follow them you will do well


I would like to share them with you
They are:
Be Impeccable with your word
Don’t take anything personally
Don’t make assumptions
Always do your best

Let’s consider each one:

1. Be Impeccable With Your WordSpeak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love. 2. Don't Take Anything PersonallyNothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.



3. Don't Make AssumptionsFind the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life. 4. Always Do Your BestYour best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Your best will change as you change. Under any circumstance, simply do your best and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Ms. Nichols explained to me that the theme for today is “be a light”. I thought that was fitting and lovely.
Then I began to ponder.
Be a light
It sounds like an impossible task!
What does it really mean?

Songs from Bible school came to mind; this little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine, hide it under a bushel no I'm gonna let it shine, or shine in the corner where you are..

Or a bible verse;.. let your light so shine before all the world, on and on I could go.

But what does Be a light really mean?

I decided to be academic about it and to start at the beginning.

What is light?
It’s a wave it’s a particle it’s a combination
It doesn’t fit any other category but light
It’s just its own thing

What are the properties of light?


So …….I did a Google search on the properties of light.

The list included; the speed of light, Reflection, Refraction, Dispersion, and Interference

Let’s look at each one

· The Speed of Light in a vacuum has been measured to be 300 million meters per second. This is the fastest that anything has been observed to move. At that speed it would take light a mere one ten thousandth of a second to circumvent the globe.
· This description made me think of the exuberance of youth and how fast things change for you and how quickly you learn.
· And then I read on; I read; When light enters any material, it slows down. The amount that it slows down depends on the nature of the material. The more dense the material, the slower the speed light. For example, in water, light is approximately 30% slower than in vacuum, while in glass it is 50% slower. In diamond, one of the most dense materials known, light travels at less than 150 million meters per second
So remember light only travels at 300million meters per second in a vacuum. When it has to travel with other factors it is slower but it still travels-so what I hope you will remember is that you are entering a new arena
One which is often very dense; the systems with which you will interact have been operating for many years. Some opinions and processes are so firmly in place that they feel petrified. But be a light anyway; keep moving, it may take longer, you will need to be patient but remember if you continue to be a light , you will move through it……. it just might take longer.
The bottom line is we can all be a light but none of us can move with the speed of light because we need to move through our fellow humans and the systems that we have in place.
Let’s look at the rest of the list
· Reflection the most obvious example of reflection is a mirror, the light reflects off of the metal behind the glass and you can see yourself. Make sure that you look at your reflection. Have you ever gotten dressed in an outfit and thought “I look fabulous” then when you looked in the mirror you changed your mind and changed a piece of your outfit?
· Life is like that; you always need to look at yourself, continue to evaluate, and change what needs to be changed, learn what you need to learn. Often times we receive our reflection through the feedback of family, friends, co-workers and our bosses. Make sure you always take a good look at the feedback. It is often painful to receive feedback but just like the shock of learning that your outfit isn’t as awesome as you imagined; ….the mirror and feedback are a gift, a benefit to you; you change one thing and it’s all fabulous again until the next time you need to change something. So be a light; look at your reflection.
· Another property of light is that it refracts, which means that it bends when passing from one medium to another. The greater the density difference between the two materials, the more the light bends. One place where this is used is in lenses for a variety of optical devices, such as microscopes, magnifying glasses, and glasses for correcting vision. Think of what we would be missing if we hadn’t learned to use refraction in our world.
· Your horizon is getting ready to change and in order to see clearly you may need corrective lenses. We all have expectations and beliefs about how things should be. Often times when we come face to face with reality we need to bend our expectations in order to be realistic. So be a light, remain flexible, ready to bend, ready to adjust your understanding.

Under the heading of Refraction was listed a term I had not heard before.
The term is total internal reflection
I had to read it twice to understand it, and then I thought what a wonderful analogy
o Total internal reflection refers to an effect that combines both refraction and reflection. Fiber optics uses this property of light to keep light beams focused without significant loss. The cable material allows the light to bend and reflect sending itself down the cable at a very rapid rate of speed without loosing significant energy to the boundaries.
Wow; what a way to live a life that would be!
Think about it
Be a light; be brilliance and speed and if you place yourself within the right environment you can get the reflection and flexibility you need to move ahead with incredible speed and without loosing energy
Surround yourself with loving encouraging people; take good care of yourself so you have the energy for life. Pay attention to those four agreements I shared, they will give you a covering that speeds you on towards your goals.
OK, let’s look at dispersion; Dispersion is the breaking up of white light into its constituent colors. For example, if a beam of white light enters a glass prism what emerges from the other side is a spread out beam of many colored lights.
So be a light; allow yourself to enter into this next phase of life as if entering a prism; allow yourself to try new things explore new directions so you can see the total array of colors that live inside of you.
It will be beautiful to see, a sight to behold.
The final property of light we need to discuss is interference, a phenomenon that occurs when two light beams meet. Depending on the nature of the light beams when they meet, the two beams might enhance each other, to give a brighter beam, or they might interfere in a way that makes the total beam less bright. The former is called constructive interference, whereas the latter is called destructive interference.
What a fitting analogy to human relationships. Two lights meeting, two lives meeting
Just as when two beams of light meet, the properties of the individuals result in either an enhanced or a diminished life. I beg of you to pay attention to this property and only allow yourself constructive relationships. Committing to destructive relationships whether they are friendships, romance or work dims your light
Don’t let that happen
Be a light and manage the interference of your light making choices that enhance your brilliance not diminish it.

A discussion of light cannot be complete without talking about rainbows
I have many years to my life but it still takes my breath away when I see a rainbow

Rainbows are natural and beautiful phenomena that exemplify all of the properties of light. The light of the sun is interacting with individual raindrops through the properties of refraction dispersion and internal reflection to produce the arc of colors in the sky. Perhaps we can look at the delicate intriguing effect of this process as the combination of a nation of people who are being a light-what a joy it would be to live in that world. Or perhaps you imagine that as you grow and move through your adult life you will become a rainbow of wisdom and joy.

As I considered all of this I thought this is amazing but my research will not be complete until I check the dictionary……………… on line of course
Here is what I found.
Light is listed as a verb, an adjective and a noun.
Interesting isn’t it.
I love things that come in threes, partly because it is easy to remember I guess.
As I read the definitions I was fascinated.
Listen as I read what I found
Light- adjective- definition: of small intensity, Synonyms: gentle, moderate
Light-noun-definition Electromagnetic radiation that makes vision possible, synonyms –illumination
Light-verb- to make lively or animated synonyms- animate, brighten, enliven
As I read these suddenly “be a light’ made more sense to me
In this context, “be a light” means: Be; gentle, animated, and an enlivening presence that makes vision possible.
From what we learned about the properties of light, lets put it all together, and I think this is what you get.
Be a light: be radiant, look for feedback, be patient, allow yourself to grow and find your true colors, be gentle, and energetic; your presence allows us to see the hope of the future.
I pray that your lives result in many rainbows and that you can be a light in all the facets of its meaning.
Rainbows happen when all the factors are just right
Today we are encouraging you to be a light so that many rainbows can appear.
Shine, reflect, refract, ignite change and above all stay in the zone of constructive relationships
Perhaps this all sounds and feels rather silly to you; like being a light can only be accomplished by huge names like: Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump, Mother Teresa, Princess Diana or any other famous person you can think of and even the famous people aren’t always the light we wish they were.

So why title the theme be a light if it’s impossible?

That is the good news- it is not impossible
It’s very simple really

Being a light is a posture, an attitude, an approach
And it only takes one person. It doesn’t depend on anyone else to make it happen.

In the bible it says; just one single light can extinguish the darkness.

In our world today there is darkness; pain, sadness, and turmoil, it is part of life.

The lights of the world share;… hope, joy, love and compassion. These miracles happens one by one by one as individuals offer loving caring acts from one to another

The light for this world is not a piece of legislature, or building great wealth; it will come through person to person contact.

A smile, a hand on the shoulder of someone hurting, a dollar placed in the Salvation Army bucket at Christmas.

There are endless options as to how to be a light.

I beg you to Be one.
Be what and who you are.

Share with us what you have to give, the world needs you.

Even though it has been many years I remember sitting where you are now
I wasn’t part of the in crowd
I wasn’t the smartest
I couldn’t play an instrument or sing
But I always wanted to be a nurse and a missionary

I discovered the shape, the form, and the colors of me

I am now in a place that fits for me that allows me to share my colors,

Trust me
You do have an important part to play in this world

Congratulations on your graduation
I wish and pray for each one of you all the best as you move forward

Now give yourselves a great big round of applause and go- be a light!


(Reference: mailto:modtech@theory.uwinnipeg.ca 1999-09-29)