Graduation: The Class of 2023

Hello everyone – 

Commencement is only one week away on the Urbana campus once again! A generation of students comes and goes in just four short years! 

Here is a graduation message that I wrote fifteen years ago for the ACES James Scholar Class of 2008. Our world has changed quite a bit as the current generation of students has been rising up through the ranks of the Honors Program, but hope has continued to spring forth for me in unexpected places, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such amazingly gifted young people. The sentiments I expressed in this article have only grown stronger with the passing years, and I still look forward to seeing how the rising generation will change our world for the better as the 21^st century continues to unfold before us.

 

Ad Astra per Aspera!

By the Editor

Reprinted from Cursus Honorum VIII: 9 (May/June 2008)

       The stars have always beckoned to us. Whether they shine like diamonds in the sky or as guiding lights in our hearts and minds, they inspire us to strive for new frontiers, overcome challenges, and look forward to a brighter future. None of these things, however, can be achieved by simply gazing up at the nighttime sky at an astronomy club meeting. We have to rise up from our lawn chairs, go to work the next morning, and devote ourselves wholeheartedly to achieving a better future for the human race.

       I have come to know many of you personally over the past four years, and I must confess that I am very impressed with what you have accomplished during your time spent in the College of ACES. You have passed challenging courses with flying colors, successfully completed undergraduate research projects, traveled overseas to expand your horizons, and filled important leadership roles in student organizations and community service projects.

       Because of all your achievements thus far, I have every confidence that each of you can and will make a positive impact on your chosen profession and on the world at large in the coming decades. Whether you end up working in a Chicagoland skyscraper, a rural veterinary clinic, a government research lab, or a community development project in a developing country, all of you have something uniquely valuable to contribute to the future of our world. I have come to believe that it is both the unity of your purpose and the diversity of your talents that will empower your generation to change the world for the better.

       Fulfilling the promise of your ACES education is what will indeed bring about a brighter tomorrow for our state, our country, and our emerging global civilization. As for me, I am eagerly waiting to see what all our new ACES James Scholar alumni are going to accomplish next year, next decade, and so on and so on, until we reach that bright human future among the stars that we all fervently wish for. The seeds of hope that you sow today will grow and bear fruit as you pursue your chosen professions with the courage and commitment that you have shown during your time in the ACES James Scholar Honors Program. Finally, when the time comes for me to retire and ride off into the sunset, I will go to the silver citizens’ home with confidence, knowing that the world is being improved because it will be in your capable hands.

 

Here are a couple of graduation-themed poems that I enjoy sharing with readers at this time year, as we look back and remember, and as we look forward with hope.

 

“THE HIGHER LIFE” (1913)

By Madeline S. Brigham

 

There are royal hearts, there are spirits brave,

There are souls that are pure and true;

Then give to the world the best you have,

And the best will come back to you.

 

Give love, and love to your life will flow,

And strength in your utmost needs;

Have faith, and a score of hearts will show

Their faith in your work and deeds.

 

Give truth, and your gift will be paid in kind,

And a song a song will meet;

And the smile which is sweet will surely find

A smile that is just as sweet.

 

Give pity and sorrow to those that mourn,

You will gather in flowers again

The scattered seeds from your thoughts outborne,

Though the sowing seemed in vain.

 

For life is the mirror of king and knave,

‘Tis just what we are and do;

Then give to the world the best you have,

And the best will come back to you.

 

“The Heritage”

By Abbie Farwell Brown (1871-1927)

 

No matter what my birth may be,

No matter where my lot is cast,

I am the heir in equity

Of all the precious Past.

 

The art, the science, and the lore

Of all the ages long since dust,

The wisdom of the world in store,

Are mine, all mine in trust.

 

The beauty of the living Earth,

The power of the golden Sun,

The Present, whatsoe’er my birth,

I share with everyone.

 

As much as any man am I

The owner of the working day;

Mine are the minutes as they fly

To save or throw away.

 

And mine the Future to bequeath

Unto the generations new;

I help to shape it with my breath,

Mine as I think or do.

 

Present and Past my heritage,

The Future laid in my control; —

No matter what my name or age,

I am a Master-soul!

 

In this detail from Raphael’s The School of Athens (1510), we see the ancient Greek Proto-Stoic philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (ca. 540-480 BCE), who fragmentary writings I’ve been studying lately. Great insights about the human condition and the nature of the Universe! Check them out @ https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Fragments_of_Heraclitus.

Until next time –

Rob