Morrison, Colin

Excerpts from Colin Morrison’s graduation closing statement

It is also common knowledge amongst us Graduates that our parents have probably been responsible for most of the problems in the 1st half of our lives. But, we need to realize that the flip side of that coin will be true for us, too. Our children will probably be the root of most of our problems in the 2nd half of our lives. So, now that we’re entering that period between those two halves, we have many choices to make that will define who we are and what we do for the balance of our lives. So, we need to choose wisely as we move forward. We all need to remember that hard work always comes before success. Both in the dictionary and in life!

For each of us, there should be only one true definition of success and that is being able to spend our own life in our own way. So, if we are going to draw a map of our life, let’s do it in pencil! And, we should continue to re-draw it as we proceed along the way because there are no expiration dates on any of our dreams!

In everyone’s life there’s usually one moment that defines who they truly are as an individual. As a result, there are 3 types of people in the world who we will begin to encounter as we move forward.

• Those who make things happen;
• Those who watch things happen; and
• Those who always ask, “Hey, what happened?”

Let’s all try to be in the “Make things happen” category, because we will all miss 100% of the shots we never take. So, even if none of us ever makes headlines for recombining DNA or hitting 74 home runs, we can still make progress everyday in our lives and the lives of others!

Two weeks ago, the Senior Class participated in a 3-day Community Service project at a YMCA Camp in Peekskill. While sweating away at my assigned task, I realized that you don’t have to do something illegal to perform Community Service (like Kramer had to after his lobster-poaching activities on Long Island!)

So, (with or without the County-issued, bright orange vest) we should not forget to make Community Service a regular part of our lives in the future, whether it’s serving our Country or our Village!