Remembrance Day Speech, 2006 (excerpt)

Unfortunately, the Christmas truce of 1914 did not mark the end of the war. It continued for three more devastating years. The battles continued, the deaths continued.
This was a tragic war of attrition. It was uselessly long; nothing was gained, and the losses were devastating. It went on for years because the participating countries refused to admit their failure, and retreat.
When the war did end, on November the eleventh of 1918, it was not truly over. The horrors lived on in the minds, memories and nightmares of the young men who lost their friends, their innocence and their world as they knew it, in the trenches of the Western Front.
The war was pointless, but the lives that were lost were not. The men who sacrificed their lives believed in what they were fighting for. Today, we honour their lives, courage, selflessness and sacrifice.
These men, these sons, fathers, lovers; they made tragic sacrifices for that in which they had faith. Country, comrades and friends, family. We must ask ourselves what we would be willing to experience, to sacrifice for what we believe in.
The lives which we remember today were full of optimism and hope. Faith. Belief. Trust. Courage. Honour.
War left these men changed. It left them hollow, mere reflections of their former selves. The horrors of what they experienced became a part of their existence. It was a horror that they endured not only during their time at the front, but for the remainder of their lives. Today, you are encouraged to reflect upon how horribly tragic war is, and acknowledge that war lives on long after the sound of the last shot has faded. Today we ask ourselves what the experience of war would mean to us, and we honour the lives that war has touched, and continues to touch to this very day.
T. S. Eliot, a famous modernist writer wrote a poem titled “The Hollow Men,” and in this poem, he begs that those who fought be remembered as the hollow men rather than wanton fools or worthless pawns.
During the moment of silence which will follow a reading of this poem, we ask you to remember, reflect, and honour the lives touched by war, and the sacrifices that so many have made.

The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats’ feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death’s other Kingdom
Remember us—if at all—not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow

Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper

Valedictorian Speech (excerpt)

This is it: the end. The final breath before the plunge. And as we rest unsteadily at the edge of the quivering board, we must understand what it is we will cherish. We must understand what it is we will take with us into the deep waters that await us below; what it is we will take with us into the future.
We entered Traf five years ago, unsure of ourselves and full of self-doubt. The journey has been long and trying, and this moment, right here, right now, is where it has all brought us. Aristotle once said, “the roots of education are bitter, but the fruit sweet”. Five years later and here we are, enjoying the sweet fruit of our labour.
[. . .]
E. E. Cummings once said, “it takes courage to grow up and become who you really are”. This is what we have done, and while we might not remember how to map the Trig Circle, we will always know who it is we are, and how we were transformed by the journey each and every one of us has taken at Traf. This has been the year of laugh fests. Of yearbook editors!, of mildly tormenting the sec one through threes, of “x days ‘till grad!”, of breakdowns, of sleepless nights, of “When It’s Best”, of Math 526, of Common Knowledge Class, of comrades, of Bringing Greatness Back, of o. o. hello!s, of minor insanity.
Our minds are now adorned with memories of good and bad, of our own absurdity and silliness which made Traf so glorious. I can’t remember it all, I can’t remember the details; there is a general feeling, though, which I will always cherish, and as I stand here before you now, I feel an overwhelming sense of pride. I am proud of you, of us, and I am honored to be graduating alongside all of you.
It is time, though, to look towards the future. To open a new book, inhale the scent of its fresh, untouched pages, and begin a new chapter of our lives. My words of wisdom? To quote Robert Byrne, “the purpose of life is a life of purpose”. Love what you do, do what you love, and don’t get caught up in the madness.
What saddens me most is the knowledge that bonds may be severed, that we may slip into our futures, forgetting that which we cherish today.
And so I plead with you, remember. Remember your teachers, for they had a far larger role to play in your coming of age than you may realize.
And remember your classmates, for you are a reflection of them.
Go, now. Go, pursue your dreams, laugh, love, cry, win, lose, live.
This is it: the beginning.