Valedictory Speech

By Nora Weber

Be quiet and listen! I don't mean this to sound rude at all; it's actually just what I want to speak to you about this morning. You see, it's one of the most important things I've learned at Woodstock, how truly to listen.

I know we all remember the things we have seen here: the Dehradun lights scattered over the valley, the early morning light through a dorm room window, a particular friend's smile. But as we leave this place that has meant so much to us, I want us to remember, too, all that we have heard-remember the way the rain sounds on a tin roof during monsoon, the evening call to prayer echoing over the valley from a mosque in the bazaar, the way your best friend laughs, the sound of elementary kids playing in the Quad, a piece of orchestra music or jazz band music that seemed to haunt you for days.

For the parents and friends of the class sitting here in this room, I would ask you to listen to the stories that we have to share. Listen to the descriptions of friends and travels and triumphs. These stories are really the only gifts we can give you in return for letting us make Woodstock our home. But soon, what we will hear will be vastly different. Many of us are headed for cultures of academia that value only what we have to say. We'll be told to put forward our opinions as clearly and loudly and often as possible, and that is good. But make silence your own as well. Listen to what others have to say.

I arrived at Woodstock, believing that silence was nothing but the absence of noise and that to speak what truth I had was far more important than to listen to the truth I didn't have. But every person in this room, especially in my class, has proved me wrong. You have said things that made me laugh and cry, things that changed my mind. More important things that changed my heart, and I cannot thank you enough for that.

But there is one more thing I have learned to listen to while at Woodstock, described by the Christian tradition as "a still, small voice within." It is the most important thing here of all. We who have been given so much-opportunities, comfort, and love-especially should heed that inner voice. As we set off for what I hope and believe will be bright futures, listen to what it says.

I guarantee that all of us will be given opportunities to gain some level of wealth, prestige, or power. When it comes, listen. I also guarantee that all of us will have opportunities to make sacrifices for others-give our time and money to the needy and our love to those who seem not to deserve it. When that comes, too, listen. So, Intrepid, it's time to say goodbye. As we finally leave this place that has shaped us, body, heart, mind, and soul, I can only asked you to remember what you have heard, listen to those who will enter your life in the future, and allow the quiet voice within to speak. We have so much to share and so much yet to learn. Let's make the world ours, both its sounds and its silences.