Every person has the capacity to be heroic, in big or small ways, Upper School Principal David Ball told Milton students during Convocation, a formal School tradition marking the beginning of each academic year.
Recalling acts of heroism by people in wartime and during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, as well as by those who quietly committed to helping the poor and fighting injustice, Mr. Ball said that kindness, compassion and dedication are the keys to taking action when and where we are most needed.
“Today, before we do anything else, take a moment to look deep inside yourself. When you do, you will find that capacity for compassion, you will find that capacity for kindness, you will find that capacity for courageous action,” he said. “I am convinced that you will find those things in yourselves. And once you do, when you look beyond yourself, you will see in this room 700 people who have, deeply within them, the capacity to do all those things.
“For each one of us, there will be a moment when the gods seem angry, and the storm clouds cover the sky, where we hold on because the ground seems to shift beneath our feet, and we will cry out for someone to stand beside us,” he continued. “And for each one of us, there will be a moment where we hear that cry. Dare to answer that call. Dare to be your best self. Dare, in that moment, to be somebody’s hero.”
At the opening of Convocation, Head of School Todd Bland welcomed students and faculty, new and returning, to Milton. Mr. Ball. introduced new faculty members.
Mr. Ball presented the James S. Willis Jr. Memorial Award to co-head monitors Asia Chung (I) and Mikey George (I), who encouraged students to be advocates for change and to give themselves space to grow during this school year.
