Good Morning. You know, to start, I must first say something that upsets me. In fact, I despise saying this…but summer is over. And after being but two weeks into the arduous throws of senior year and I am exhausted. How we managed to so abruptly switch from a life of summertime shenanigans to School, I will never know. But, alas, here all of you are, sitting in the Yarnall gym, patiently waiting for me to make a point.

How to do that remained a mystery to me until late last night, when I finally consulted with my trusty pocket patriot handbook. In it I read a great quote by Confucius which reads, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Meaning that we triumph and win not by succeeding and being perfect at everything, but by failing again, and again, and again. Until eventually we succeed…
Shipley, my name is Nate Bronstein and FOR YOU! I am prepared to fail. Again, and again, and again… I am serious! About failing.

I could have come up here and gone off on some whimsical tale about how all of you will succeed and be great at everything. But I cannot and I will not, because the fact of the matter is that you will not always succeed, and you will not always be completely happy. Moreover, we are beginning a new year, and things will get harder and things will change.

That being said, whether you are bristling with confidence or not, whether you are a mighty oak or a little acorn, every one of you has absolutely everything you need to succeed, excel, and be happy at Shipley. And if you’re still concerned, just look to your right and look to your left; and know that you are not alone. And this is what makes us great, for we are united not by color or race or religion or by the place of our birth. Not by a social status or a bank account or a hobby or a skill. We are united, by our differences and an unwavering sense of tolerance, and you don’t need me to bring back my life-sized cardboard cutout of myself to prove a point about our uniqueness.

I don’t know what will happen this year. And that is my greatest comfort, because as long as I don’t know what will happen, anything can happen. And as long as anything can happen, we will have the best year Shipley has ever seen. I am your peer. I am your President. But most importantly, I am your friend. As we begin this, a year which will one day be remembered as the greatest year Shipley has ever seen, I wholeheartedly welcome you back.

And remember, there is nothing wrong with Shipley, that cannot be cured by what is right with Shipley.