Saturday became a lesson in life for me, which to be honest, isn’t the first time over the past several years that I’ve received a little inspiration from Harvard Superintendent, Michael Derr.
Mr. Derr, as he addressed the graduating class of 2024, who happened to be Mr. Derr’s 14th graduating class while serving as the superintendent at Harvard High School, shared a little insight into life, as he lived it, and I walked away from Saturday’s commencement exercise at Harvard with some of my own adaptations from Derr’s remarks.
He told a story about how a man heard a voice tell him to fill his pockets with pebbles that were all around him, after wandering in a wayward way in the desert for a long period of time. The voice, as I heard it from Mr.
Derr, told the wayward man that if he can find an oasis, to be sure to fill his pockets with the pebbles in and around the oasis, and that when he woke up the next morning, that he’d be both happy and sad. So the man did so, placing a few pebbles in his pocket.
But the voice that said to do so, he wondered why he’d feel happy and sad when he woke the next morning, so the man chose to think to himself, that he’d just forget that he heard a voice.
But, low and behold, when he woke up the next morning, the few pebbles that he put in his pocket had turned to gems in his sleep. Diamonds, ruby’s, emeralds, and more, which made him happy, but then the reality hit him, that sadness indeed also hit, because now he wished that he would have filled his pockets with as many pebbles as he could possibly fit into his pockets.
How does this relate to Tory Duncan, or any of you reading this?
I can only share how it relates to me.
Like Mr. Derr shared in his talk with the graduating seniors, do, or try to always do your best at everything you do in life. Like Mr. Derr admitted, and I can certainly say the same for myself personally, I haven’t always put my best foot forward in every task, whether in school, or out of school.
There are times in life that I did things with less effort than I should have. With the message from Mr.
Derr Saturday, as I drove home, and uploaded pictures from the ceremony, an overwhelming thought hit me, that at times I haven’t been fair to myself personally, and while I always feel like I’m fair to others around me, you know that “Duncan way of life” of putting others ahead of myself most of the time hit big time.
Mr. Derr, just know that when you spoke with your graduating senior class, you also spoke to several others in the audience, even if it was just me. I thank you very much for also waking me up a little more to realize that I don’t give myself the benefit of the doubt, and I certainly don’t always give a better, stronger effort into Tory time, as well as work, and other people that I work with on boards, along the sidelines at games, and my peers within the newspaper world. I thank you Mr.
Derr for waking me up to do better for me, and by doing so, I’ll naturally do better for others.
Furthermore, while I may not have shared the details of the story you shared with the senior class, the way in which I interpreted what you shared with me personally did indeed give me a positive shot in the arm, whether you knew it or not, and I guess now, Mr. Derr, you do know your talk with the seniors indeed was taken to heart by me, as well, it was far more than sharing with young adults going on to the next stage of live, but also to this soon to be 60 year old that has been “around the block” for a few years. I thank you!
I also have to add one more nugget of “neatness” from the Harvard ceremony Saturday...when scholarships were announced, three students, as you will see in this week’s paper, received a resounding standing ovation from those inside the Harvard gym, as three young men, Lathem Schumm, Eric Villalbaso, and Levi Adrian will carry on the next stage of life by serving our country in the military. That moment, when the crowd rose, and extended their thanks, support, and congratulations in the way that they did, brought a big ole’ alligator tear to my eyes, and it left a happy lump in my throat.
Thank you for serving our country Lathem, Eric, and Levi...what a powerful moment.
It was such an inspiring service, which also included heartfelt speeches from salutatorian Taylor Braun, and valedictorian Zahna Reutzel.
Harvard’s ceremony put some much-needed kick in my step, and it always has when I covered it during my 16 full years of service to Clay County and this newspaper.
