Maxwell Rein interspersed his speech Sunday morning with sung snippets of the Rod Stewart song Forever Young. But Rein and his peers in the Fairfield Prep Class of 2011 took a big step toward growing up Sunday, as the school held its 69th graduation.
Our future is like a wide-open sports field, Rein said. What it really comes down to is, will we get in the game or sit on the benches?
A total of 198 young men received their diplomas Sunday morning. But as Rein, 2011s senior speaker, said in his address, it should have been 199. The ceremony included special remembrances of Class of 2011 member Ryan Brennan, who died of cancer this February. The graduates wore pins with the initial RCB on the lapels of their white jackets. And Ryans father, Thomas Brennan, walked up to receive Ryans diploma at the end of the commencement.
He will forever be a Prep graduate and our friend, Rein said. Ryan, your time with us was too short. But your example, your courage and you challenge has shown us all how to make the most out of our lives.
But Rein and the days other speakers still kept the mood of the ceremony joyous. School president Rev. John Hanwell, S.J., also serenaded the crowd in his address. Hanwell offered the Jubilee Class of 1961 renditions of a few hits from their own senior year before the group received their golden diplomas to commemorate their 50th reunion year.
And the mornings guest speaker, the Rev. Charles Allen, S.J., former Prep headmaster and current executive assistant to the president of Fairfield University, injected humor into his own advice for the graduates. But he left them with these words to live by:
I envy you because you are a supernatural class, Allen said. All of your teachers have tried to turn you into a supernatural being. One for whom life is not ending in death. One for whom live is not defined in terms of the amount of money you make, but rather the friends that you make, the people that you help and the way you serve others.
Do you know any members of Preps Class of 2011? Congratulate them in the comments below. And send your own graduation photos to gcanuel@thedailyfairfield.com.
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