A Toast to My Major

Here's a toast that I gave last night at my English Education Graduation Ceremony:

Tuesday has always been our day.

We first came together on a Tuesday: sixteen faces, some familiar and some not, looking to figure out exactly how we were going to teach in only a few months. And here we are eight months later, on our final Tuesday: sixteen certified friends and (almost) certified teachers coming together to commemorate our accomplishments in student-teaching over these months.

We've certainly encountered hardships along the way, but we've had the benefit of a trusted guide: Deb Alvarez. Dr. Alvarez, whom we have fondly renamed Alvie, has been with us through all the debacles and triumphs, giving us meaningful advice that has helped us through our first experiences truly teaching teenagers the art of the English language.

Nestled in our alcove of 107 Memorial, we came together as a family, supporting one another with open ears, open arms, and open mouths (for those weekly snacks).

Dr. Alvarez taught us crazy methods, entertaining us with experiences that were both horrifying and hilarious, but which always contained a lesson at the end. It was almost as if our class, by itself, was one of Dr. Alvarez's anecdotes: we were an allegory for the entire teaching profession, huddled inside Plato's cave, peering our inexperienced heads out, trying to discern what the shadows on the wall meant.

The fire in our cave continued to burn brighter into the spring semester, and the shadows slowly became shapes. Standing here now, in the highlight of our experiences, we can finally understand what Dr. Alvarez was teaching all along; we have become enlightened.

Now it is our time to leave Tuesday behind, to go out into the world and keep that fire burning. We must present our lives to our students, offering them shadows to figure out with our support. We must strive to enlighten. I think Taylor Mali says it best, and I want to leave each of you gambrinous, pusillanimous, zucchetto-wearing whipjacks with his wisdom. When asked "What Teachers Make," he says with conviction: "I make a goddamn difference! What about you?" Congratulations: this is a profession rich in rewards, and I wish you all the best.