This Issue
Summer 2011 - Feature
Graduation of the Class of 2011
“Your unique abilities will allow you to influence the world in different ways, but there is one innate gift that we all have in common. In Loren Eiseley’s story The Star Thrower, a man walking along a beach sees a young boy slowly making his way across the shoreline. The boy repeatedly stops to pick up objects from the sand, looking fondly at them before gently placing them back in the water. Puzzled, the man asks the boy, ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m putting the starfish back into the ocean, sir. The tide’s going out and they’ll die if they stay on the sand.’
The man looks around him and is dismayed to find hundreds of starfish scattered on the beach. ‘There are so many of them. How can you possibly make a difference?’ he asks.
The boy doesn’t respond immediately, but quietly picks up another starfish and returns it to the sea before replying, ‘I made a difference for that one.’
‘I’m putting the starfish back into the ocean, sir. The tide’s going out and they’ll die if they stay on the sand.’
The man looks around him and is dismayed to find hundreds of starfish scattered on the beach. ‘There are so many of them. How can you possibly make a difference?’ he asks.
The boy doesn’t respond immediately, but quietly picks up another starfish and returns it to the sea before replying, ‘I made a difference for that one.’
- An excerpt from valedictorian Richard Chang’s 2011 commencement speech
Richard Chang ’11 received his Scholarship Medal from Assistant Head Dr. Lily Driskill.
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Graduation took place on June 4 on the lawn between historic St. Alban’s Chapel and the lanai of the art building. Majestic monsterra leaves, torches of ginger and arrangements of orchids adorned the stage. Promenading into the ceremony grounds to Pomp and Circumstance, Women in the graduating class wore lovely long, white holoku gowns with haku lei atop their heads. While the men dressed in dark blazers and green leaf lei.
Following the singing of the hymn Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, The Rev. Daniel Leatherman’s invocation, and the ‘Iolani School Prayer, class president Cristin Lim ’11 gracefully stepped to the podium as the first speaker. She was followed by valedictorians Victoria Kim ’11 and Richard Chang ’11, who likewise addressed their journeys at ‘Iolani and the fulfillment of this momentous occasion.
“No matter how high you climb, it is difficult to remain happy if you get there alone,” Chang said. “Success is not towering over everyone else. Success is using what we discover along the way to help everyone reach the peak together. Knowledge, wealth, and power can propel us forward, but they are meaningful only when we use them to help others in return.”
Mark Grozen-Smith ’11 received the Headmaster’s Award and was escorted to the stage by Dean of Studies Dr. Carey Inouye ’66.
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Then the class then stood together for the last time time to sing the alma mater together and hear the benediction by The Right Rev. Robert L. Fitzpatrick.
The newly minted alumni processed from the ceremony grounds to the Eddie Hamada football field where jubilant family and friends were ready with cheers, leis, gifts and balloons. But before reaching the field, the Class of 2011 marched through two lines of faculty and administrators who stood side-by-side in Sullivan courtyard and who warmly applauded their former students, and wished them on their way.
Congratulations to the Class of 2011. May you discover happiness and fulfillment in your endeavors.
GRADUATION PHOTOS SAM CROPSEY ’84, DALTON SUE, JOHN TAMANAHA ’87, CATHY LEE CHONG