2014 Convocation Speech from Head of School John Elmore
It is so nice to begin the year with the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools together. Many of us agree that the summer of 2014 passed by very quickly - maybe too quickly; and students,
I don't think the teachers will mind if I let you know that many of us feel the same way about the shortness of summer!
But as we gather together and complete an exceptional first week at O'Neal, I want to encourage everyone to look ahead. The year to come is uncertain, but it is filled with extraordinary possibilities - achievement, learning, hard work, accomplishment and success. Let's look ahead and dream.
One of my heroes, even at the end of his life looked ahead to every possibility, and the illness that grew to bear his name has been a part of our media culture in recent weeks. Many of you have seen in social media or on televised news, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, correct? And you should know that Mr. Will, Mr. Catania, Mrs. Kerr/Bullock, Mrs. Prim and I are going to complete the ALS challenge from Mr. Poole right after this gathering. Middle School and Upper School students will attend between this building and Bradshaw Hall. We are all looking forward to supporting this worthy cause and bring awareness to the illness.
ALS, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The disease progressively weakens the victim, making movement impossible. ALS is also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." Lou Gehrig is my favorite New York Yankee, and he succumbed to the disease in 1941. Gehrig was born on East 94th Street between First and Second Avenues in New York City, next door to a building I lived in while teaching in a girls school in Manhattan, and I walked by his plaque every day.
He attended Columbia University on a football scholarship to become an engineer, but quickly switched to baseball. After his sophomore year at Columbia, he started playing for the Yankees, and at one point in his career he played for 14 years and 2130 straight games, earning the name, "The Iron Horse."
But in spring training in 1939, Gehrig was weak and one day collapsed. He was diagnosed with ALS and was honored at Yankee Stadium on July 4th. On that sold-out day, The Iron Horse said after his diagnosis:
"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.....When you look around, wouldn't you consider it a privilege to associate yourself with such fine men as are standing in uniform in this ballpark today? Sure, I'm lucky....So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for."
Understandably, Lou Gehrig was emotional as he addressed the crowd and the world on Independence Day so long ago. His phrase, "Today, I consider myself to be the luckiest man on the face of the earth," stands without rival. I hope that like me you too feel very lucky today to be a part of this O'Neal community. We are lucky. And when he says, "...look around, wouldn't you consider it a privilege to associate yourself [with such a fine, great group of people]," I hope that like me you too feel the same way about being in this gym with everyone here. Finally, when an already sick Lou Gehrig says, "...I've got an awful lot to live for," I hope that like me you too all know that we have a lot of great things to look forward to this year.
Welcome back. It is great to have this community together, and I wish everyone much success in the months ahead.
The O'Neal School
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