Editor’s note: Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan P’08, ’10 presented the following address at the Williston Northampton School on September 16, 2013. 

Head of School Mr. Hill, esteemed faculty, proud parents, and honored students, good evening.  I am honored to be here tonight.  I am pleased to share in the excitement and promise of a new academic year at Williston Northampton School.

Tonight, I’d like to share some thoughts with our gathered students.  Don’t worry, you don’t need to take notes. There’ll be no test.

I only ask that you stay awake until I pull the winning student’s name for a semester of free bagels at Tandem Bagel Company—makers of the best bagels in Western Massachusetts. Yes, a shameless plug, but one of the few benefits of having the podium.

The Williston Northampton School is very special to me. I hope it is for you. I am a grateful parent of two Williston alums.  My oldest daughters, Marie and Annie, graduated from the Middle and Upper Schools.  Williston teachers, staff, coaches, and fellow students guided them through their educational journey and young adulthood.  Although challenging at times, their Williston experience gave them the tools to become engaged thinkers and better people.

I’d like to start my address with a big thank you to all the teachers, coaches, administrators, maintenance, dining hall, and support staff that make a difference each day in the lives of Williston students.

Another big thank you is for the parents and grandparents who make enormous sacrifices to invest in your future.

Living for over 20 years on Taft Ave, next to Williston’s playing fields, the sounds of whistles tooting, horns blowing, and fans cheering has been music to my ears.   Each September, the quiet of summer yields to the joyful sounds of athletic endeavors.  These sounds of autumn signal a new beginning for students, teachers, staff, and the community.

Convocation ushers in a new beginning with great possibilities.

I am here tonight because each of you is the hope for the future. I believe with all my heart that each student I see here tonight has the unique ability and opportunity to develop the character, passion, and brilliance to create positive changes for your school, your community, your world.

You are truly blessed with caring and creative teachers and staff.  Their wisdom, pursuit of excellence, and passion for learning are gifts that I hope you will not only accept but embrace.  Your fellow students, from Massachusetts to California, China to Europe, bring diverse ideas and global perspectives that, if given the chance to be heard, can transform your hearts and minds.   All these special gifts are here for the taking.

The Latin phrase “Carpe diem” means “Seize the Day.”   I hope each of you seizes each and every day at Williston, and seizes the gifts of your teachers and fellows students.

I also hope you seize the gifts of family and friends.  The love of your family and friends are the cornerstones to life’s fullness.

But as you seize these gifts, please do so with gratitude.

Be grateful for these many gifts.  Gratitude is a wonderful gift unto itself.  Gratitude helps us experience humility and know we need many other people in our lives in order to succeed.

Gratitude comes from many places.  Sometimes it is in the open, sometimes hidden, and most often discovered by life’s experiences.

• Until we experience hunger, we are not really grateful for the bounty of our food.
• Until we experience illness, we are not really appreciative of good health.
• Until we are alone and depressed, we are not really appreciative of the gifts of friendship and peace of mind.
• Until we feel the death of a loved one, we do not really appreciate the gift of life.
• Until we know failure and defeat, we don’t really appreciate the gifts of perseverance and success.

Slow down, take the time to appreciate the gifts you have been given, and thank those people who have helped you along the way.

Make a difference in people’s lives.   Making our lives count is far more important than counting the dollars we accumulate.

As a Williston student, you are given a wonderful opportunity to dream big and build a good life.  The opportunity of going to one of the best high schools in America, and later to attend college, is truly a gift.

I’d ask that you take the gifts you have now, and will be given in the future, and Pay Forward.  Remember to pass on all the good fortunes you’ve been blessed with.

The Soul of a Good Citizen means giving back to your family, school, community, and country.

We can be good citizens in many ways.   It may be committing yourself to a career dedicated to the service of others—such as working at a human service agency helping elders, teaching, researching a cure for cancer, advocating for an abused child, or helping sick children as a nurse or physician.

But most often being a good citizen is found in the simple deeds of life.  Helping a fellow student feel welcome, assisting your parents with household chores, taking an elder neighbor to the grocery store, tutoring a struggling student, volunteering at a homeless shelter, or extending a kind word or smile to someone in the dining hall.

Your acts of kindness, no matter how small, are never wasted.

The late Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said:  “Do small things with great love.”

I would encourage you all to do the small things but at the same time Dream Big.

Dream Big:  Always Reach For Your Dreams and Never Be Afraid to Fail.

Without hopes, dreams, and goals it is impossible to find and enjoy all the great opportunities life has to offer.  Don’t be afraid to try new things even if they appear to be beyond your reach or ability.

If you love children, consider becoming the best teacher, day care provider, or parent you can be.   If you want to travel overseas to explore the world, don’t be afraid to take the tough language classes to make your dream come true.

Don’t ever take a pass on anything that challenges and inspires you.   During your lifetime, make sure your tough challenges and inspired acts far out shadow any regrets about the things you wished you had tried.

The greatest lessons I’ve learned have been from my mistakes and failures. But I have had the perseverance to move forward.  So will you.

This brings me to another thought:  Believe in yourself.

Only with confidence in yourself and your innate abilities can you really develop dreams about your future.    Tonight is the start of a new academic year.  It is also about your family, the Williston community, and District Attorney Sullivan believing in you. Believing in your road to success.

Find a Passion in Life. Living with conviction and a sense of purpose will define you as a person.

It may take 10 or 20 jobs before the one that really fits you comes to the surface. Even if you don’t like the job you are in, suck it up, and do the best job you can.  I can’t think of a job where I didn’t gain some practical skills or insights about other people.

Believe me. Coming from a family of six kids and having to earn all my own spending money and a good part of high school and college tuition forced me to be resourceful.  There wasn’t a job I wouldn’t do. I’ve done every conceivable job.

Paperboy, landscaper, dishwasher, telephone operator, waiter, cook, assembly line worker, custodian, painter, adoption worker, salesman, teacher, lifeguard, criminal defense attorney, political campaign worker, city solicitor, and last, but not least, chimney sweep.

Yes, a chimney sweep.  I used to own my own chimney sweep company. This was the job that helped me pay for law school.

Trust me when I tell you, if a chimney sweep can become a trial attorney and elected District Attorney for two counties, you can do anything in life—if you believe in yourself and work for it.

But my favorite job is the one I have now.  I love the work I am doing as District Attorney because it’s interesting and I am passionate about seeking justice and helping people.

I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity to help victims of child abuse, elder abuse, violent crime, and domestic violence.   I am thankful for a team of people in the DAs office that is equally passionate about being just and fair and making our communities safer.

I’ve had a wonderful legal career discovering ways to help people, causes I could believe in, and ways to make changes in my community.  I have been fortunate enough to find a passion for law, justice, and public service.  I had no clue in high school or college that I could or would be an attorney.  No one in my family or neighborhood was an attorney so I had no role model to aspire to. It wasn’t until I volunteered as a consumer protection advocate and court mediator that I began to imagine becoming a lawyer.

I began to believe in myself, but not everyone did.  Before I could apply to law school I needed to go back to UMass and get my honor advisor’s letter of recommendation. Although I had graduated college with honors, my former professor informed me that I would not be able to cut it in law school or as a lawyer.

Lesson learned.   Sometimes there are obstacles to overcome in life.  Don’t be afraid to take a negative experience and make it a positive force for motivation.

The sign behind my desk simply says:  “Do The Right Thing.”      Bring thoughtfulness and integrity to everything you do.  In school, and throughout your life, your good character and integrity will defines who you are.  Your high standards of ethics and pursuit of excellence will help impact your school, workplace, and community.

Don’t make your life and career just about yourself.  Believe in something bigger than yourself.  If you can believe in some noble cause, deeply love another human being, or seek a higher spiritual being, you will have an opportunity to find great peace and fulfillment.

I am keenly aware that we have gathered tonight across the street from one of the cornerstones of your campus, the Williston Chapel.

I was blessed to be raised by two great parents who instilled a strong work ethic, sense of social justice, and love of family and faith.  My strong faith in God, and the belief in the power of hope and love, have been the bedrocks in my personal and professional life.

As you swim the sometimes turbulent currents of life, please take the time to explore the spiritual dimension of your existence. If nothing else, it gets you away from being the center of the universe.

As I conclude my address and move to the bagel raffle, I’ll make a candid confession.   I wish I had made more of my high school experience.  I wish I had listened more to the good Sisters of St. Joseph who must have prayed for patience when dealing with my lack of genuine academic interest.

Quite frankly, I wish I had been less of a slacker.

I wish I hadn’t suppressed my pursuit of academic excellence because it was easier to fit in than to stand out.  Although I had the ability and the work ethic to excel in high school, I took the easy way out.

In my social circle, being smart wasn’t cool.  Although I was selected to join the National Honor Society my junior year I went quietly to the induction ceremony.  I didn’t tell my parents and certainly not my friends.  I did not want people to know that I was part of “the smart group…the nerds”

Fortunately, the light bulb went on right before college.  I gained the self-confidence, spirit of community service, and commitment to excellence to move forward with a successful academic and professional career.

So be proud of who you are and what you can be.

Don’t waste a day here.

“Carpe diem.”   Go for it!