Editor’s Note: Richard Monopoli ’89 presented the following speech during an Upper School assembly on April 30, 2014. Read the article about the talk here.
I want to thank Bob Hill, Eric Yates, Sharon Davenport for letting me join you guys today. I really appreciate it. As Bob noted, I graduated 25 years ago this spring and my 25th Reunion is really special because my niece, Miss Alexandra Lewis, is a six-year senior this year. Williston has played a big part in my family’s life, and we are really attached to this school, we love this place, but I’ll get back to that in a minute.
So when I found out that I could to come speak to you all, I asked myself what would I have liked to know when I was a senior. If I could go back in time and talk to myself as senior what would I say? Particularly if I only had 10 minutes. That’s a really tough question…but I’ll give it a shot.
I NEED A VOLUNTEER…I need a guy to play me in 1989….
You will experience great success over the next 25 years and you will experience great challenge. Success is easy, enjoy it. How we respond to life’s challenges though, is what distinguishes us.