The Tassel is Worth the Hassle!
A Talk Given by Mack Bostick on June 7, 2007
On the Graduations at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas
Editor's note: Mack Bostick teaches at the Developing Virture Secondary School and currently serves as Boys Division Principal. Please refer the article "Endowed with Filiality and An Elder’s Manner" to know more about this seasoned educator.
I am pleased to be here this afternoon and speak to you. I shall, first of all, give thanks to those who helped us reach a significant accomplishment for the school. At the beginning of next school year, Developing Virtue Secondary School will be accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Thanks go especially to the Abbot of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and DRBA who have been staunch supporters of the school. Secondly, thanks are due the faculty who did a magnificent job of teaching while making time and completing all their accreditation tasks. You are deeply appreciated. Lastly, the students and parents played a huge role in providing the Visiting Committee an unbiased look at the school. Thank each of you so much.
Next, I should like to congratulate the graduating class. They took leadership roles in the school and played active roles in student governance. I congratulate them on jobs well done all year --- both academically and in their representation of the school. The graduating class has taken every challenge and always shown positive attitudes.
Now, I do not know why the graduating class wanted to hear from me. Certainly some of them had enough during my class time with them. Be that as it may, the only things I shall talk about are some of the things I know. I will give you the gist of things I know in a very erudite saying. You can tell the truth of the saying from its very sophistication of thought. The saying is: "The tassel is worth the hassle!"
The first thing I know --- When this graduating class inherits the world, by taking over from its previous generation, the world will be a better place than is now the case. I have absolutely no reservations in turning the world over to your generation. I know that you will do the same thing that each generation before you has done. You will outperform those of the previous generation and move the world forward, in all areas. This has been going on for centuries and will continue. So, success in improving our world.
The next thing I know --- Neither this school nor the university you attend can fully prepare you to take up a profession. Many of you will have vocations that do not now exist. I worked in fields for which there were little or no university courses in 1947, namely nuclear research and computer engineering. You too, will work in fields that we have little or no idea about. So, we try to educate you in those things that are the hallmark of success in life. Hence, we try to instill character, bring out your innate goodness, and make a love for learning both an irresistible urge to know and a lifelong pursuit. You have succeeded well in these areas.
Another thing I know --- Each of the graduating seniors are on a path to succeed in their chosen careers. They have been given good roots by their parents and teachers. They have mastered a large body of knowledge and study skills. They have developed virtues that will stand them in good stead throughout life. They have been accepted into some of the most prestigious universities in American. The rest is up to them.
The last thing I will share with you --- What is success? I know that our graduating seniors will have success in improving our world and their chosen careers. How do we answer the question ?What is success --- Perhaps, this can be answered by an old poem:
To believe in yourself and the best you can be.
To strive for each goal that you have set.
To know that you've tried with courage and pride
and never looked back with regret.
To live your own life in that manner you've chosen,
refusing to settle for less,
To shape your own destiny,
build your own world,
This is to be success.
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本人非常高興今天下午在此跟大家說幾句話。在下學年開始前，培德中學即可收到美西院校協會的資格認證。首先要感謝所有幫助本校得到此項重大成就的人：特別是萬佛聖城方丈與法界佛教總會的全力支持與配合；第二要感謝所有的教職員，他們在熱誠盡責的教學之餘，還得騰出時間完成所有認證過程中所要求的工作，我也要對他們深致謝忱。最後，學生與家長們扮演了很重要的角色，他們提供豐富的資訊，使視察委員得以公正地評估本校。非常謝謝你們每一位！