(June 16, 2006) — For those of you in publications who know me from my teaching in the humanities class, you know that my role in that class is quite different. It is in this more traditional teacher role that I find more comfort, as turning control over to students is a scary idea to most teachers. However, in this class, after I’ve said “good afternoon,” taken attendance and asked if any of you have announcements, I’ve generally turned the reins over to you. I do that because I too was once a student in a high school journalism class, and I was fortunate enough to have a teacher who let us run the show too. Her name is Mrs. Trempe, and because she “taught” in much the same way I’ve tried to teach your class, I learned lessons that stay with me still. We met in a bungalow across the street from the main buildings of John Burroughs High School in Burbank, and it was in that bungalow that I learned life lessons more important than anything else I learned in high school. It is these lessons that I think are of value to you and the rest of the graduating seniors in the Class of 2006. The Value of Taking Responsibility : I learned to accept responsibility for my actions, to not try to place blame on others when the fault was mine alone. Once I wrote a headline, a REALLY BIG headline mind you, that spelled the word “skiing” as “sking.” Had this just been a small misspelling in the text of a story, I perhaps wouldn’t have taken such ribbing for my error, but this was 40 pt. bold face text and it really stood out, and my name was attached to the story and to the page on which the story appeared. It was my fault and no one else’s, and while I have made many mistakes in life since this very minor mistake, I learned that I must assume responsibility for my actions. The Value of Hard Work : I also learned that things that one values require hard work. I worked hard in the journalism class, so much so that sometimes I would sacrifice my other classes for the sake of making my pages in the Burroughs Smoke Signal look as good as they could be. So while I should have been paying attention to Mr. Marshall’s lecture on the “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” presidential campaign of 1840, instead I was writing headlines for the stories on my news pages. When I should I have been in my chemistry class, occasionally I was walking down to school board headquarters four blocks away to get an interview for a school district budget story. Perhaps I could have scored one point higher on my AP U.S. History exam or I could have better understood how to do stoichiometry. But I chose to put my efforts into creating the best pages I could for my classmates to read. And I don’t regret that effort. Not because I think anyone in my graduating class cares or remembers today what I wrote or edited for our school newspaper 20 years ago. But rather because I learned that if I put effort into something, then the results would show my effort. This idea applies to everything in life, really, perhaps most importantly in the way you relate with and to those around you. The relationships you have now and will have later in your life – if they are to be meaningful and lasting relationships – will require effort. Don’t be a bystander to your own life. Work hard at what matters to you. To my seniors in publications, I hope this class has provided you with an experience as valuable and lasting as mine at Burroughs High School. The lessons you learned here may have been different from the lessons I learned 20 years ago, but I hope that what you’ve learned here will stay with you for years to come. Sincerely, Mr. Davis