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| Doc Robertson`s Graduation Speech |
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| Amphitheater High School 2004 |
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| I want to thank you for inviting me to speak at this ceremony. I have received many honors in my career as a teacher, but none so meaningful as this. When I was asked to do address your class I felt elated initially, but then trepidation set in because I am used to an audience of 25 or so young faces waiting for me to fill their lives with grammar and Shakespeare. I am sure, however, that`s not why I was selected. I told myself, “Doc, they asked you because of who you are and what you represent.” So I guess those will be my topics. |
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| There are two days in my past that had a profound effect on what I have become. The first was a sunny football day in the fall of 1972. I made the tackle exactly the way the coach taught me. “Meet the man in the numbers with your face mask and drive him back,” he said. A coach wouldn`t keep his job long today if he taught those same techniques. As I lay in the hospital I remembered a conversation with my coach the day before that game. |
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| “Doc, I`ve been talking to some college coaches about you.” He talked about my speed 4.4 in the forty. That`s really fast on the football field. At the time I was 6 feet two inches and 195 pounds. All spring and summer I worked out at quarterback - there were three of us. The other two guys were average arms and they could hand off well. You see we had a running back and a receiver who later played in the NFL. The coach explained though that the colleges that were looking at me all needed defensive players. “If you get hurt at quarterback, we`d have to change our offense. The other two guys could step in for one another.” |
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| Those words have stuck in my brain because as I lay in the hospital one thing became clear to me. The fathers of the other two guys talked to that coach every day. And that`s when I realized how really important it was to have that support from a father or substitute. My mom couldn`t do it all. She was in the midst of raising five children by herself since an auto accident took my father away from her. I was alone in that environment and some times I imagine my dad would`ve told the coach, well Doc is a quarterback. He`ll play that position or he`ll focus on basketball. And I probably would`ve hated that. |
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| Occasionally fathers and mothers can get on your nerves but they only want to help. You have reached a turning point in your lives and the curves can be pretty sharp. For most of you your parents or older family members have gone around those same curves. Not all of them made it through safely. Some crashed, but they kept on going and made it around the corner. There are going to be days when they want to give you advice on how to navigate or tell you which fork in the road to take, and you`re going to say to yourself I wish I wasn`t hearing this or your might even say it to them, but what you have to do is let the wisdom of your parents sink in. Give it a day or maybe even a week before you pass judgment. Or ask someone else what he or she thinks. Your best friend`s parents or an employer can be excellent sources of information. |
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| On of my favorite sayings is, No one is going to take care of you better than you. But you can`t do it alone. Part of taking care of yourself is knowing when to ask for help. Utilize the network of support that is waiting in the wings to lend you a hand. I was once told on a job interview that if you don`t ask any questions, I`m going to think that you`re not interested. You must assert yourselves in your lives and ask questions. Utilize the brain-trust that has gotten you to this point. |
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| In regressing a bit, after my accident I lay in my hospital bed with a lot of things going through my head. I used to run a lot as a kid. At nine I started to jog around the block with my brother to prepare for an athletic career. As we ran we received applause from little ol` ladies sitting in their rockers on their front porches, and I pictured myself doing the same thing in a wheelchair and I was angry - angry at myself, the coach and God for letting this happen to me. I cursed Him and threw my weakened arm up as high as I could just to let him know how I felt. One thing about being paralyzed, I didn`t have full control of that arm. It came down hard right on my nose. I had received a reply from above, “Don`t talk to me like that.” So I reshuffled the hand I was dealt and continued with my life down a new road that had a bigger challenge than I could imagine. |
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| There are going to be challenges in your lives and even with strong support behind you some things are going to seem impossible. A day of what will seem to be an insurmountable crisis will go by, and as unbearable as it might be, you will endure. |
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| Maya Angelou, a writer and scholar whom I admire greatly, once said in an interview that we have become a country that has accepted mediocrity as the norm. In some ways I can understand her reasoning. There are things we need as a society and don`t receive. For that reason, we cannot accept mediocrity as the norm. We cannot accept the fact that building new state-of-the-art prisons is a bigger business than building schools. We cannot accept the budget cuts that take away art programs and music programs, and industrial arts. I am convinced that a large percent of students graduating this year has some kind of special skill that was not addressed in his or her stay in high school. And last but certainly not least we cannot accept that Teachers in Arizona are not shown the same appreciation in wages as in other states. |
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| A lot of us old folks like to reminisce about how things were back in the days. We had better food; we had wood shop, metal, electric and drafting. Teachers brought their cars into the auto lab as sacrificial lambs. There were sewing, and cooking classes, and athletes did not have to pay to participate on the school teams. For the most part schools did not have to fit square pegs into round holes like we do today. |
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| The other day a student told me that she was going to be 18 soon but was afraid to vote. “I might put the wrong man in office.” Then she said, “I don`t know much about either one, and anyway, my one vote won`t make a difference.” For that reason, she had nearly made up her mind not to vote. And you see, that`s accepting mediocrity. So I told her that she is going to have to read about these men. Reading is a fundamental tool that teachers have prodded you to do since Kindergarten. Some of you might be thinking, here comes Doc with another assignment. What I`m giving you is a snapshot of your responsibilities as adults and contributing members of our society. Reading provides valuable information that can free us from the mediocrity that Maya Angelou spoke of. I informed the frightened student also that president is not the only item on the ballet. Then I explained that she should read the ballots measures long before Election Day, and then she would be able to make educated choices. When voters make educated choices we can begin to dream of those days in the past coming back but only better. |
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| Your children are going to be more difficult to raise than you were, and I know some parents here are getting a moment of satisfaction knowing what`s in store for you. And like most people today, you will look to the schools for answers, but we cannot do what society won`t allow us to. Some politicians will say that this school measure on the ballot is no good because it will raise taxes. Taxes cannot be the only criteria for voting down a bill. Your children will not receive a Mercedes Benz education on a Ford Focus budget. Like I said before you must make educated choices in these matters. If you do then school districts win, when districts win, schools win, when schools win, teachers win, and when teachers win, children win, and when children win, we all win; it`s a domino effect that we must get started. We cannot accept mediocrity as the norm. |
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| The second pivotal day, in my life, came when I was turned down to write a mini series for PBS. It was a rare public announcement for this kind of job; I was one of 150 applicants and after months of submitting writing samples, I made it down to the final two. I was all set to start my glamorous Hollywood life. The producer, however, chose the other writer because he had worked with him before. That`s when I became a teacher. I had to do something at least for a couple years just to keep busy. Well, I`ve just completed my 20th year of teaching. I can think of only one reason why I`ve gone 18 years over my deadline and that`s because of the young people like you whom I`ve met over the years. Who needs the Hollywood lifestyle, right? If I did not teach I would not have met my beautiful wife or started my family, and I would be here tonight addressing the Amphitheater High graduating class of 2004. |
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| This graduating class is very special to me. Some of you first came to me before you even started classes here as part of the women`s basketball program. I taught a number of you as sophomores and again as seniors. And now you`re leaving, as students do. This year, however, is more difficult to say good-bye. Several of you have taught me lessons that I will never forget. More of you opened your hearts and showed me that I am appreciated. There`s no greater award than that. And so I`ll leave you with these words. |
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| (sing) |
| Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road. |
| Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go. |
| So make the best of this test, and don't ask why. |
| It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time. |
| It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right. I hope you had the time of your life. |
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| Thank you. |
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