CAMPUS FIGURES SHARE TJ LESSONS

Maxx often asks me, “do you know how you got here?” He’ll recall how I walked on stage freshman year and won a chance election, or when I applied to become a Sysadmin knowing well that I was, in fact, not the biggest nerd in the school, but still got the position. Over the past four years, we’ve built a community of some of the most intelligent, caring, accomplished, stubborn, loud, and opinionated people I might ever know. We built a family, and I can’t believe it’s almost over.

In the same way that I happened into these positions of power, it’s always felt like there has been a logical next step. TJ’s defined structures made it so easy to pass through unnoticed and unseen, just moving on to the next thing. The thing about our class is that we’ve been given opportunities time and time again to see past those systems. When we were forced online, we blasted music in Ms. Taylor’s chem class and organized a socially distanced Homecoming. When we were given the freedom of senior year, we took everyone skiing and skipped school. You all have shown what amazing things you can do outside the bounds of the churning grind that we call our education system.

As you all go off to where you’re going, I ask only one thing. Don’t forget your time here. Forget the math test you failed and the senior research project you procrastinated, but don’t forget the people you loved and the family you built. They will see you through.

And hey, thanks for being part of mine.

With love, Rushil.