Scott Swanson
It’s been a bit of a tradition for us to offer up some advice to our graduating classes on this page each year, but for a number of reasons that I won’t go into here, we didn’t this year.
As it turned out, that was a genius move because it would have been hard to beat the advice this year’s High-Q Award winner Gerald Wodtli had to offer this year’s graduates.
From where I was sitting, back in the crowd, it seemed like Wodtli had a lot of people’s attention. And he should have, because what he was telling the graduates was exactly what they need to hear – and remember: You can go a long way with what Sweet Home has given you.
When I look at the list of people who have been honored with this award, which is named after the academic competition in which Sweet Home High School teams excelled back in the 1970s – look it up, kids – I know they’re only a drop in the bucket of what this community has produced.
This isn’t spin. By my count, Wodtli is the 25th alum to be so honored, preceded by a wide variety of scientists and inventors, academics, a musician and athletes. All of them started at Sweet Home High School and all went on to distinguish themselves far beyond the bounds of our community.
Wodtli’s story (see page 12) could be that of more than one teen sitting in those chairs Friday night, waiting for to get their diplomas so they could say “sayonara” to old Sweet Home High.
The way he described it, he didn’t really stand out in the high school crowd in terms of athletic prowess or head-turning academic excellence. He sounded to me like an average guy who was a decent student and was open to opportunities that presented themselves.
Well, I can think of a quite a number of students from Sweet Home who have taken advantage of opportunities. They’ve gotten further education, they’ve landed jobs that pay the bills and then some, and many have found quality people with whom to spend their lives.
Sitting there in the crowd Friday night, though, I was struck by how other kids who have sat in those chairs and worn those mortarboards have missed out on the opportunities that presented themselves. I even saw some in the crowd, folks who I know have tasted bitterness and experienced hard times.
Some have overcome those challenges and sat there clear-eyed, paying attention, maybe thinking about giving Wodtli the standing ovation he deserved. (That enthusiastic, warm, extended applause he did receive was almost as good.)
Back to the folks with faces weathered by hard times. Sure, circumstances can be raw. Bad things happen in life, to most of us at one point or another.
But that was the point that Wodtli, science teacher Dave McNeil and other speakers were making: “If you’ve been paying attention at all, you’ve been prepared for what life has to offer. Make something happen that will be a benefit to yourself and others.”
A lot of effort has been committed over the past 12 or so years to helping our kids figure out what it takes to be a productive, responsible, good citizen.
They should know what it means to be responsible, to be productive, to be diligent, where those first steps are that lead toward respect.
Wodtli talked about those steps, and he said he was well-prepared to take them. Well, he was. We could all see the results as we heard about the long career as an optometrist in the Tri-Cities area of Washington, how he’s been all over the world on medical missions to treat vision problems across the strata of the world.
The same could be said for many, if not all, of the High-Q recipients. They’ve all distinguished themselves. Looking down the list, I see a lot of accomplished individuals, who have bettered their communities or otherwise performed extremely well in the public eyes.
I think of one of last year’s High-Q honorees, Tyler Cowger, who was probably the most recent graduate to be honored with the award.
Cowger went to Southern Oregon University on a wrestling scholarship after deciding that SOU was a better fit for him than an offer he received from Arizona State.
As it turned out, that was a very wise choice because he excelled there, to the point that after his final match his coach buttonholed him in the hallway and offered him a job as an assistant.
Graduates, know yourselves and be ready to seize the opportunities that come along. Be responsible.
Sweet Home is proud of Gerald Wodtli and we want to be just as proud of you.