teams and became our good friends, and we even elected one of the newer students as our student body president. That’s the kind of school CSB is, and that’s the kind of class that we have. We have a fierce spirit, but we are kind and welcoming too. Now, to address the elephant in the room: COVID 19. Our class had faced some hardships before —like when Chef Judge changed the recipe for the mac-n- cheese—but nothing like the pandemic. Unfortunately, the pandemic made it so that we missed out on some CSB tradi- tions. Of course we were disappointed not to go on our language trips and our final Outdoor Ed. Those were tradi- tions that classes before us treasured,
and we were really looking forward to that bonding time. But even though we missed some amazing opportunities, our class was never bitter, and we managed to find ways to bond even with all the separation caused by COVID. We could have used COVID as an excuse to stop trying. We could have blamed the pandemic and checked out for the entire second semester, but we did not. We persevered, and continued to give our full effort for the entirety of the year. We didn’t let the pandemic push us down or define us; instead we pushed through. We also kept our competitive spirit. Whether it was competing for different bands in P.E. class, or playing a game of capture the flag between our two classes, we kept trying. I believe that if we are
remembered for one thing it will be our hard work and perseverance. Now, for the fun part. Since you chose me to give this speech today, I get to act older and wiser than I really am and end with some advice to all of you. As you go throughout high school and the rest of your life, keep that spirit that we have all found in this class. You will face struggles; you won’t always get what you want; and sometimes you’ll fail, but don’t give up. Remember your CSB class, and how we stayed strong together even through COVID. Thank you to my fellow classmates and to CSB. I’ll miss you all, but I’m sure we’ll all go on to do great things in high school and in life. Thank you.
JOSHUA MERRITT, Assistant Athletic Director
Good morning, Beautiful People! For those of you who I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet, my name is Joshua Merritt, or as the 8th grade squad calls me, Coach Merritt or, as most of you heard on Monday, “D3 Athlete.” Before I begin, I’d like to say thank you to the 8th graders for selecting me to deliver their 8th grade commencement speech. Believe me when I say I know you have a number of amazing educators you could have selected, so I am truly honored to be standing here preparing to impart some words of wisdom upon you. Now, in typical coach fashion—because let’s face it, what coach doesn’t like giving a speech?—I will do my best to make sure you don’t regret selecting me when this is over. First, I’d like to start by saying, “we made it!” Or, to quote the great DaBaby, “Let’s gooooooo!” But seriously, just let that sink in for a second. We made it. It wasn’t always pretty and it for sure wasn’t always fun, but we made it. And not only did we make it, we crushed it this year! And for those of you who might be wondering about what I’m referring to exactly, let me quickly walk you through the year. We started with distance learning, which was great. The 8th graders showed up strong! We were able to engage in stimu- lating conversations around race and gender, with one of our
most rich discussions centering around the topic of manhood. We also began exploring a variety of ways to move and what it means to be a healthy adult, starting with ensuring that we take care of our mental health first. Now, don’t get me wrong, we had our hiccups, like the random moment when someone forgot they were unmuted and blurted out, “I need your love!” Or the moment when I started explaining the directions to an activity only to finish and hear... “Coach, you were frozen, do you mind repeating what you said?” All that aside, the year started off extremely well. Then came the return to campus. I don’t know if you can tell, but I just rolled my eyes, and I don’t roll my eyes very often. But let me explain why this eye roll is necessary. The return was met with full on 8th grade “I demand my respect!” energy. I’m talking chants about how we shouldn’t be back, thoughts of petitions being signed to go back to distance learning and literally the first five to ten mins of every day
22 | CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS
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