By Adam H. Davis, May 18, 2006
(To be delivered at the Temple Law Commencement Ceremony)
My friends, it’s been a long time, but I would like to say a few words concerning the law of agency.
We today enjoy high honor, and are properly proud of the hard work, the painful travails born to earn these diplomas.
And, personally, I have known no finer men and women than my fellow students, my colleagues. To know you is to be proud of you; to be numbered with you is awfully humbling.
But I spoke of agency, and I meant it.
It is my happy duty to stand and speak for my friends, and say a few words on their behalf. Today is so special because our family and friends have come here to join us.
So first, let me say,
Let me explain.
As evening students, we have juggled life, work, and study. Yet law school alone demands, at its hard points, more than a day’s effort crammed in 24 short hours.
How many vacations cut short, legalistic digressions, lonely bedrooms, spent bank accounts, and unanswered calls, emails, and letters stand against us in accusation.
It is a hard, and singularly adult lesson, that to pursue excellence requires sacrifice, sometimes voluntary and sometimes not, from the people who love us most.
But today is a day of gratitude and joy; not sorrow, and certainly not remorse.
Gratitude for our professors, for the administration, and the support staff who keep the school running day and night. And appreciation for the day students and LLM students who shared our classes. And I should personally thank the Bookstore, for the restorative powers of their large iced coffees.
And today is a day of joy, because we can now go forth and serve. To be a lawyer is to be an agent, a servant. Today we may begin to serve our families, our friends, our communities, our nation, and our world more excellently. And we do so with the humbling recognition that we couldn’t have made it to here alone.
My fellow students, I have neither time nor voice to say how much you mean to me. Know how blessed I feel to have journeyed this far with you, and how much I look forward to seeing you in the years to come.
Again, for all who have come to be with us today, thank you so much. Carry that thanks to everyone who could not be here, as well. Mom and Dad, I love you very much.
Thank you all: it has been a wonderful honor.
4 comments:
Excellent! Your audience will love it!
Thanks Bill. I hope so.
Sniff. That was great, Adam!
Thank you Susie! As you may know from public speaking, the words will float somewhat differently when delivered on Thursday. I hope that spoken it's as good as it reads on paper.
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