District Attorney Daniel F. Conley Fenway High School Commencement Address Friday, June 7, 2002 Thank you for this honor. Congratulations to the graduates, and to their families, friends, teachers and mentors who have assisted them. This is a distinguished assembly. You all have strived for one of the greatest blessings life can offer - an education - and you have received that blessing at one of the finest high schools in the country. When I mentioned to my young son that I was coming to Fenway today, he got excited and said, "Dad, can you get me Nomar Garciaparra's autograph?" I said, "No, that's across the street." But in truth, as a I look out at these graduates, their teachers, their families, I realize that as good a year as the Red Sox are having, I'm surrounded by many more all-stars here at Fenway High than I would be at Fenway Park. My purpose here today is simple. I wish to congratulate these fine young men and women sitting here before me, and to offer a few brief words of advice. Before I do that, however, 1 thought it worthwhile to speak for a few moments about this wonderful school and the unique rewards it presents to those who study here. Where to start? I could talk about how Fenway High School was founded in 1983 as an academic program for students who were seeking an alternative to the large public school setting at Boston English. I could mention how, since then, Fenway has become a pioneer in the small schools philosophy, which embraces enriching relationships between teachers and students, flexible curriculum and teaching methods, decentralized decision-making, and partnerships with other organizations. I could mention, also, how in 1994 Fenway won charter school status from the state, but instead chose to be a leader in reform within the public school system. I could say, too, that your directors helped create the Boston Pilot School model, which gave all of you - staff, students, parents, community members - a voice in determining how this school fulfills its mission. And let me say you have done a remarkable job. I could reiterate the recognition you've gained beyond Boston's city limits: designation as one of the first "New American High Schools" by the United States Department of Education, and recognition as a leader in reform by numerous educational organizations. I could mention your unique structure, which groups students into "Houses" - families, really - to help build academic and social bonds with classmates, teachers and advisors. I could mention your board, which combines the ideas and leadership of caring parents, skilled staff members, and distinguished professionals from the fields of higher education, business, and medicine. I could cite this board as an example of the good that can be achieved when leaders in scholarship, science, and commerce reject the ivory tower and choose instead to be engaged in their communities and neighborhoods. And I could talk about your wonderful diversity, how students flock here from neighborhoods across Boston, from many different ethnic backgrounds. That diversity is something to be cherished, and has contributed as much to your education as any book you have opened in the last four years. I could note how I know one of you graduates personally. Dalvin Estrada has been interning in my office's Gang Unit, and it has been our pleasure, and our honor, to have this fine young man sharing in our important work. I commend you all for embracing diversity. You truly reflect the face of this great city, and the mutual respect and understanding you have built between people of different social and economic backgrounds, different skin colors, and different faiths will be the bridge to a better future where all of us live in harmony and anything is possible. I could - and did - mention all of these things, because you at Fenway High are a beacon for others who wish to think and act creatively about how we teach our children and shape our futures. This is a city school, and an urban education is a unique and special thing. An urban education brings with it its own set of challenges, and likewise carries its own set of rewards. I've already mentioned some of them. Because you live in an urban setting, and go to school in an urban setting, I dare say that you are aware - more aware, perhaps, than some of your peers who live in suburban towns - of just how valuable this tremendous gift of education is. I dare say, because you live in an urban setting, that many of you have seen first hand, or heard about, the disadvantages of not having an academic education, and the consequences of not having a moral education. Now, in the years ahead, you will all experience, first-hand, the great advantages of rigorous academic and moral training. Because of this here, because of these people who have mentored you, because of these leaders who have guided this school, because of these ideas you've studied - because the spark of learning has been ignited in you at Fenway High School - the world truly is your oyster and you are ready to find the pearl. Before I go any further, I'd like to speak briefly to all the parents here today. You have the hardest job there is, and the most important. My two children are a little bit younger than today's graduates, but I think I can guess what you parents have gone through these last four years. I can see you now, asking your children where they're going, who they're going with, and what time they'll be home, and probably not getting satisfactory answers. And then once they're out, I can see you, looking at the clock as the hour gets late, wondering if your children are in a car, wondering if anyone is drinking, hoping that the years of guidance and nurturing you have provided will translate into their making the right choices when they're out of your sight. That doesn't even begin to take into account your worries over their schoolwork, the taxi service you ran between practices, the movies, and the mall, the daily skirmishes over everything from homework to boyfriends to clothes. I'm lucky. By the time my kids get to high school, I think my hair will already be gray. But I'll bet some of you picked up your first gray hairs these last four years. But I know you will agree with me when I say that it was all worth it. As your children stand j on the threshold of adulthood, I commend all of you for all your worrying, all your concern, all the lessons you have taught these fine graduates. I'm sure some day they'll commend you for it, too, but I don't think you should have to wait that long. Kids, when you get home today, before you make plans with your friends, please take a moment to say "thank you" to your parents. And then tell them where you're going, who you'll be with, and what time you plan to be home. I wish to commend, also, the graduates. I know how hard you have worked, and I think the fact that you have reached this point tonight, the fact that you have successfully climbed this hilltop, is due in large part to the many good decisions you have made over the last four years. You chose your friends, you chose to study, you chose your activities, you chose to stay out of serious trouble. But today is just a gateway to a whole new world of choices. I've thought long and hard about what advice I could give you as you embark on your journeys into that new world. Twenty years from now, you probably won't even remember who spoke at your high school graduation, but I hope that the memories and lessons of your high school years stay with you for the rest of your lives. I've come up with three phrases. None of them are particularly groundbreaking or poetic, but they constitute just about the most important advice I could think of. The first two sum up how to get where you want to be in life. And the third suggests how best to live when you get there: "Think Big." "Work Hard." "Give Back." Dream big. Very little that is good in life happens by accident. You need a blueprint, a plan. What do you want to do in life, what do you want to be? No one is going to come along and plan your course for you, nor should they. You've got to get yourself wherever it is you're going. And since you're going to go through all that trouble anyway, why not make sure it's a goal that's worth attaining. Think big. Do not put limits on yourself. Try. Yearn. Reach. Strive. If you fail, you fail, but at least you fail gloriously, and then you pick yourself up, the better for having reached for something, and you try again. Not long after I became the D.A., I was visiting a courthouse in Boston and the judge who was presiding was a man named Jim Coffey. We had worked together in the D.A.'s office years before as young prosecutors. When Judge Coffey saw me come in, he called a brief recess and called me up to the bench. He said, "Hey Dan, remember when we were just starting out, and I used to say that some day I was going to be a judge and you used to say some day you'd be the D.A.? Who would have thought it would come true?" But the truth was, we did think it would come true, even if we only told those dreams to each other. Even when we were rookie prosecutors, we were laying the groundwork - in our minds if nowhere else - for the paths we wanted our lives to take. You don't get anywhere without planning, so you might as well plan big. Then work hard to make your plan come true. When I say "work hard," I don't mean work hard enough just to get by. And I certainly don't mean "work hard" at the expense of others. Anyone can put in enough work to get the C-plus or the B-minus. Anyone can put in enough practice to get some playing time. Anyone can prepare well enough to do just okay in the job interview. But that's not enough. Work hard enough to get the 'A.' Work hard enough to make the starting lineup. Work hard enough to get the job. And work hard enough and fair enough to earn the respect of your peers. When you are working toward something worthwhile, go beyond the point when you say to yourself, "I am working hard." Go far beyond it. Because if you're not going beyond that point, the next guy might be, and he'll be the one who gets the job, earns the "A," makes the starting lineup. Once you identify your dreams - and that may take time - and then work hard - really hard - to make them come true, what next? You got the big salary, the shiny new sports car, and if you're lucky, you've also found someone you want to spend your life with. What now? Give back. As the DA - the chief law enforcement officer in Suffolk County, I work with a lot of people. As you do here at Fenway, I cultivate partnerships with different community groups to make our neighborhoods safe. Whenever I think of these groups, or meet with their members, I never fail to be amazed at their devotion to help others, their commitment to give back. I think of Project R.I.G.H.T. in Roxbury's Grove Hall section, a community group that works closely with my office to reduce crime in that neighborhood. Giving back. I think of the Ten Point Coalition and the Black Ministerial Alliance, whose missions of outreach have saved so many of Boston's youths from jail or worse. Giving back. I think of the Paul McLaughlin Youth Center - named for a true hero, a prosecutor who became a victim of gang violence because he was trying to make our streets safer - a place where the staff is dedicated to steering kids away from the bleak world of guns and gangs and violence that produced Paul's killer. Giving back. In my office, I lead a staff of about 130 prosecutors. These are highly talented lawyers, and I am not exaggerating when I tell you that many of them are among the best lawyers in the state, if not the country. If they joined private law firms, they could be making three, four, five times what they are making as public prosecutors. But they stay in the D.A.'s office - thank God, they stay - because they find the work rewarding. They find it satisfying to help people who have been victimized by crime. They find it satisfying to hold criminals accountable for their actions. They find it satisfying to help make our neighborhoods safe places to live and work and raise our families. They are giving back. Follow those examples. See beyond yourselves. Give something back. That's the best advice I can leave you with. That, and: Please let your parents know what time you'll be home tonight. Congratulations. --END-