Clarke School graduates in Northampton told: 'Be your own best advocate'
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NORTHAMPTON - The commencement speaker at the Clarke School commencement Saturday told students that his life and accomplishments were proof that you "have to be your own best advocate."
Stephen Hopson, the first deaf person in aviation history to earn an instrument-rated pilot's license, told students that they had to stand up for themselves and ignore naysayers in order to succeed.
"If you do, your life will change and your life will change other people's lives. You have that power," he said.
Hopson, who was born deaf, also had a successful career as a Wall Street stockbroker and is now a writer and inspirational speaker.
Hopson recognized all the graduates at Saturday's ceremony, including the 12 women who completed the Smith College/Clarke graduate program in teacher education, saying that it made him "giddy with excitement" for the opportunities that awaited them. A video presentation also honored 46 "young graduates" of the school's five East Coast preschools.
Middle School graduates Asiamarie Diaz of Hatfield, Jessica Cavanaugh of Holyoke, Andrew Reyes of Ludlow and Richard Vargas of Cranston, R.I., each received applause from family, friends and Clarke staff as they were handed their diplomas. Reyes got a little something extra; it was his 15th birthday, and about 20 family and friends sang "Happy Birthday" to him, with audience members joining in.
Hopson told graduates that in the future, they will encounter people who will tell them they can't do the things they dream of doing.
"People will try to stop you, but if you're like me, you won't let them," he said. "I remember when I was a kid, telling my mother I wanted to be a pilot. My parents said, 'Stephen, you're deaf, you can't be a pilot.'"
Hopson recalled as a teenager driving his parents' car on deserted streets, watching the white dotted line whiz under the car and pretending that he was taking off and landing an airplane.
"You know how they say, 'There's a price to pay for your dreams?'" he said. "I paid mine in the form of four speeding tickets."
He said that people again tried to discourage him when he was trying desperately to land a job at Merrill Lynch on Wall Street. "All they kept saying to me was, 'You're not going to make it. Eighty percent of people who come here will fail,'" he remembered. "But I was just becoming more determined. I don't know about you, but when people tell me I can't do something, I get fired up. It's like a volcano is being lit up under my butt."
Hopson said he got the job because of that determination. "If I hadn't been my own best advocate, I wouldn't be here speaking to you. That's what you can do - you've got to be you own best advocate," he said.
The day was bittersweet for the graduates and their families, who looked forward to the future but also had to say goodbye to the Clarke School "family" that they have been part of for more than a decade.
"When I think of Clarke, the first word that comes into my mind is family," said student speaker Diaz, 13, who will attend Smith Academy in Hatfield in the fall. "Everyone at Clarke is family; the entire staff, from grounds crew to president, has supported and encouraged me throughout my years here... At Clarke, you are not just another student, you are somebody."
Jutta Cavanaugh of Holyoke was holding back tears even before her daughter Jessica Cavanaugh walked down the aisle with the other graduates.
"We'll miss this community, too, it really is like a family," Jutta Cavanaugh said, clutching a wad of tissues. "It's sad to see her go, but she is ready to move on."
Daniel Cavanaugh, Jessica's father, said she will attend Holyoke Catholic High School in Chicopee in September, and is not nervous at all. "It's a big transition, but she couldn't have been prepared better than she was at Clarke," he said.
Rebecca Everett can be reached at reverett@gazettenet.com.
