Wilton Residents Graduate With Honors from St. Luke’s

Wilton residents Patrick Quinn and Alex Robertson graduated as the top two students in St. Luke’s 2013 class, earning the honors of valedictorian and salutatorian for the school’s commencement ceremony, which took place on May 31.  

Head of school Mark Davis introduced Robertson, and discussed the full breadth of his achievements, both in and out of the classroom: “Alex epitomizes the intellectual.  His voice has led and inspired in the classroom, in print, and on the stage.  The only senior to receive academic distinction in four different academic departments, he also edited the school newspaper, played beautiful and creative music in Jazz Band and coffeehouses, and wrote and directed a brilliant spring play.  Unconventional - frequently unexpected - as a thinker, he wraps his thoughts in compelling, precise language that dazzles and persuades... Being around Alex has been an inspiring learning experience for all of us.”

In addressing his class as salutatorian, Robertson, who graduated Cum Laude and will attend Columbia University in the fall, discussed the never-ending nature of an active education: “We should be active participants in our own educations, always searching for meaning and for learning, constantly struggling against the nothing we are so often predisposed to doing. Learning should be an active experience - something that pops up not only in the classroom, but also when you’re at home, reading or even simply staring out the window. Even the experiences that seem completely banal and vacant of meaning can yield stunning revelations if we focus our energies on them.”

Quinn, who recently relocated to Bridgewater, CT from Wilton, also graduated Cum Laude, and will attend Haverford College.  During his introduction of the class’ top student, Davis mentioned an award given to Quinn as a junior and discussed his impact on the St. Luke’s community: “The Cornell Book Award recognizes a student who “shows an awareness of cultural diversity and is an excellent student, good citizen, and innovative thinker.”  That Patrick won this junior book prize last spring surprised no one, as he stood out then - as he does now - for the quality and creativity of his scholarship, his imagination and range as an actor, and the depth and courage of his cultural sensitivity...  We could not ask for a better exemplar of the St. Luke’s motto, “Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve,” than Patrick Quinn, who so instinctively models intellect, humility, drive and concern for others.”

In Quinn’s valedictorian speech, he thanked his friends, family, and various teachers who helped shape his education, and used the experiences of a character in one of the novels he read at St. Luke’s, Clarissa Vaughn from Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, to discuss the salience of graduation from St. Luke’s, and the endless possibilities ahead for he and his classmates: “I want you all to take a second to consider the full weight of this moment--the significance it has for us, the members of the Class of 2013. Like Clarissa at that dawn, there is a magnificent sense of possibility in the air--can you feel it? Right now, we have more possibility than we’ll ever have, and we are lucky for it.  This ‘possibility’ is a unique resource, one which is malleable and mysterious and recyclable. I believe that possibility is inexhaustible--it may dwindle over time, but it will never completely run out. But this possibility is useless unless we act upon it--instead of expecting it to magically turn itself into great things, like Clarissa did, we must seek those great things out ourselves, for we will find them if only we believe in possibility.”

St. Luke’s graduated 71 students from 19 different towns this year, all of whom will attend college this fall.  14 St. Luke’s students graduated Cum Laude.  To conclude the ceremony, Davis sent off these students by discussing the impact that they have made, and will continue to make in their communities: “This community has prepared you to be ethical, compassionate adults, and that will determine whether or not your impact on the world is lasting or fleeting, meaningful or superficial, good or perhaps not-so-good...To make a difference you need not be a CEO, or president of the student body, or captain of the team, or the smartest student in the classroom.  You need simply be a good person, doing the things – small or large – that actually make a difference, in your neighborhood or on the world stage.”