Bowdoin College is nestled in a small town in Maine. It has a long history of excellence in education. One of its many traditions is to have incoming freshmen students sign a book that contains the names of every person who has ever attended the school. The list of famous people is long and illustrious and what graduates of Bowdoin College know is that every individual who attends leaves ready to make a positive difference in the world. 

Bowdoin College has multiple traditions associated with graduation. The ceremony is held outside on the lush lawn shaded by ancient oaks. The farewell speeches come from students who are selected for the inspiriting content of the essays that they submit for consideration. This year the commencement was held under stormy skies and one of the speakers was a young man known to the students and faculty as Weatherspoon. Somehow both the weather and the speaker tapped into the feelings that so many of this year’s graduates are feeling.

Weatherspoon is a poet whose ability to artfully put words together has already been recognized in the books of his work that have been published. His story and his speech for the 2025 class of Bowdoin College are perhaps some of the most inspiring that I have ever heard. They touched my heart in ways that only those who have worked with students who are often ignored and underserved will ever completely understand.

Weatherspoon’s life has been one of relentless struggle and ultimate success. His family was poor even to the point of being homeless for a time. His single mom worked hard for her children but the meagerness of her income often fell short of providing them with all of the necessities that most Americans take for granted. At one time Weatherspoon even lived with a foster family until his mother was able to pull her life together enough to provide a bit of stability. 

Weatherspoon’s story is one of chaos and uncertainty and yet he is known by his classmates and his professors as one of the kindest and most optimistic persons that they have ever known. He has found purpose in life in spite of the many challenges that might have threatened to lead him astray. His teachers and family members understood his talents and urged him to use them to forge a pathway out of the generational difficulties that had battered both him and his ancestors. With the encouragement and support of programs and people dedicated to insuring that he would be able to hone his skills he has become the first college graduate in the history of his family. 

Weatherspoon will soon be heading to Los Angeles where a screenwriting job already awaits him. His teachers and fellow students know how talented he is and believe that his is a name that we will certainly hear again. When I read his speech I thought of the students that I have taught who came from similar backgrounds. Many of them were the first to earn high school diplomas. They lived in difficult circumstances but with hard work rose above the societal ills threatening to bring them down. They left our care to travel across the Untied State to colleges and universities that identified their skills and produced incredibly talented individuals. They perfectly demonstrate the value and importance of finding and nurturing outstanding young people who often are hidden in unexpected places. 

I remember a student who came to me in tears during his senior year of high school. He was distraught because he was in danger of failing. He explained that his grandfather had given him a family heirloom because he would be the first in his family to complete high school. He did not know how he would be able to face the people who so believed in him if he did not make it to the finish line. He and I crafted a plan for resurrecting his grades. We spoke with each of his teachers to determine what he needed to do. He worked like a madman and was soon earning top marks in every class. He even got the highest score on his senior research paper. He was overjoyed in the self-realization that he was indeed a brilliant young man with incredible potential for the future. 

I have witnessed so many young people’s lives being turned around because the laws and programs in our nation provided them with the funding and safety nets that allowed them to focus on their studies. The opportunities that we afford students are never wasted. Programs encouraging diversity, equality and inclusion lead to the discovery of young people with great minds, talents and creativity who might otherwise be overlooked. Without concerted effort they might be deemed to be without merit simply because they have not had the financial security to fund the kind of experiences that so often result in higher scores on standardized tests. The goal of our nation should be to look for these gifted souls wherever they may be. Feeding their bodies and their minds should be a top priority. There are Weatherspoons in every city and town. We should always be dedicated to discovering them and nurturing them. They will ultimately pay their way forward just as Weatherspoon’s teachers and friends know that he will do.

I see the success of my former students who were like Weatherspoon and I feel a sense of contentment in knowing that I was part of a system that focused not on individual test scores and grades but on the totality of each individual. It is so important to understand that everyone has something special to offer the world if we are willing to invest in his or her development. Gutting programs that keep our young moving forward is a huge mistake. Instead we should be investing in them no matter what their circumstances may appear to be. Instead of increasing the riches of the wealthy we should be concentrating our funding on those who have the lowest incomes, especially for those who are young. Weatherspoon will change the world and we will be all the better because our systems gave him the tools he needed to reach for the stars. I hope we are wise enough to keep helping the Weatherspoons to be the best among us.