Good afternoon families, friends, community members, faculty and students. As I sat down to write this address I considered taking the normal approach of listing the problems with the world, the environmental and social disasters that are unfolding and then listing the ways in which you are needed. But as I started to write I realized that our reality this year produced something very different than we are all used to. We got a glimpse into a lifestyle that primarily focuses on the positive, on helping one another and dancing when given the chance. I want to celebrate this difference and look at why I believe the world is going to be a better place because each of you is in it.

Before I start, I need to give thanks where it is due because we have each been fortunate enough to have such a fantastic experience largely because of the people often behind the scenes.

I’d like to start by thanking the parents. I have enjoyed getting to know you and learning what it truly means to love. You have allowed your children to leave the nest in search of themselves and the unknown and I have seen how selfless this very act is. I thank you for your patience during those long hours of waiting and for your kindness during those impossible phone calls. I thank you for your trust and belief in our values and goals as a program; trust in our staff, our ideals and our delivery. You displayed that trust in full when you returned your loved ones back to our care in here in Lunenburg. Thank you.

To the staff and professional crew both behind the scenes and those on the front lines: thank you for your time and commitment to your students and your crew. I have seen you all give so much of yourselves, even while battling sea sickness and homesickness, to help others. You are such an inspiring group and I feel very lucky to have been able to work with all of you. You have tutored, mentored, disciplined and simply listened to all who needed your attention. You have truly inspired us all and your unwavering leadership has brought us to this fantastic finish to a challenging and unprecedented year. Thank you.

To the students: for your loyalty, trust and hard work, we thank you. You have challenged us, questioned us, and, at times, defied us. Good work; keep it up. Don’t ever simply accept the status quo. Continue to think critically and strive for fairness and understanding. We thank you for your commitment to each other and the love that you have put into everything that you do. You have demonstrated time and time again your ability to put the needs of others ahead of your own and that inspires us. We all love you dearly. Thank you.

This brings me to why I believe the world is going to be a better place now that we have lived this incredible year together and why I believe that the lessons we have learned this year will surely contribute to a more fair and equitable world.

Let me start with sea sickness. Take a moment to just sit and feel your body at present. Now remember back to the deepest and darkest moment of feeling sea sickness. For those of you who have never experienced it, it is a full body nauseating ache that drains every ounce of energy and mental faculty. It is the type of debilitating sickness that makes us question what we are doing and if life is really worth pursuing.

I LOVE SEA SICKNESS

No, I am not a sadist. I love sea sickness because of the unique opportunities that it has provided for our community. The first lesson is in humility. When stripped of all of our abilities and capabilities and left at the complete mercy of others, that is a truly humbling moment. When chewing food seems like a burden we can begin our journey to finding a new found respect for Mother Nature and unforgiving environments. When sea sickness first sets in you have a pile of bodies at midships just lying down trying to get some fresh air and staying close to the rail. But what is beautiful to watch are the students who walk around with water, offering crackers or back rubs or merely words of comfort and encouragement. This is what sea sickness provides us; the opportunity to truly care for others. At home where we are all from, relying on others like this is often seen as weakness and rarely do any of us get an opportunity to care for others in such an important way as when we are sea sick. I remember one particularly rough morning where we had to have colours in the mess. I won’t get into the graphic details, but many students began to be sick. The first thing that I saw was students rushing to help. They were grabbing rags and mops and cleaning up the sickness of other people. I am sorry if that image disturbs; these are the same kids who you may have trouble getting to clean their rooms but when others need them they rise to the challenge, un-asked, to care for one another. They volunteer to cover off someone’s galley or night watch. They learn to ask for help, a difficult but necessary lesson in life. In short they become a family, a crew. We each have our own story of being helped through this difficult time at sea and the bonds that are created will last a lifetime.

I have seen your enthusiasm as you spontaneously turn galley duty into dance parties or create 80s bowling nights or charge after clues during the Amazing Race. I have witnessed your diplomacy as you sat for hours in circles expressing frustrations, wants and needs while listening respectfully to others and compromising for a mutually beneficial response. I have seen you face your fears and push your boundaries as you climb the rigging or get back to the sea. I have experienced the fruits of your selflessness as you got up at 5am in the morning to bake cinnamon buns for the entire crew on Christmas morning (which was perhaps my greatest Christmas ever!). The love and time that went into the gifts was inspirational.

I have seen you mature and develop a profound respect for time. It only took being late for galley or curfew once or twice to help you out there! I have seen you meet your responsibilities with diligence. You each had more on your plate than ever before and never once let us down. It isn’t easy on the 4-6am watch but I never heard any complaints that weren’t followed by a smile.

You have each taken initiative to solve problems without guidance and that in turn has contributed to the successful running of our community. Whenever I call for volunteers, I am always amazed by how many hands shoot up, willing to do the dirty jobs so that others won’t have to. You have each sacrificed the comforts of home and family to join this community and collectively we have created something beautiful. This sacrifice comes in the form of food, comfort, sleep, the longing for family and friends, but this sacrifice has taught us appreciation. Sleeping under a tarp or riding on a camel certainly remind me of how lucky and privileged we are. No one can doubt your hard work. Sometimes a day can feel like a week with the amount of work we squeeze into it but I know you have learned that hard work can be fun with the right people and the right attitude.

I have been fortunate to be surrounded by the love that each of you has for this crew. I hear it in your deep belly laughs, feel it in your hugs and see it everyday in your smiles. Together these qualities of caring, humility, initiative, sacrifice, hard work, appreciation, self discipline, time management, responsibility, creativity, resourcefulness and many more have become your tools with which to better deal with the future. This new tool box that you will carry with you has everything you will need to lead a rich and full life. These experiences that have led you to this point have contributed to a more compassionate and self aware you.  I have seen you become yourselves and with that authenticity comes power, confidence and clarity.

Class Afloat isn’t just about school. It is about a crew of people exploring and engaging with the world which allows us to witness first-hand the connections we hold with people and places far away. We come to appreciate cause and effect and realize that our actions in one part of the world have repercussions elsewhere. Travel and exposure are the greatest of teachers and I have seen each of you become more compassionate and engaged with your world as we have journeyed together. I have taken great pride in hearing you uncover a new social issue and become passionately engaged as you set out to understand it.

We have a planet full of issues. There is no shortage of causes to commit yourself to. For some of you it will be the environment or population, or perhaps it is economics or health, but I can rest assured that each of you has taken away for your experience that we are crew and crew need to act responsibly for each other. Whatever path that you are eventually led down will be filled with hard work, dedication and integrity. I believe this year was a wake-up call to the true priorities in life. I was very much reminded that it is the people in my life that matter most and with that realization I have to let all of you know just how much you all mean to me.

In many ways our planet is sinking, albeit slowly and many may argue otherwise, but I am inspired by how you handled your own perilous situation and feel that you have the tools to continue to act with the best of intentions for all. You have created an ideal world where equality and fairness rule the day and where love, tolerance, hard work and fun are commonplace. I have no fear that you will continue to spread this vision and bring others into your crew as you move forward. I am proud to call myself a part of your crew.

Some might argue that it is a scary time to be bringing a child into the world but for me I am excited to introduce my child to some of the most inspiring, caring and compassionate people that I know. You are all well on your way, you have all of the tools, and I know you will all make good choices.