Maylene Ritter's Address to the Class of 2022

In my parent’s house, there is a quote by Theodore Roosevelt on their wall. I pass it every day as I leave my home to go to school, or work, or wherever I may go. It has inspired me to try – to keep trying even if I failed – and to try again until I have succeeded, if only through the journey and the lessons I’ve learned along the way. I’d like to share it with you this evening.

"It is not the critic who counts;

not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,

or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena …

who errs, who comes short again and again,

because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;

but who does actually strive to do the deeds;

who knows great enthusiasms …

who spends himself in a worthy cause;

who at the best knows – in the end – the triumph of high achievement,

and who – at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,

so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls