Please Don’t Go Away

Seniors opened the commencement ceremony with a sweet acoustic rendition of Jack Johnson’s “Upside Down,” which concludes with the line, “Please Don’t Go Away.” Indeed, it’s tempting to want to keep this class around!

Head of School Jodi Grass then addressed each student individually and remarked to the group, “I hope you remain curious about people who are unlike yourself. I hope you allow uncertainty to deepen rather than frighten you. I hope you remember that knowledge is not the same thing as intelligence or wisdom and that success without meaning is hollow. That attention is the most pure form of love and that a thoughtful human being is a gift to the world.”

Each graduate’s speech expressed gratitude and shared stories of transformation, along with heartfelt reflections about their time at Oak Grove. They paid loving tributes to their friends, mentors, and families. Beyond personal friendships, it was evident that their recent visit to the Krishnamurti Schools in India and, for some, their travels to the World Expo in Japan last summer, had deepened their bonds.