I’d like to share with you an extract of a speech I delivered to the Class of 2022 at their Graduation Dinner:

Class of 2022, are you aware that the German language is famous for its employment of unique compound words?

Mark Twain wrote in his famous essay The Awful German Language, that this means that “some German words are so long that they have a perspective.” 

Some of my favourite German compound words seem to apply to your time at King David and particularly this year as Year 12s.   

For instance, have you experienced das kopfkino? Literally the “head cinema” but meaning the imaginary and often nightmarish day dreaming about a future event such as a VCE exam. Have you come home from school mit ein bärenhunger? Literally a bear’s hunger but actually, just starving! Have you struggled to work hard during SWOTVAC due to der innere Schweinehund?  Literally – your inner pig dog – but actually, your total lack of willpower.

Where are we headed with all of this? I’ve invented a new German compound word to explain the phenomenon of Year 12 at KDS – I’m going to embellish and call it jetztnostalgia, literally now-nostalgia or nostalgia for the present. It’s a kind of deja vu whereby you know you are experiencing peak special moments with your cohort that will be meaningful for you forever. I have felt this as a principal and as a parent and I’m sure you have felt this throughout your year.

I’ve seen this first hand this year watching as you marked a series of milestones – your last swimming carnival with your stupendous but soggy rendition of Mr Brightside, your last Purim, your last Yom Haatzmaut, your last day of classes and your last exam. I have been inspired by the way that you have approached the wide range of opportunities that have been provided to you with such great positivity.

All the while I’m certain that you will remember this time with fondness. I’ve been experiencing profound jeztnostalgia!

We are all so proud of you. You are an extraordinary group of individuals who as a group have made a wonderful impact on our School community and on one another. You have been fun and funny, you have been interested and you are interesting. You embraced all we have on offer and set the mark for school involvement and positivity.

Our staff adore you. On their behalf I say thank you to each of you and I hope that you take the time tonight and whenever you get a chance to say thank you to them too. Please join me in especially thanking Fred Kok who attends his last KDS graduation tonight. Fred has been a strong presence in each of your lives and has helped shape you into who you are. I also want to shout out to your VCE Coordinator David Robinson who has been so instrumental in ensuring your final school years have been so special.

As so many of you have told Adina as she leads school tours – the King David superpower is community. The unique and mutual relationships between staff and students is so expressive of this. Thank you staff.

Class of 2022, please indulge me for a moment. I want to take this opportunity to offer you some advice as you exit the warm cocoon of King David. There was some interesting analysis that came out of the United States where social commentator, David Brooks, has looked into the key messages delivered at graduation ceremonies such as these. Brooks identifies the key messages being delivered as:

“Follow your passion, chart your own course, march to the beat of your own drummer, follow your dreams and find yourself.” He writes that: “this is the litany of expressive individualism.”

The problem with this advice is it neglects the nuance of what can lead to a fulfilled and contented existence. The key to happiness is not found in individualism. Rather, it is in togetherness, belonging and a sense of purpose.

So the key question is “what makes a contented life?” 

The most famous study that I like to reference is the Yale longitudinal study that spanned over 75 years and tracked people over the course of their lifetimes. The answer according to this study of what it is all about is resoundingly – relationships! Good relationships are the best predictor of a good life. There was an established link between relationship positivity, life satisfaction and health.

So Class of 2022, my challenge to you is not to go and find yourself but rather, go lose yourself in something you are passionate about. Hold on to those who are dear to you – the incredible friends in this cohort are a very good start and I hope you can remain connected with one another going forwards. You have so much promise and I know each of you will make a positive difference.