Student Voices: One Senior’s Perspective on Perspective.

On June 10th, we hosted our first ever commencement ceremony to honor the first group of seniors to graduate from Hyla’s upper school program. Each senior had a role in the ceremony and used their voice to express appreciation, gratitude, pride, and wisdom for the future. Seniors recognized each other’s accomplishments as academics and athletes; they told stories about how they chose Hyla and the difference that choice made in their lives. They gathered teachers and fellow Hyla student musicians on stage to perform an inspiring version of “Come Together.” They received talismans from each teacher – symbolic gifts to guide them in their next stage of life. They introduced each other and shared their college and gap year plans for next year.

One senior, Jackson Oswald, offered perspective as both an antidote to the complexities of the world and a promising approach to resolving many challenges that face this generation. We’re proud to share Jackson’s wise words here.

The Tree We See || Class of 2023 Commencement Address
Written and delivered by Jackson H. Oswald
Saturday, June 10, 2023

To our guests this afternoon, members of the staff and faculty, our broader Hyla community, and to my fellow graduates,

I’d like to start by posing a question—one that first came to mind a couple months ago during our Ecology class, and I thought I’d dive into it further here today. 

It’s a bit out there so bear with me.

What do we see when we look at a tree?

Well, a tree obviously. It’s got a trunk, some branches, roots and leaves and all the typical tree features. Chances are it’s probably made of wood. It probably has a name too, one of those complex latin letter configurations that no one can ever pronounce.

What we’re seeing is something physical; it’s tangible and undeniable. 

It’s simply a tree and nothing more. You could chop it down and use it as fuel for a fire, paper for books, perhaps a nice wooden chair to sit upon when you need a break from chopping down trees. 

That thing in front of you has so many uses, there are so many things we can do with a tree.

But what does a bird see, when a bird looks at a tree?

Probably something a little different, right? A bird isn’t going to see a chair, or firewood, or a piece of paper. 

And why not though? A tree can serve those purposes, can it not? Why wouldn’t a bird flying above; searching for food, shelter, a home; why would that bird not see the tree as a tool for human convenience?

I suppose the answer lies simply in this:

The purpose of the tree is not to solely be our commodity. 

Ultimately a tree exists on the same level playing field as we do. 

It isn’t there for us alone to exploit as the tree’s purpose is to both benefit and be beneficial to countless other elements of this world.

I know that may sound a bit complicated, but what it really boils down to is having perspective. And so many people don’t these days.

Our world is filled with people who care only about themselves, only see things as relates to them. These people are filled with hatred and judgment because they thought the tree was theirs alone when, in reality, it belonged to the birds or to others as well. 

Most of us have likely dealt with the tree at some point in our lives too, probably during childhood. 

Maybe you had some toys growing up, some very special toys. Toys that were yours and no one else’s. 

Then, one day, you were playing with some of your very special toys, when some two-year-old thoughtless jerk came up and decided that one of them was their toy, and they started playing with that. 

Sure, you’ve got other toys to play with, but that was your toy, your very special toy. 

So you start whining and screaming and throwing a tantrum, until your parents come in and repeatedly assure you that it’s going to be okay.

You were too young in this situation to have any perspective, so no one expected any better of you. 

But when we look back, years on, we realize something. 

We realize that all the other kid wanted was just to play as we were playing, and all the other kid wanted was the fun that we were having. All we had to do, in that moment, was share. 

It’s important to remember that nothing is really ours in this world. 

Nothing on this planet was simply given or gifted to humankind. All that we have, we’ve taken. In some cases justifiably for our survival. In other cases, not so much. 

Here today, as a class, we mark a milestone: our High School Graduation.

And as much as today is about our successes and accomplishments, we cannot forget all that it took for us to be here. 

It took contributed efforts and the time of others, time that could have been used for personal self-benefit. It took chopping down a tree, did it not? So in some way, we owe it to the birds, the ones lending a hand, to plant another seed. To pay it back and pay it forward, to have gratitude and perspective.

In the years ahead, whatever challenges we face, however things might turn out,

Have Perspective.

In college, when we don’t ace that test, when we feel cheated and fail,

Have Perspective.

And in life, when we do everything right but something goes wrong, when a friend lets us down,

Have Perspective.

Remember this:

We are all staring at, all looking at, all seeing the same tree. 

That tree is our future, and what we do with it is up to us. 

Sometimes there will be conflict and sometimes there won’t. Sometimes we’ll find happiness, other times we’ll just be sad. 

But when things don’t go as planned, when the going gets rough and it feels like the whole world just doesn’t want us to succeed, because it will,

Don’t go blaming the bird, it was the bird’s tree too.

No, don’t blame the bird,

Have Perspective.

Jackson H. Oswald

Hyla School Class of 2023