Kevin Gomez
Undergraduate Class Speaker
2009

To Whom Our Bell Tolls

    Greetings to all my fellow graduating New England College classmates of this year; the Class of 2009.  I have been granted this great honor to be able to speak to my friends and classmates before we are asked to step up here soon to receive that piece of paper in which we all took that commitment to strive for and say I am an NEC graduate; so welcome. Hope you’re seated, relaxed and prepared for what is about to happen, because to our families friends and colleagues this is another in those crucial steps in life and one that is meant to ascend us into another world and one that we have the upper hand on with receiving this status as an alumni of New England College.

    We are a unique generation, we were once children raised by our mothers, fathers, siblings, friends, families and teachers and now the advancing technologies as well; whether it be our newspapers, magazines, our television sets and the latest blogs we can read at the click of a mouse. Now none of this is new but what is different is what we learn from each and every one of those conduits of knowledge. But the point is we have gained years of new experiences from the diverse conduits here; from professors, to friends to locals who we may be so used to knowing by their first names; they have all given us another advantage to tackle the world that is ahead of us now and we need that confidence now as we venture into an uneasy world where we must step forward and make the difference. Many of us are maybe a little hesitant or may feel unready to tackle the coming task but I am positive in saying we will overcome it and prove this generation proud of what we can and what we will do.
   
    This NEC class I consider a true family, I have been here 4 years and trust me when I say we have strong bonds that can never be broken. I quote a phrase made by Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz who said “You go to college to gain knowledge; But to gain true wisdom, you need to have true life experience” we have been here for quite a while, 4 years; some more; some less: but we have been lucky to go to this establishment and gain the knowledge from so many and the experience from such a personal curriculum where I can wave and know 10 of the 15 people in the crowd I am waving to. I am glad to say I know so many of my graduating classmates as well as countless underclassmen and thankfully I say you have helped us all in the life lessons we have taught to each other. We have taught each other so much and we cannot take for granted that we are connected and can be as close as family; we are the family of 2009.

    And Henniker as well as NEC has been home. I have been here all my four years of college and I know I may say I can’t wait to leave and supposedly go home, but I know I am going to tear up a little bit as I leave town because spending all this time here, 8 months each year for four years so I feel it is home now. We should never forget that we may have met the loves of our lives, the friends we will die next to as old men and women and the memories of a time in our lives where we will look back and be happy to start the sentence off with “you remember that time at NEC.” We all have so many of those stories now and we have to say this is home because we committed our time, strength, pride and minds to make that footprint of time that we will not be forgotten as we will never forget our time here in what I would call our home in Henniker.

    So I leave you with the thought that I will miss everything, we are a family of people from every corner of the globe who came to Henniker, NH to seek enlightenment and experienced life. We are just as involved now in the world of economics, war, disasters but also great changes. Hopefully we are a part of those great changes: we have all witnessed history being made with a new presidency that offers hope, that proved that we can make a difference and our presence counts. We are ready to make a difference in the world and make the heavy world a lighter load for the next generation who will one day carry the world for us.
   
    Congratulations my NEC; Class of 2009.