Broderick Dressen
Political Science / International Relations
Bay City, Wisconsin

President Rob Oden started our four years out by telling us that no one Carleton student is ordinary, that we all are uniquely different, and that each and every one of us is special. And after four years of spending time with this awkward and quirky lot, I would have to say that President Oden definitely hit the nail on the head.

At this point and time it is usually traditional to give a cliché anecdote that would be representative of each of our experiences at Carleton, a sort of inside joke that only the seniors (or a select group of the seniors) would understand. But no one person is the same or had the same experiences, so it would seem a dilemma. So, I want to take us on a tangent (something I’m known for). I want to set this up as the Parliamentary Debate circuit would want me to, and hopefully my rhetorical skills will help get my point across.

Resolved: This House (Class of 2009) will reflect and grow. I decided to make the resolution somewhat ambiguous as this way; everyone can take away from it what they please. Definitions: Reflect: To look back at past experiences. Grow: To take something away from past experiences and move forward. Standard (the way you will measure if I did a good job today): Net laughter and happiness. If I can make you entertained, through the power of words, then I have done my job.

Barack Obama said in his ‘Make us believe again’ speech, “It tells us that we are a people whose destiny has never been written for us, but by us – by generations of men and women, young and old, who have always believed that their story and the American story are not separate, but shared.” We have all had our own experiences here at Carleton, and as we reflect upon them today, and like seedlings, we will grow into the unforeseeable future, ready to shape the land that is above us. Our class was and is the largest class that Carleton College has ever seen, meaning that we get that much more experiences than everyone else. Not only that, but because we have the benefit of knowing an extraordinary staff and faculty, who genuinely care about us, we have grown so much more. From the exciting first steps on to Carleton’s campus, where we were pushed around by the upperclassmen into the pillared-Sayles, towards Great Hall (which some of us recognized as the food fight scene from Mighty Ducks 3), and down the Sevy staircase to a cramped office space and told to sit in front of a drab, off-white background so that our picture could be taken (which still haunts every single one of us) to all of us right now. We are probably one of the last classes to know what Rottblatt and Spring Concert were really like. We are probably one of the last classes to know what it was like to be part of the C- beauty grading that Playboy gave Carleton so many years ago. And we are probably one of the few classes that, despite our size, know true friendship and camaraderie. In looking back at each of our own experiences, good and bad, we will go forward and write history ourselves. Never have I met such people who could change the world like we can. And truly we will.

Hopefully all of you won’t judge me too critically, as I hope I have kept to the resolution and the standard of today’s debate. More than anything, though, I would like to thank all of you for making me, a small farm boy from the countryside of Wisconsin/Minnesota, into an academic, into a debater, into the keg-master of 2nd base, into a prince, and into a friend. I thank all of you for being such inspirational leaders, and on this joyous occasion of our graduation, I want to extend my hand of friendship towards all of your family members, as I am looking forward to find out some embarrassing moments before there was Carleton. Congratulations Class of 2009, and good luck.