Spring Break
Well wishes for the Clas of '007
Gary Caruso
Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: Viewpoint
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Rarely does a year's numerical arrangement offer a cute correlation to an icon like the parallel this year between the Class of '007 with the fictional international spy James Bond. But this week is not a cute one with the massacre at Virginia Tech. Neither is this a charming year with the carnage that defies understanding of both young Americans and Iraqis in the Middle East. The feel of our time is reminiscent of my second semester of freshman year when four students were murdered at Kent State.
It may seem whimsically befitting that at this time of international strife and uncertainty, this year's seniors can be branded with the James Bond code name of "007." Yet it is evident that for the near future, the years ahead will be filled with learning experiences in hope of healing an unsettled world. Life at times is cruel, shocking and unforgiving. Ask the families of sons and daughters lost on the Virginia Tech campus. Ask the maimed servicemen and servicewomen who return from Iraq each day with the scars and nightmares of war.
Within a month, the Notre Dame senior class will march onward to many personal and individual victories. Graduates will disperse in every direction like the high-flying seeds of a mature dandelion scattering on a windy day. Their choices in life can be motivated by either fear or love. All of us must decide if we are motivated by fear so that we are reactive, or if we are motivated by love so that we reach out to others in a proactive way. Tragically, many of us never know that we have a choice.
Notre Dame teaches its graduates to know better, to be better and to act better - not in a self-righteous way, but in service to others. The bonds of love felt at Virginia Tech in light of this week's tragedy are the bonds Notre Dame slowly, subtly instills in its graduates throughout their four-year journey. Many times, though, graduates who believe in absolute certainties diminish their ability for tolerance, open-mindedness and acceptance. However, sometimes the greater forces of the universe change individuals through an abrupt tragedy or death.
It may seem whimsically befitting that at this time of international strife and uncertainty, this year's seniors can be branded with the James Bond code name of "007." Yet it is evident that for the near future, the years ahead will be filled with learning experiences in hope of healing an unsettled world. Life at times is cruel, shocking and unforgiving. Ask the families of sons and daughters lost on the Virginia Tech campus. Ask the maimed servicemen and servicewomen who return from Iraq each day with the scars and nightmares of war.
Within a month, the Notre Dame senior class will march onward to many personal and individual victories. Graduates will disperse in every direction like the high-flying seeds of a mature dandelion scattering on a windy day. Their choices in life can be motivated by either fear or love. All of us must decide if we are motivated by fear so that we are reactive, or if we are motivated by love so that we reach out to others in a proactive way. Tragically, many of us never know that we have a choice.
Notre Dame teaches its graduates to know better, to be better and to act better - not in a self-righteous way, but in service to others. The bonds of love felt at Virginia Tech in light of this week's tragedy are the bonds Notre Dame slowly, subtly instills in its graduates throughout their four-year journey. Many times, though, graduates who believe in absolute certainties diminish their ability for tolerance, open-mindedness and acceptance. However, sometimes the greater forces of the universe change individuals through an abrupt tragedy or death.