This last weekend was commencement at Bates. As part of the commencement festivities, several of our students are inducted into honor societies. In particular, Phi Beta Kappa (the Liberal Arts honors society) and Sigma Xi (the scientific honors society). I was asked to speak at the Sigma Xi induction ceremony, and was delighted to say yes. Of course, what followed were three weeks of near-panic at the thought of not having any idea what I was going to say that hadn’t been said before (or wouldn’t be said by someone else during commencement weekend). After staring blankly into space, reading every quote about science I could find, flip-flopping back and forth between themes, doodling in the margin of my notebook, and reading facebook updates, I finally realized I didn’t have to be original. There is a reason that these themes we always speak about are so cliche, and it’s because we all really believe in them. I decided that I could still make the delivery a bit more fun, especially since I’m not the most eloquent speaker and this wasn’t as formal an occasion as others they would encounter. After talking to Sigma Xi chapter president Nancy Koven, and getting the thumbs up for my idea, I decided to go for it. I thought that since this occupied my time and writing powers (so much so I’m a bit behind on blogging), I would share my speech with you all. I think it went quite well, the parents really enjoyed it, and the students had fun. There were a few moments that got me some “oohs”, and I think that even though it’s not the most groundbreaking speech (and now that I read it again I can think of quite a few more things I could say differently or add to it), it was, in the end, pretty original. The photo on the left is the final product of that speech. I was a little disappointed that some of the students left their Mobius strips, but I was excited to see someone’s twelve-year old brother walk up to the stage to grab his own. At any rate, it was certainly fun, and I was quite happy with the results. So here is my speech, word for word, although I added some instructions and comments here and there:

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