Head of School Ned Parsons Encourages Students to 'Make History' in Convocation

 

Mr. Parsons approached the podium for his annual convocation speech on September 19 armed with a set of “believe it or not” stories about Rivers’ past that spoke to its history of caring faculty, innovative students, and the ways in which alumni have taken what they learned at Rivers and used it impact the world.

 

Jack Lemmon ’43, perhaps Rivers’ most famous former student, learned he had a passion for theater when he was drafted into a role in the school play due to a classmate’s illness. His understudy role came on such short notice that Lemmon was forced to walk to the side of the stage to pick up his lines from the stagehand.

 

Early in the performance, Lemmon made his way over to the side of the stage for a line and as he turned to deliver it he fell flat on his face, sending the crowd into hysterics.

 

“That was the moment Jack Lemmon pointed to as the moment he knew he wanted to be an actor for the rest of his life,” Mr. Parsons said, relating the story to the students. “He loved the sound of an audience’s laughter so much that he never wanted it to go away. He realized that he loved acting, and he loved comedy, and that changed his life. Believe it or not, your time at Rivers can change your life, too.”

 

Moving beyond Lemmon, Mr. Parsons shared the story of David Steinberg ’46 whose passion for history and curiosity for China and the Far East led him to question why China wasn’t in his history textbook. The teacher agreed that it was an omission, and instead gave Steinberg a book that they read and discussed together every few days. This went on throughout the year with the teacher giving Steinberg more and more books on different Asian countries, feeding his love for that part of the world.

 

Today, David Steinberg is a political consultant whom the government reaches out to whenever questions about culture or policy in Asia arise. America’s top authority on the small Asian country of Myanmar, Steinberg was recently called to meet with President Barak Obama prior to a visit from the country’s president, Aung San Suu Kyi.

 

“He is still very much in demand and his work started here. He pursued that passion because it interested him and because somebody else here was willing to say, ‘let’s take a closer look at it.’ But the most important part of this story, for me, is that in influencing foreign policy in both Korea – which he did for a time – and Myanmar, David Steinberg changed the world, and that started right here at Rivers.”

 

Mr. Parsons went on to talk about Eric Shapiro ’86, whose career in Silicon Valley’s tech world began with three separate businesses he ran out of his parents’ basement while he was at Rivers, including one selling computer accessories to his friends at school.

 

Mr. Parsons closed his talk with the story of Nicolette Clifford ’03, who saw an opportunity to leverage the Rivers community’s energy to help the community at large, and in turn launched Rivers Givers. To date, Rivers Givers has raised more than $100,000 and impacted the lives of thousands of young people in the Greater Boston area.

 

While these names set the bar high, Mr. Parsons encouraged each and every student to reach for that bar and jump over it themselves.

 

“Whether or not history is the thing about which you are passionate, it lives on in a school like this, because it is our common story,” Mr. Parsons said. “Rivers is a community where we respect each other, where we encourage each other, entertain one another, and learn from each other.

 

“So as we begin this new school year, let’s think about making some history of our own… Let’s have a great year together.”