Pursuing quest for personal truths

Photos and article by
VICTORIA GUAY at the Laconia Citizen.

SANBORNTON — The 11 members of Sant Bani School’s Class of 2011 graduated Friday afternoon during an intimate outdoor ceremony during which each student addressed the crowd.

“One of our founders, Kirpal Singh, said that the best education is that which teaches that the end of knowledge is service,” said Todd Schongalla, service coordinator for grades 7-12 and an elementary and environmental science teacher at the school, during his invocation.

He added that, through service to others, he’s watched the members of the class make tremendous growth, intellectually and spiritually.

He said that, while reading their senior service project reports, he was impressed by how much of life’s important lessons they have already learned, so he read excerpts from those reports.

“So, on this, your graduation day, your own words prove you have become wise and eloquent beyond your years,” Schongalla said.

During his address, Principal Kent Bicknell said he read a May 30 column in the New York Times by David Brooks called, “It’s Not About You,” in which he scoffed at most graduation metaphors.

Bicknell quoted Brooks’ words: “Many graduates are told to: Follow your passion, chart your own course, march to the beat of your own drummer, follow your dreams and find yourself. This is the litany of expressive individualism, which is still the dominant note in American culture. But, of course, this mantra misleads on nearly every front.”

Bicknell said he disagrees with Brooks and would much rather believe in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who addressed students at Dartmouth College in 1838, urging them not to give up their quest of truth and beauty in favor of material gain.

Bicknell said Emerson urged the students to “bend to the persuasion which is flowing to you from every object in nature.”

Bicknell said when people give up their quest for personal truth and for what makes them happy, “Then dies the man in you; then once more perish the buds of art, and poetry, and science, as they have died already in a thousand men.”

Each student got to address the class, sharing memories, giving thanks to teachers, family members and friends and even sharing some parting advice for classmates and others.

Erik Braconier, 17, of Hebron said during his address that, while he hears from graduates from other schools that they have no idea what they want to do with the rest of their life, he feels Sant Bani has prepared him well for the future.

He said personal goals are something Sant Bani encourages everyone to develop, while allowing them to explore their own interests.

“I have taken so many of the little things I’ve learned and turned them into something to look forward to,” Braconier said.

Before the ceremony, Braconier said leaving Sant Bani is like leaving a second home, since he’s been attending the private school since the third grade.

“I pretty much grew up here and spent more than half my life with some of teachers,” Bracnonier said. “It’s going to be like leaving another home to me.

He said with the school being small, “you get to know everyone in your class very well.” Braconier said he also developed strong relationships with teachers at the school.

Braconier, who follows his sister and fellow Sant Bani alum, Emily, to the University of New Hampshire, said he wants to focus on chemical or mechanical engineering.

Also before the ceremony, Doran Timm, 18, of Chichester said what he would miss most about the school is the student-teacher relationships and small class sizes at the school.

Timm, who spent his four high school years at Sant Bani, said that, initially, he came to the school because his parents made him go.

“But I decided to stay because of the size of the school and because I have made some really good friends,” Timm said. “I remember how open everyone was and how willing to help.”

Saran Savane, 20, of Cote d’Ivorie, said her sister, who attended Sant Bani a few years ago, encouraged Savane to apply.

“She thought it would be a good fit for me and I really liked it, so I stayed for two years,” Savane said.

Savane said that, when she came to Sant Bani, she didn’t know a single word of English.

During the graduation ceremony, Savane cried a few times, recalling her time at Sant Bani and the kindness everyone showed her.

She joked, “At Sant Bani, I learned that it takes a whole village to raise an African child,” after which the crowd erupted into laughter.

Sant Bani Class of 2011

Dayana Aleksandrova, daughter of Anzhela Aleksandrova, of Bulgaria, hosted by Elizabeth Sweeney and Gregg McCarthy of Gilford, will be attending Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

Erik Braconier, son of Kellie and Karl Braconier, of Hebron, will be attending the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

Taylar Clark, daughter of Scott and Jamie Clark, of Gilmanton, will be attending the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, where she will study occupational therapy.

Dylan Dinger, son of Christine Dinger and Steven Dinger both of Campton, will be attending Plymouth State University and Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga.

Marc Gonzalez, son of Meg Petersen of Plymouth and Carlos Gonzalez of Manchester, will attend Ithaca (NY) College.

Luke Kalvaitis, son of Linas and Teresa Kalvaitis of New London, will attend Colby-Sawyer College in New London.

Ethan McQueen, son of William McQueen and Darline O’Connor of Ashland, will attend the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

Saran Savane, daughter of Madoussou Konate and Sindou Savane of Côte d’Ivoire, hosted by Elizabeth Sweeney and Gregg McCarthy of Gilford, will attend Colby-Sawyer College in New London.

Doran Timm, son of Gil and Trili Timm of Chichester, will attend Merrimack College in Andover, Mass.

Henry Trachy, son of Stuart Trachy and Kerry Rainville of Franklin, will attend the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, Mass.

Rafael Zanete, son of Marcelo and Adriana Zanete of Brazil, hosted by Kellie and Karl Braconier, of Hebron, will be returning to Brazil to attend college there.

Reprinted here with permission from the Laconia Citizen.
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