“Students, to you tis given to scan the heights above, to traverse the ethereal space and mark the systems of revolving worlds.”
— excerpt from a letter by Phyllis Wheatley, “To the University of Cambridge (now called Harvard University) in New England” in 1773. Phyllis Wheatley was brought as a slave from Africa when she was 8 years old. The U.S. Post Office issued a Phyllis Wheatley FOREVER stamp on January 29, 2026.
FOR ALL S.T.A.R HS GRADUATES
(S.AIPAN, T.INIAN, and R.OTA)
Now you are graduating from the 12th grade
you’ve come a long way from kindergarten
this summer read some books in the shade
a great way to get your after HS life startin.
On your journey through new learning transitions
use knowledge gained for the rest of your years
keep a sharp focus on all new learning positions
thinking and reading help shift your mental gears.
What will your life long experiences be?
it is all up to you, just keep trying every day
read all you can, let your questions run free
join in conversations, have something to say.
Keep the best of formal education learning
Keep those fresh educated brains burning.
PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS: BEYOND DURESS and DISTRESS
“… there’s no success like failure, and failure’s no success at all”
— An excerpt from “Love Minus Zero/No Limit” by Bob Dylan
Success is helped when accompanied by love
from parents as their children begin to succeed
in comprehending different pathways through
their life as a most important and vital need.
Not a single one of the high school graduates
who walk across the stage with diplomas today
can tell exactly where success will lead them
their future is beginning just moments away.
Concerned parents, teachers, and all students
involved with learning year after school year
now face the travail of a lifelong journey
towards success as they grin from ear to ear.
Success for all when it comes right down to it
begins the moment when we go and do it.
Joey “Pepe Batbon” Connolly is a retired educator who taught in the CNMI, NOLA, and LVNV. He is the Poet Laureate of Tinian and enjoys stargazing.
