Juan Diego seniors set to follow their callings
Friday, Jun. 03, 2016
By Laura Vallejo
Intermountain Catholic
SALT LAKE CITY — The Juan Diego Catholic High School Class of 2016 celebrated their commencement on May 28.
Of the class’ 224 students, 99 percent were headed to college; collectively they earned more than $11.9 million in scholarships. Four of their members were headed into the military.
Rex Alley was the class valedictorian and Jack J. Garzella was the salutatorian.
“As the valedictorian, it is my job to reflect on the class’ four years at Juan Diego while simultaneously sending it off into the future,” said Alley, who proceeded to recite the poem “A Noiseless Patient Spider” by Walt Whitman, saying that the words struck him as a metaphor for education.
“Whitman tells us that the human soul is naturally desperate for connections and attachments with which to bind its life. Just as a spider anchors its web to find security, so we anchor ourselves to the people and pursuits that make our lives,” Alley said.
Up to this point the Class of 2016 has been preparing for a vocation, but now they will begin to attain one, Alley said.
“A vocation is not a job, which we simply do for money and survival. It is not a career, which is little more than a long-form version of a job. No, our vocation describes that pursuit that most piques our minds, gladdens our hearts, and binds the filaments of our soul that construct the web of our lives. Our education thus far has allowed us to hear our calling. Life after high school is about giving that calling an answer,” Alley said.
He urged his classmates to “not return to our class reunion with a bursting bank account and an empty spirit and destitute heart. Our greatest successes in our vocations cannot be measured or shown to others,” said Alley.
Garzella’s salutatorian remarks focused on how one person can make a difference.
“Now is when I’m supposed to get up here and tell you all to go out and change the world! That’s a lot of pressure. I mean, there aren’t a lot of people that have changed the world over the course of history ... maybe Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, maybe Napoleon ... so instead of talking about changing the world, I’d like to talk about someone who’s been an inspiration for me,” said Garzella.
He talked about Jack Garzella – not himself or his father or grandfather, but “the first Jack Garzella,” the son of Italian immigrants who was born 1918 and died 1972.
In the 1950s, after working as a window washer, Jack Garzella opened his own building maintenance business.
At that time in the United States, many people were very prejudiced against the poor and minorities, “but Jack Garzella wasn’t. Now, if you’ve taken a history class here you know that Jack Garzella did not change the ’50s. But he did do something. He fed people, wasn’t afraid to hire people who were poor. ... He didn’t care about black or white. He even hired alcoholics and had this system set up so they had meals and didn’t drink themselves to death,” said Garzella, adding that none of those things changed the world.
“But he did what he could. And that matters. It mattered to the people who couldn’t have gotten a job, but did. When others weren’t there for people, Jack was. It matters. To do stuff like this, to give people an opportunity, or to comfort someone, to be a friend, or even just to not be an enemy, you don’t need to be the best or most talented,” said Garzella. “When you remember Jack Garzella, remember this: Don’t change the world. Change what you can.”
As the ceremony drew to a close, Msgr. Bircumshaw, diocesan administrator, offered his congratulatory remarks to the graduates.
Telling the students that they have had a wonderful opportunity in attending JDCHS, Msgr. Bircumshaw pointed out that life is challenging, but he asked them to hold on to their spirituality.
“Remember to forgive and forgive often. ... You can do that whether you’re Catholic or not. Pray the Lord’s Prayer or something similar,” said Msgr. Bircumshaw. “Do everything you can to stay on the narrow path. By love, forgiveness and mercy ... maybe you will not change the world, but you will change yourself; you’ll change the people around you.”
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