Graduation 2025: Lessons on Leadership

GRADUATION REMARKS BY ANDREW DAVIS, HEAD OF SCHOOL

Lessons on Leadership from the Past Nine Years

Welcome to the graduation ceremony for the Mountain Tamalpais School Class of 2025. My name is Andrew Davis, and as Head of School, I am honored to welcome you to campus—and mostly, to celebrate our graduating class.

Before I move on to the advice-giving part of this speech, it’s important that I thank some critical members of the MTS community.

Thank you to our entire professional community. These dedicated adults work hard, often giving up their weekends, to realize the mission of our school and to shape the minds and lives of our students. Because of them, learning at MTS is vibrant and education is joyful.

A Different Kind of Speech

Now, every year when I get to this part of the ceremony, I usually have a written speech. I’d be looking down at it occasionally, with little arrows reminding me when to pause or look up. This year, I’m changing it up.

We started at MTS together nine years ago. It was so fun being at the dinner dance and seeing many of you, some of you barely taller than my waist when we began. And now you’re graduating. I’ve opted for many more postgraduate years here.

So this morning, I thought I would reflect on what I’ve learned over these nine years—things you might take with you into high school, into college, and into young adulthood.

But before I get there, I do have one prediction about the future.

A Word About AI

It wouldn’t be a 2025 graduation speech if it didn’t mention artificial intelligence.

Given the rise of AI, my thesis is this: the things that are authentically, truly human will be more valued than ever. Authenticity will be at a premium. So let me reassure you: these remarks today are not artificial intelligence—they’re Andrew Davis intelligence.

To prove it, I brought my mind map. Every major piece of writing I do starts with a mind map. This year, I left it out so you could see that I’m really speaking from my own original thoughts.

And just in case that wasn’t enough proof, I also stopped by Portable 1 right before graduation and asked a few graduates for a word that I could include in my speech. I went straight from there to here, with no stops at ChatGPT along the way

The words they gave me? Courage, Discovery, Penultimate, and, “Vex.” That one, with a lot of enthusiasm.

So I’ll do my best to work them in. Honestly, this is the part of the speech I’m most nervous about.

Advice From Nine Years Together

So, after learning with you at MTS for the past nine years, here are a few things I’ve learned that I hope will be useful to you.

1. View Challenge as an Ally, Not an Enemy

When we started together, MTS was in a difficult place. And once we got out of that place, we faced a global pandemic. Rather than be vexed by those challenges, I shifted my mindset. Instead of, I have to get through this, I thought, I get to get through this.

That shift is something I first learned as a high school cross-country runner. And actually, I gave a chapel speech about that idea at Middlesex School—pretty much 30 years ago today. Back then, I said that if you could see a challenge, like running up a hill, as your ally, it could set you apart.

That’s still true today. As you head into high school and college, if you can learn to see challenges not as enemies, but as opportunities, you’ll set yourself apart. But here’s what I’ve learned at MTS over the past nine years: this mindset does more than set you apart. It helps you leave a mark. At 17, it’s about standing out. At 47, it’s about making a difference and being remembered.

When you shift your mindset from I have to to I get to, yes, you’ll stand out. But you will also be remembered.

2. Hard Things Are Hard

Even if you shift your mindset and have the courage to face hard things, hard things are still hard. When I’ve faced hard things over the past nine years, they’ve led to truly sleepless nights. There were times when my stomach was so twisted in knots, I felt like I couldn’t eat. And my wife would say, “This too shall pass.” Hard things are hard, but you will get through them.

And something else I’ve learned: it feels good to accomplish something hard. You know this. You just put on Shrek. You know this. Your P.E. teachers, since kindergarten, have made you run the mile over and over again. You know this. You’ve had a Dave Celebration of Knowledge (a euphemism for a test!). You’ve learned that hard things are hard, but that they feel good once you’ve accomplished them.

But sometimes, “hard things are hard” isn’t about something to accomplish. It’s about a decision that needs to be made. During these nine years, I’ve had to make some really difficult decisions. My advice? Listen to your gut. Yes, seek counsel. People will give you advice. But ultimately, you have to make the decision that feels right in your gut.

Then, go to sleep. And if you wake up in the morning and still feel it’s right, you’ll know it’s the right decision.

You will face hard things. You already have. You are prepared.

3. Do What Needs to Be Done

Now, my penultimate piece of advice. When you see a need, act.

There are lots of people who notice what needs to be done. Plenty of people talk about what needs to be done. Be the person who does it.

Even now, when I possible, I make it a point that at the end of a school event, I take out the trash. I take the bag out of the trash can and carry it to the dumpster at the back of the school.

Why? One, it needs to be done. Two, it shows people for whom that is their job that you value their work. Be the kind of person who sees a need and steps up to meet it.

4. You Can’t Do It Alone

When you first started at MTS, we were facing real challenges around enrollment, reputation, and program. Later, we were one of the first schools in California to open fully in person for all kids, kindergarten through eighth grade, during the pandemic. These weren’t challenges I could face alone—no matter how much I tried.

Instead, I relied on, and continue to rely on, so many people in this room: professional community members, students, and many of your parents. 

You can’t do it alone. Surround yourself with good people who can help. Ask for help. And when you ask, listen.

And one last thing I’m still working on: when you do it, when you get through a challenge, celebrate. Take a moment. Say thank you.

So I want to take this moment to say: thank you. To every single person in this community who has been with us through the past nine years. You got us here. And today, we celebrate.

You’ve Done It

So that’s it.  Be authentically humanly intelligent. View challenge as an ally, not an enemy. Do what needs to be done. Hard things are hard. You can’t do it alone.

You’ve had a nine-year process of discovery at MTS.

Class of 2025—you are authentically intelligent human beings. You have viewed challenge as an opportunity. You have done hard things. You have stepped up when something needed to be done. And you haven’t done it alone.

Class of 2025—you’ve done it.

Congratulations, MTS 2025.

TGIAM is the blog of Andrew Davis, Head of School. TGIAM = Thank Goodness It's Almost Monday.