The document is a graduation speech given by Aidan McCarty. It recounts a story told by a guru about the secret to success, which is wanting to succeed as badly as wanting to breathe. It then discusses how Brookfield Academy helped Aidan find his passion for learning and overcoming bullying he faced elsewhere. It encourages the graduates to find their passion and want to succeed as badly as breathing to accomplish great things.

1. Aidan McCarty
Make the World Breathless
Once there was a young man who wanted, more than anything, to succeed. He
searched far and wide for the secret to success, but to no avail. One day, he heard of a far
away guru who knew of the secret that guaranteed success. After a lengthy search, he
came upon this guru, a small and unassuming old man. He went up to the man and he
asked him, “What is the secret to success?” The guru smiled weakly and said “I cannot
tell you, but perhaps I can show you. Meet me tomorrow, at the beach, at 4 a.m.”
The young man arrived promptly at 4 a.m., still bleary-eyed and dressed in an
expensive suit, prepared to learn the secret to success. The guru was already there
waiting. “If you want to know success, walk with me into the water.” Hesitantly the
young man followed the guru into the frigid ocean, the salty chill biting with every step,
and he went waist deep. He looked at the old man, who seemed unfazed by the
chill. “Now will you tell me?” he asked. “Walk on out a little farther.” The young man,
ever more skeptical of the guru’s methods, wanted to go back to shore, but the lust for
success drove him forward. He walked out into the restless ocean until the water sprayed
against his lips and he could barely breathe. “Now tell me the secret to success!” he
shouted. The guru smiled, “Are you sure you wish to know?” “Of course! That’s why I’m
here!” And before the young man could protest, the guru took his head and held him
firmly under the water. The young man clawed furiously, fighting to get to the surface, to
escape the deathly chill closing in around him. Just before he felt he would certainly
drown, the guru raised him up, the young man wheezing and gasping for air. “What did
you do that for?” he scowled. And the guru asked, “When you were under water, what
was the one thing you wanted to do?” The young man paused for a moment: “I wanted to
breathe.” And the guru said “ When you want to succeed as badly as you want to breathe,
then you will be successful.”
Personally, I’m just glad Dr. Guru isn’t taller so she couldn’t hold me under water
longer.
But in all sincerity, my hope for each of us in the future is that we find something
to be passionate about, something in which we want to succeed, something that we want
as badly as we want to breathe.
Brookfield Academy has done this for me-- it has been my guru; sometimes I felt
like I would drown, but I always managed to get my head above water. Brookfield
Academy has shown me that I am passionate about learning, that I want to positively
impact the world around me, and that I want knowledge as badly as I want to breathe. But
I was not always so lucky, I did not always attend BA.
I don’t know how many of you here today know what it’s like to be bullied, to be
physically threatened day after day. I don’t know how many of you here today have ever
felt unable to be yourself, have ever felt too small, too young, too weak. I don’t know
how many of you have ever felt afraid to get up in the morning and come to school,

2. afraid to want knowledge as badly as you want to breathe. But this is what it was like for
me before I came to BA.
I arrived here a skeptical 5th grader and I held my breath, uncertain of what the
future would hold. But eight memorable years later I gratefully exhale. I stand here and
most sincerely say that Brookfield Academy changed my life. Here, I found that I could
be myself, that I was not too small, too young, or too weak. And I found that I was no
longer afraid to want knowledge as badly as I wanted to breathe.
Brookfield Academy is truly unique. The Five Stars-- Heritage, Intellect,
Individuality, Truth, and Character-- form the very heart of this school and reach the
hearts of the people that attend it. Who embodies this more than Dr. Solsrud a mentor and
role model for each of us here today? The founders of this school have forged a culture
of both intellectual and moral excellence. This culture will continue to thrive and
generation upon generation of students will learn what it means not only to attend
Brookfield Academy but to be a scholar in every sense of the word: productive,
successful individuals with a strong sense of purpose and a deeply ingrained sense of
moral and ethical responsibility. This is what Brookfield Academy has done for us. We
are prepared to succeed at the highest level. And while sometimes it can be taken for
granted, when we look back 5, 10, 20 years from now, we will all remember Brookfield
Academy with fondness, respect--and, at least in my case, gratitude.
As we depart today, keep in mind that we still have much left to accomplish. This
is an end, but more importantly a new beginning and there is a whole world of air to
breathe. It’s not about where we will spend our next four years--not which school we
attend or what job we are offered--but rather: what we will do when we get there?
We are now ready to forge our own paths, ready to find the thing we want as
badly as we want to breathe. We will undoubtedly pursue a variety of paths. Maybe
Rohan will go on to design his own shoes, maybe Noah can be Mr. Wacholz Gen 2.
Maybe Pat and Spencer will play for the Packers or Meara and Ugo will run track in the
Olympics. Maybe Claire will build a bridge that we drive across on our way to work and
maybe Rachael will write her own history. Maybe Hannah will found a service
organization, maybe Brendan will become a stand-up and maybe Jimmy will run for
President. Or maybe none of that will happen. But uncertainty is what makes the journey
more valuable in the end. While we cannot always control our destiny, if we find our
passion and want to succeed as badly as we want to breathe, perhaps we can make the
world breathless.