Words of wisdom from Wayland graduate, Jordan Balter, class of 2005

I’m not someone who talks very much, but I hope that you can find meaning in what I have to say, something that helps you even a little bit in this vast ocean called life that we are about to push our dinghies out into.

I’ll start by talking about cowboys. Why cowboys? What could cowboys possibly have to do with the senior grade of 2005? Right now, I don’t know, but by the end of this, I hope we both do.

Cowboys, in my own romanticized, fantastical, idealistic view of them, are totally cool. Beyond comparison. Well not really, many other mythic level pop culture warriors could be contested to be on the same level. These other warriors being such media staples as ninjas, pirates, zombies, robots and Mr. T. All easy targets for raising on a pedestal, but I think the cowboy is a bit harder.

Cowboys are every bit as gung ho as the A-Team was, every bit as scruffy as the pirate, and if they had to, they could probably go toe to toe with a ninja. The thing that sets them apart from their contemporaries is their moral standing, I believe.

Pirates may be romantic figures, but they’re thieves above all else, and thus in the end, that can lead to nowhere but heartbreak. Why you ask? Because we’re taught, or should be taught, that crime doesn’t pay. Pirates will win for a time, but I believe in more than material wealth, and I have faith that you do too. Now, that faith doesn’t have to mean a god or Jesus, it can be the faith in the fellow man. Most Atheists and Orthodox alike I believe want to believe in the goodness of humanity, that their neighbors are good people. And that’s more than a pirate is, I’ll tell you that.

Close to that is the ninja. Sleek, sneaky, get in, get out, like the wind, like the night, cool to the max. But, they are also assassins. Case closed. Sure cowboys fight, and do kill, but that’s not their job, and despite their media image, cowboys often only attack when everything’s on the line. They don’t go in with both barrels blazing. That ninja pal of yours will cut you for a quarter, a cowboy friend is forever.

Zombies have no mind to think with, robots only fight for what they’re programmed to fight for. Both, I think we can agree, are no good to be. That’s the thing about most of us going to college. Why are we going? Do we want to learn, to have great new experiences? Or are we going to become pirates? Or do we go to college because that’s what comes after high school, that’s the schedule, that’s the program. And oh yeah, B.A. Baracus is a fictional character.

So here I think I’ll try to tie everything together and try to wrap things up. You’ve all got one last summer together to go out and enjoy. So, here goes: We all are going out into life to do different things, for different reasons, in different places. I’m not asking for you all to become tycoons and then give me some free handouts; naw, I’m asking you just to be aware what you’re doing in life, and why you’re doing it, live your life morally, justly, and with compassion for your fellow people. Be a cowboy.