Our most common destination for letters by far is Hanover, Massachusetts and other towns on the South Shore. However we do reach many other states and even countries. Here is a list of the final destinations outside Massachusetts.
Use the #2 Write it Forward Letter to start a new list.
Describe an experience you have had playing with or competing against an athlete who is challenged or has disabilities. How old were you? What was the setting? What was your reaction? Was the game modified to accommodate the challenged athlete?
Describe the most inspiring / intimidating youth athlete you have every competed against / with? Explain the person and their later development in High School if appropriate.
Describe your most difficult experience dealing with the loss of a loved one.
Reaction: How long will it last? Dave Evans tying shoe (No Legs No Problem)
“Sister collects the $20 entry fee. All the money was stole off the gate to pay the fighters.”
$2,500 to cover the purse and expenses.
Fighters get a percentage of bets.
Knocked out
Injury
A Person give up
You gotta fight.
Rules: No eye gouging, no groin shots, no biting
You get a BMW for your birthday
1978:
“You go to jail, don’t look for me to come.”
Squares / Mama’s boys
After a fight he was Alternative school for troubled youth
2005 Degree in education from Barry University. Hired as a body guard for Kimbo Slice. There still was a big demand for this. He makes it an actual event.
Craziest thing. “I saw a nose flipped over. Hanging on by the skin.”
“When you see the blood. You are at a gladiator fight.”
Miami Dade Police decline an interview.”
“The police seem to turn a blind eye.”
Boom Boom vs. Wee Wee
“I am a champ without a belt.”
“I have been getting in trouble since 1988. I would rob people. I beat up cops. 2007 I had enough of the thug life. I gave my life to Christ. I enjoy fighting. I enjoy taking care of my family. That is the only two things I do now.“
“$1,500 more than he makes a month at Pizza place.”
“Who’s next?”
It helped me get
“Hands and Kicks”
Joey Diaz 27-year old truck driver. knocked out. A ct scan revealed a concussion. $100 in the loss. He has no health insurance. $6,000+ medical bills”
We are keeping track of the impact the “You Make a Difference” Letter is having around the world. Click on the month to see ALL the feedback. Below is a sample.
I wanted to let you know I received the Write it forward letter and I am number 5. I am happy to continue this project if I could have another copy of the sheet?
I will mail you back the original sheet tomorrow.
Thanks and I really appreciated this project. It was a very pleasant surprise in my mailbox. A letter from a friend I haven’t heard from in a while. And goodness knows not via mail almost ever.
Have a good evening,
Valerie F.
Charlotte, NC
October 1st
October 1st email
Hi Mark,
I great project. Crazy that it takes a school project to make us stop our crazy lives for just a few minutes to make someone feel special. I was happy to participate.
Thanks,
Dear Mr Molloy,
I was very pleased to receive a wonderful letter from my grandson Thomas G.
Thomas is a remarkable young man who has great potential and personality!
This project was a great way to start the school year. I hope this first year of High School will be academically and socially successful for all!
Sincerely,
Maryann N.
September 12th, 2021 (Letter to Teacher)
Dear Mr. Molloy,
As a former teacher of English – Silver Lake Regional High School for 34 years – I would like to thank you for creating your ”great memories” writing project. back that I received this letter from my granddaughter, E, during grandparents weekend made it an even more special letter! she is my pride and joy. She is kind, caring, nurturing, as well as a talented (and gifted) athlete and a conscientious and hardworking student.
Her letter made me both laugh and cry. it was incredibly heartfelt and very perceptive. she knows me so well! I will always treasure it. I thank you for giving her the opportunity to be a part of this amazing assignment. I feel that we both learned a great deal from it.
Best wishes for a successful (and covid 3) school year.
September 13th Email to teacher
I just received a wonderful letter from my grandson, Matthew (D). This letter made my day! Thank you for this beautiful remembrance, Matthew! Love, Grandma
Text to Student: I got your letter today and I was touched
September 14th email to teacher
Dear Mr. Molloy,
We were so elated to receive the letter from our granddaughter. It was a nice surprise to receive a hand written letter in the mail. We have instilled in our children the importance of family traditions and we are so happy this legacy has been passed down to our grandchildren. We plan vacations with our extended family it creates memorable experiences that will last a lifetime. It is our family’s tradition to get together for all the holidays and birthdays we have a lot of laughs and fun memories. We applaud your Letters of Appreciation Project it highlights the importance of children’s role models, family values and traditions. Keep up the great work!
Best,
September 15th, 2021 Letter to teacher
I have received a wonderful letter from my ” favorite grandson” As he calls himself. he is indeed a grand young man and getting a letter from him delighted me.
My grandmother used to write letters to me and she wouldn’t clothes either a dime or stamp to encourage me to right back.
It is so important for young people to think back and appreciate relatives and mentors who made a difference in their lives – those who loved them and taught them the important basics of life in the importance of learning.
This is indeed a worthy activity having the students think back and appreciate those who helped them along their path in life. please keep your students THINKING!
Sincerely,
Sincerely,
Student’s Mimi (Hingham, MA)
September 17th Email
I just wanted to thank you for The Write it Forward project your class has participated in. I am a recipient from Isabella K.. I already know how special we are to her, she always shows it, but in this crazy world we live in it is so nice for a group of young people to show gratitude. As soon as I read the cover letter it made me say to myself “why has it taken a grandchilds High School project to write a letter of appreciation.” I really hope this continues on. Thank you again for bringing positivity to Havover High!
Enjoy the weekend! Patty P.
September 19th Email
Hi,
I wanted to write to say how much I enjoyed being part of this project, both as a sender and a receiver. I am friends with Cassie L.’s grandmother. We have been friends for 32 years and her letter to me, truly touched my heart. I sent my letter to my sister. As she read the letter over the phone to me she had to get some kleenex as the tears flowed. This project gives people the opportunity to express how they feel about a person that is important to them. It also gives the recipient the joy in knowing how important they are and how they have made a difference.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful project with me!
Jeanne M.
September 22nd, Email
Great job on the ONE LETTER project. It made its way to me via Hilton Head and the letter I received will be valued forever…as I hope the one I sent will do same for my recipient.
Peace and great job,
Hi Mark, (email September 26th)
I am E’s Grandmother, thank you for doing this project with the students.
When we received E’s letter, it took a lot to read it without choking up. It was an amazing letter to read of how she feels and the memories that she holds deep inside. In today’s society, we generally just say the I love you’s and the hugs. But we don’t seem to stop and take the time to just sit and talk about the things we love about someone or just remember how special someone is to them. Or even write a letter if you can’t get together. After I lost my parents, I remember wishing I could have told them more how I felt about them, or spent more time with them. But again life gets in the way, and instead of taking that for what it is and making sure you do it to those still with us, something is always happening and you do the I love you’s and hugs again.
I am not saying at every moment you need to get into details all the time, but once in a while is nice. This project, and after E’s letter to us, it made me really think about those that mean a lot to me, and how I don’t really tell them (or than I love you) as often as I should. This letter prompted me to write a letter of my own, it felt good doing it. I was contacted by the person I wrote to, and they expressed how much that letter meant to them.
I am thrilled E sent us that letter, and truly expressed how she felt and her memories of things we have done together over the years, this is something I will treasure for the rest of my life.
Thank you
September 28, 2021 Email to Teacher
We are so honored and very touched to be chosen by D. as people who have made a difference in his life. Regrettably, we only see D. twice a year, Xmas and summer holidays, being so far away. It gives us so much joy to see D. and his cousins eat together at meal times with continuous nonstop conversation, build mega sand cities on the shore, haul their own wood and build huge bonfires on the beach, eat s’mores and chitchat til after midnight. At times there were some grumbles on jam making day , but I realize now these were happy memories for D. especially the unlimited quantity they ingested. The boys looked forward to dessert after every meal and before bed. Like their Grampa, food is the highlight of their day. We think that this is a great activity to bring the private thoughts in our mind forward and appreciate them in print making them tangible for the student.
Warmest regards,
Grandma and grandpa
It was such a pleasant surprise to get the letter from A in which she recalled some of the fun and special times we all spent together. It’s nice to know she remembered those times as being special.
This program your class is taking part in is a great one in that it causes the students to pause and remember some of the important times in their lives. In turn, it motivates those receiving the letter to do the same and remember and recall someone in their lives who made a difference and a lasting impression. It is too easy in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven environment to forget those we should remember and cherish the impact they make on our lives.
Thanks for asking A to pause and recall some of the folks who have made a difference in her life.
September 14th, 2017 (Tiverton, RI 15 minute letter): Email from a Hanover High Secretary
A woman called this afternoon. She was a Hanover resident for 35 years and had two children go through Hanover Public Schools. “The daughter was a wonderful student; the son was ok – you know boys!” (her words not mine!)
She told me that her granddaughter unfortunately passed away a long time ago. The family awards an annual scholarship through the DARE program. S.D., a freshman, received this scholarship in 2014. He wrote her an amazingly thoughtful and heartfelt letter thanking her once again for the scholarship. He wrote about how the scholarship changed his life. He could not thank her enough for everything she did for him and every other person that she helped over the years. She asked if she could read the letter to me. She did and broke down crying while reading it.
Mrs. Z. could not thank you enough for assigning this task to the students. She said the letter made her day, and made her life. She will never be the same.
I am so sorry that you were not available for this phone call this afternoon.
Please call her at your earliest convenience! She would really like to thank you personally.
How sweet!
September 14th, 2017 (Connecticut) Email: Dear Mr. Molloy, We received a most heartwarming and endearing letter today from our grandson, S.R. My wife and I were deeply touched and remembering those wonderful times in the past was a joy. Thank you for introducing letter writing to this generation. I have a comment and a question. As part of my retirement I teach third year medical students the value of communication. During the session I ask if any of them have ever handwritten a letter to a member of their family. Overwhelmingly the answer is NO! When I recall and still read some of the many letters I wrote as a young man to siblings and parents, I am sorrowed to think that this generation will miss all that. I hope your session may be a beginning for some to start writing. Email and text are not enough. Teacher Question: How many text / snapchats per day? My question is that since S. sent his letter to both of us, may I copy the instructions for Write it Forward so my wife and I can respond individually. I do hope I am clear in our intent. Best wishes, P.K.
September 14th, 2017 (Hanover): Student was taken out to lunch @ Fridays by Grandparents. The student had a fantastic pasta meal!
September 14th, 2017 Text: Nana (Bridgewater) to Granddaughter: “Hi I just received your letter, what a beautiful letter from a beautiful granddaughter. So precious and loving! Your letter I will always treasure, but I treasure you more. You light the world with your smile. You are truly a gift, I love you so much from Nan!
September 14th, 2017 Text (Braintree 30 minutes) Nana to Granddaughter: S. I just finished crying, your letter to me and Papa was so beautiful!! Thank you so much!!! I still have A’s when she wrote to us too. We were very touched!!
September 15th, 2017 Text (Trumbull, CT, 30 minutes) Pop-Pop to Grandson: A, I got your letter and loved it. I will be writing a letter to someone too. Love you and can’t wait to see you soon.
September 15th: Email to Teacher: I want to commend you on the project you set out for your students. My grandson, P.M. wrote a LONG letter to me (and I know that was hard) which I now cherish and enjoy reading again and again. Keep up your good work. The students will remember your work long after they leave school, and all the recipients are grateful to get such positive boosts!
(P.M.’s grandmother)
September 16th: Email to Teacher: This letter brought happy tears to our eyes and big smiles on our faces. What a great activity and what a special grandson our A is. Thank you Mr. Molloy, we will “Write It Forward”‘ Grandparents
September 17th: Student feedback: Visit from Grammy (Osterville) who said “I loved it and am going to frame it.”
September 18th: Email to Teacher: I just received a letter from my grandson and I was so happy to get such a great letter from my favorite grandson. He loves your school and talks all the time about how much fun he and his friends have living and learning in Hanover. Looking forward to seeing if it gets back to. you. Thanks A grandfather Quincy MA.
September 18th: Email to Teacher: Just a quick note to say thank you so much for your write it forward project. M is the youngest of my six grandchildren and other than thank you notes this is the first letter I have ever received!What a joy it was to receive! Please know I have forwarded a letter to someone who is very special to me and also sent a return letter to my grandson. In this age of texting and e-mailing I hope this project will generate many hand written letters. Again thank you so much for this special project and I’m very thankful that M has such an amazing teacher.
Sincerely,
DG
September 18th: Student Feedback “I loved it!” Papa Geno (Milton)
Email to Teacher: Mr. Molloy My name is B.C. and I just received the most wonderful letter from my granddaughter, D. through your project. I was surprised and pleased with the memories that she mentioned and must say it certainly brought a smile to my lips! I am pleased to send a letter on to continue this project forward. In this day and age of electronics a lot of good communication gets lost. Sent from my iPad (Grandma’s using technology)
Plenty of Texts acknowledging letters (we did not list all)
September 22nd: Email to teacher from 2nd letter:
I received a letter from my longtime friend, Steve C. on behalf of John O. Steve is like a brother to me as we served in the Navy together. I was surprised and grateful to get this letter and have forward on. Thanks for supporting this as it is always nice to hear from friends.
Thanks,
Mick M.
Advance NC
September 22nd: Email to teacher: Good morning, this is M.’s grandmother “Beans”.. Just received a letter from him, and encouraged me to send a letter of appreciation to someone special, this letter brought tears and enjoyment, and certainly brightened up my day…
I am writing to you in answer to your Write It Forward Project. I am A’s Nene. I got a kick out of A’s letter. It is nice to see her memories. I knew she loved having been able to pet the chipmunks at my Cape home. I am giving her a picture of one of my buddies to show you. (WOW: This will be great!) He would come when I called him and jump into the cup when I told him to and turned around when I told him and let me rub his back while he ate and would go back in fourth to his whole. In all there were four chipmunks and all the kids got a kick of having them eat out of there hands. One in particular would put a little hop into his retreat and the kids would go dump tee dump. A asked me if I was going to bring my chipmunk with me when I moved off Cape and I told her I couldn’t because his family would miss him. I always had large white clam shells for them to paint with water colors.
When I retired I sold my house in Stoughton and my cottage in Dennisport and bought a home in Dennis on the North side of the Cape where most year round residents live so I had a lot of furniture to fix up the lower level of my new home for the kids. One rooms with carpet I fixed up as a den and the kids and the other one I put a bunk bed and two single beds plus a bed the former owners left for me which was a hospital bed. The kids would fight over bunk beds and the hospital bed. Another room I fixed up with a kitchen table from the cottage so the kids could pain the shells or play with play dough if it was rainy out. Another room I fixed up as a dance hall with posters of their favorite singers. They would go down there and blast the radio and dance up a storm. They never went into that room alone because there was a door at the end that went up to my garage. They would sat there were ghosts in there. I loved having the kids come down and always looked for sand dollars and big white shells to paint. Easter was fun because all four families came down for dinner and a Easter egg hunt. I would put one or two quarters in each egg and watch the kids go nuts, after dinner, to get the most eggs. We still have an Easter egg hunt at whoever hosts Easter, but now its $1, $5, $10 and one $20. My girls and I all contribute money. Please keep this program going forward, it is a treat to see there memories.
@SportsHHS ( 431 / 1K followers) Sports in Society class using twitter to incorporate 21st century learning! Always looking for great sports gear!
@jaytatum0 (356K followers) If you put God First anything is possible!!! Philippians 4:13- I can do all things through Christ who Strengthens me!!! In Jesus name i Play
@smart_MS3 (289K followers) Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. Greatest City in the USA ☘️ represent.com/marcus
Youth Tryouts are an important part of so many sports. Athletes as young as 4 years old can tryout for elite teams in almost every sports. Travel basketball often starts in 4th grade. The players are 9-10 years old. Competitive sports can be harsh. Having to assign an 8 year old athlete a letter A, B, or C seems to be a bit much, however each town does this.
Players are often evaluated by a group of independent adults. Coordinating a tryout to allow the players to appropriately evaluated is critical. In Marshfield 4 high school players are assigned to each tryout group to help out each grade. Some grades have FOUR travel teams, while in the past there was a no-cut A team where all the members who tried out made the team. (What would be the challenges this team may have faced?)
Your task today is to write a sincere letter to a young athlete who is trying out for a cut / placement sport. YOU ARE WISE! Many of you have been through tryouts in the past. Some have received the news you wanted to hear “I made the team.” Some have received the devastating news that you were not good enough to be on the best team. You were a “B” or a “C” player. (One parent even created a team called the “leftovers” who had been cut completely – a D team.)
Your letter should include:
INTRODUCTION: My name is First Name, Last initial. Also include your current sports teams and past travel team experiences.
TRYOUT ADVICE as a player: This is general advice on how to have a positive sports experience. What can a player do to get noticed at tryouts? What are evaluators looking for? What would you do if you had the chance to relive your sports experience? What is the best advice you can give?
REACTION TO THE NEWS: The most difficult part is the placement if it does not go well. Life is not fair. There are many “coin flip” calls between the weaker players on the stronger team and the stronger players on a weaker team.
LIFE LESSONS: This is the biggie… What should the players learn from being a part of any sport? Include the most important lesson that you have learn.
Discussion
What youth sports have tryout?
What do you remember about the tryout process?
What do you remember about the “moment” you found out? What was the most thrilling / disappointing news? Looking back what are your thoughts on that event as a high school senior.
Tryout letter
Students will compose a letter that will be shared with a youth athlete getting ready for a tryout. In the letter, introduce yourself as a student-athlete, explain your experiences with tryouts, and offer 2 pieces of advice for the tryouts and sports in general. Assessment length and sincerity.
The following are the remarks by Naval Adm. William H. McRaven, ninth commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, at the University-wide Commencement at The University of Texas at Austin on May 17:
President Powers, Provost Fenves, Deans, members of the faculty, family and friends and most importantly, the class of 2014. Congratulations on your achievement.
It’s been almost 37 years to the day that I graduated from UT. I remember a lot of things about that day. I remember I had throbbing headache from a party the night before. I remember I had a serious girlfriend, whom I later married — that’s important to remember by the way — and I remember that I was getting commissioned in the Navy that day.
But of all the things I remember, I don’t have a clue who the commencement speaker was that evening, and I certainly don’t remember anything they said. So, acknowledging that fact, if I can’t make this commencement speech memorable, I will at least try to make it short.
The University’s slogan is, “What starts here changes the world.” I have to admit — I kinda like it. “What starts here changes the world.”
Tonight there are almost 8,000 students graduating from UT. That great paragon of analytical rigor, Ask.Com, says that the average American will meet 10,000 people in their lifetime. That’s a lot of folks. But, if every one of you changed the lives of just 10 people — and each one of those folks changed the lives of another 10 people — just 10 — then in five generations — 125 years — the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people.
800 million people — think of it — over twice the population of the United States. Go one more generation and you can change the entire population of the world — eight billion people.
If you think it’s hard to change the lives of 10 people — change their lives forever — you’re wrong. I saw it happen every day in Iraq and Afghanistan: A young Army officer makes a decision to go left instead of right down a road in Baghdad and the 10 soldiers in his squad are saved from close-in ambush. In Kandahar province, Afghanistan, a non-commissioned officer from the Female Engagement Team senses something isn’t right and directs the infantry platoon away from a 500-pound IED, saving the lives of a dozen soldiers.
But, if you think about it, not only were these soldiers saved by the decisions of one person, but their children yet unborn were also saved. And their children’s children were saved. Generations were saved by one decision, by one person.
But changing the world can happen anywhere and anyone can do it. So, what starts here can indeed change the world, but the question is — what will the world look like after you change it?
Well, I am confident that it will look much, much better. But if you will humor this old sailor for just a moment, I have a few suggestions that may help you on your way to a better a world. And while these lessons were learned during my time in the military, I can assure you that it matters not whether you ever served a day in uniform. It matters not your gender, your ethnic or religious background, your orientation or your social status.
Our struggles in this world are similar, and the lessons to overcome those struggles and to move forward — changing ourselves and the world around us — will apply equally to all.
I have been a Navy SEAL for 36 years. But it all began when I left UT for Basic SEAL training in Coronado, California. Basic SEAL training is six months of long torturous runs in the soft sand, midnight swims in the cold water off San Diego, obstacles courses, unending calisthenics, days without sleep and always being cold, wet and miserable. It is six months of being constantly harrassed by professionally trained warriors who seek to find the weak of mind and body and eliminate them from ever becoming a Navy SEAL.
But, the training also seeks to find those students who can lead in an environment of constant stress, chaos, failure and hardships. To me basic SEAL training was a lifetime of challenges crammed into six months.
So, here are the 10 lessons I learned from basic SEAL training that hopefully will be of value to you as you move forward in life.
Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors, who at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they would inspect was your bed. If you did it right, the corners would be square, the covers pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack — that’s Navy talk for bed.
It was a simple task — mundane at best. But every morning we were required to make our bed to perfection. It seemed a little ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that were aspiring to be real warriors, tough battle-hardened SEALs, but the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times over.
If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.
And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
During SEAL training the students are broken down into boat crews. Each crew is seven students — three on each side of a small rubber boat and one coxswain to help guide the dingy. Every day your boat crew forms up on the beach and is instructed to get through the surfzone and paddle several miles down the coast. In the winter, the surf off San Diego can get to be 8 to 10 feet high and it is exceedingly difficult to paddle through the plunging surf unless everyone digs in. Every paddle must be synchronized to the stroke count of the coxswain. Everyone must exert equal effort or the boat will turn against the wave and be unceremoniously tossed back on the beach.
For the boat to make it to its destination, everyone must paddle. You can’t change the world alone — you will need some help — and to truly get from your starting point to your destination takes friends, colleagues, the good will of strangers and a strong coxswain to guide them.
If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.
Over a few weeks of difficult training my SEAL class, which started with 150 men, was down to just 35. There were now six boat crews of seven men each. I was in the boat with the tall guys, but the best boat crew we had was made up of the the little guys — the munchkin crew we called them — no one was over about five-foot-five.
The munchkin boat crew had one American Indian, one African American, one Polish American, one Greek American, one Italian American, and two tough kids from the midwest. They out-paddled, out-ran and out-swam all the other boat crews. The big men in the other boat crews would always make good-natured fun of the tiny little flippers the munchkins put on their tiny little feet prior to every swim. But somehow these little guys, from every corner of the nation and the world, always had the last laugh — swimming faster than everyone and reaching the shore long before the rest of us.
SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education and not your social status.
If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers.
Several times a week, the instructors would line up the class and do a uniform inspection. It was exceptionally thorough. Your hat had to be perfectly starched, your uniform immaculately pressed and your belt buckle shiny and void of any smudges. But it seemed that no matter how much effort you put into starching your hat, or pressing your uniform or polishing your belt buckle — it just wasn’t good enough. The instructors would find “something” wrong.
For failing the uniform inspection, the student had to run, fully clothed into the surfzone and then, wet from head to toe, roll around on the beach until every part of your body was covered with sand. The effect was known as a “sugar cookie.” You stayed in that uniform the rest of the day — cold, wet and sandy.
There were many a student who just couldn’t accept the fact that all their effort was in vain. That no matter how hard they tried to get the uniform right, it was unappreciated. Those students didn’t make it through training. Those students didn’t understand the purpose of the drill. You were never going to succeed. You were never going to have a perfect uniform.
Sometimes no matter how well you prepare or how well you perform you still end up as a sugar cookie. It’s just the way life is sometimes.
If you want to change the world get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.
Every day during training you were challenged with multiple physical events — long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, hours of calisthenics — something designed to test your mettle. Every event had standards — times you had to meet. If you failed to meet those standards your name was posted on a list, and at the end of the day those on the list were invited to a “circus.” A circus was two hours of additional calisthenics designed to wear you down, to break your spirit, to force you to quit.
No one wanted a circus.
A circus meant that for that day you didn’t measure up. A circus meant more fatigue — and more fatigue meant that the following day would be more difficult — and more circuses were likely. But at some time during SEAL training, everyone — everyone — made the circus list.
But an interesting thing happened to those who were constantly on the list. Over time those students — who did two hours of extra calisthenics — got stronger and stronger. The pain of the circuses built inner strength, built physical resiliency.
Life is filled with circuses. You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core.
But if you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.
At least twice a week, the trainees were required to run the obstacle course. The obstacle course contained 25 obstacles including a 10-foot high wall, a 30-foot cargo net and a barbed wire crawl, to name a few. But the most challenging obstacle was the slide for life. It had a three-level 30-foot tower at one end and a one-level tower at the other. In between was a 200-foot-long rope. You had to climb the three-tiered tower and once at the top, you grabbed the rope, swung underneath the rope and pulled yourself hand over hand until you got to the other end.
The record for the obstacle course had stood for years when my class began training in 1977. The record seemed unbeatable, until one day, a student decided to go down the slide for life head first. Instead of swinging his body underneath the rope and inching his way down, he bravely mounted the TOP of the rope and thrust himself forward.
It was a dangerous move — seemingly foolish, and fraught with risk. Failure could mean injury and being dropped from the training. Without hesitation the student slid down the rope perilously fast. Instead of several minutes, it only took him half that time and by the end of the course he had broken the record.
If you want to change the world sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.
During the land warfare phase of training, the students are flown out to San Clemente Island which lies off the coast of San Diego. The waters off San Clemente are a breeding ground for the great white sharks. To pass SEAL training there are a series of long swims that must be completed. One is the night swim.
Before the swim the instructors joyfully brief the trainees on all the species of sharks that inhabit the waters off San Clemente. They assure you, however, that no student has ever been eaten by a shark — at least not recently. But, you are also taught that if a shark begins to circle your position — stand your ground. Do not swim away. Do not act afraid. And if the shark, hungry for a midnight snack, darts towards you — then summon up all your strength and punch him in the snout, and he will turn and swim away.
There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the swim you will have to deal with them.
So, if you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.
As Navy SEALs one of our jobs is to conduct underwater attacks against enemy shipping. We practiced this technique extensively during basic training. The ship attack mission is where a pair of SEAL divers is dropped off outside an enemy harbor and then swims well over two miles — underwater — using nothing but a depth gauge and a compass to get to their target.
During the entire swim, even well below the surface, there is some light that comes through. It is comforting to know that there is open water above you. But as you approach the ship, which is tied to a pier, the light begins to fade. The steel structure of the ship blocks the moonlight, it blocks the surrounding street lamps, it blocks all ambient light.
To be successful in your mission, you have to swim under the ship and find the keel — the centerline and the deepest part of the ship. This is your objective. But the keel is also the darkest part of the ship — where you cannot see your hand in front of your face, where the noise from the ship’s machinery is deafening and where it is easy to get disoriented and fail.
Every SEAL knows that under the keel, at the darkest moment of the mission, is the time when you must be calm, composed — when all your tactical skills, your physical power and all your inner strength must be brought to bear.
If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment.
The ninth week of training is referred to as “Hell Week.” It is six days of no sleep, constant physical and mental harassment, and one special day at the Mud Flats. The Mud Flats are area between San Diego and Tijuana where the water runs off and creates the Tijuana slues, a swampy patch of terrain where the mud will engulf you.
It is on Wednesday of Hell Week that you paddle down to the mud flats and spend the next 15 hours trying to survive the freezing cold mud, the howling wind and the incessant pressure to quit from the instructors. As the sun began to set that Wednesday evening, my training class, having committed some “egregious infraction of the rules” was ordered into the mud.
The mud consumed each man till there was nothing visible but our heads. The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would quit — just five men — and we could get out of the oppressive cold. Looking around the mud flat it was apparent that some students were about to give up. It was still over eight hours till the sun came up — eight more hours of bone-chilling cold.
The chattering teeth and shivering moans of the trainees were so loud it was hard to hear anything. And then, one voice began to echo through the night, one voice raised in song. The song was terribly out of tune, but sung with great enthusiasm. One voice became two and two became three and before long everyone in the class was singing. We knew that if one man could rise above the misery then others could as well.
The instructors threatened us with more time in the mud if we kept up the singing but the singing persisted. And somehow the mud seemed a little warmer, the wind a little tamer and the dawn not so far away.
If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of hope. The power of one person — Washington, Lincoln, King, Mandela and even a young girl from Pakistan, Malala — one person can change the world by giving people hope.
So, if you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.
Finally, in SEAL training there is a bell. A brass bell that hangs in the center of the compound for all the students to see. All you have to do to quit is ring the bell.
Ring the bell and you no longer have to wake up at 5 o’clock. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the freezing cold swims. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the PT — and you no longer have to endure the hardships of training. Just ring the bell.
If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.
To the graduating class of 2014, you are moments away from graduating. Moments away from beginning your journey through life. Moments away from starting to change the world — for the better. It will not be easy.
But, YOU are the class of 2014, the class that can affect the lives of 800 million people in the next century.
Start each day with a task completed. Find someone to help you through life. Respect everyone.
Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often. But if take you take some risks, step up when the times are toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden and never, ever give up — if you do these things, then the next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today.
And what started here will indeed have changed the world — for the better.
