Herr Daniel Tess

1. We’re studying Virgil’s Aeneid right now, so some of his words came to mind. No matter what life, love, or rumor (in the Aeneid it’s personified) throws at you,tu ne cede malis, sed audentior ito: do not succumb to evils, rather go more boldly against them.
2. I hate it when people threaten, “that’s not going to work in the real world.” What many people mean is, “you can’t derive a salary for you and your family from your uncommonness.”  The world as it stands is a mixture of tradition and entrepreneurship, you’ll find some way to make your individual interests real and marketable.  Or you’ll fail and you’ll learn something through it.  The Latin etymology is debated, but there is a chance that the adjective real is related to the verb “reri” which means “to think”.  One could say real is real because someone thought it up.
3. That having been said, never use your personal car to deliver pizzas.
4. Read something old/classic (and perhaps heavy) and something new (either fluffy or deep).
5. Notes on the Death of Culture: Essays on Spectacle and Society (Mario Vargos Llosa, tr. J. King)
6. Les Miserables (Victor Hugo, tr. Julie Rose)
7. Berlin 1936: Sechzehn Tage im August (Oliver Holmes)

Mr. Patrick Perez

1. I have a poster in my room with a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote that I particularly embrace and recommend:
2. “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others…To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.” I really can’t do much better than that in expressing my hope for what your lives will be like.
3. Reading recommendations? It’s vacation time.  Go read some fun, escapist trash. (I bet you A.P. Lit. survivors didn’t see that one coming!)

Mr. Tom Lueck

1. Wizard of Oz: ” Why, anybody can have a brain. That’s a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven’t got: a diploma.” – L. Frank Baum

Madame Mary Mann

From what I remember about college which was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

1. Go to all your classes. I probably missed a total of 10 classes in my five years at Madison. (Yep, five years- back in the day, it was so cheap an extra year just meant more opportunities to take great classes.) Things happen in class! Duh!
2. Keep your options open. You may think you know what you want to do right now but is it really what you want to do?  You’re in college to get an education.  Get one. Take that class that just intrigues you.
3. Study abroad. The world is a vast and diverse place. It sounds obvious but until you have lived somewhere else, you don’t really understand it.
4. Don’t be afraid to be sad and lonely. You may be surrounded by thousands of people but you’ve left what you know. It’s okay.  IF you find it gets to be too much, reach, out even if it’s just to one of your old teachers at BCHS.  We haven’t forgotten you.
5. I am currently reading H is for Hawk and really enjoying it. If you’ve never read The Book Thief, it is one of my favorites.  So is Jane Eyre. If you love Star Trek, Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas is a fun book. And if you’ve never read it, The Little Prince, so much of it speaks to where you are now in your lives.

Señora Dubiel

1. “The past is the prologue”

Mr. Jeff Gryzwa

1. Advice: You’ve made new friends, worked through challenges, and learned a tremendous amount at BC, now it’s time to turn the page onto a new chapter in your life. Whether you are off to college, to the military, or to the world of work, utilize what you’ve learned in the past and push forward to new adventures, meet new people, explore new regions, find a passion, but most importantly, continue to learn!  Best of luck BCHS class of 2016, you are truly one of the best!
2. Summer reading: Whether it be in newspapers, magazines, or the Internet, keep up with current events that interest you!

Mr. Blaha

1. Find your passion and follow your heart. If you do what you love, it’s not work.
2. Also, be nice to each other. Always. The world could use a little nice.

Mr. Paese

1. If given the opportunity, study abroad or participate in an extended service program. It will open your eyes in important ways to how others experience the world.

Mr. Keir

1. Advice: Being less focused than most people tell you you ought to be isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Especially in the next few years.  The problem is you have to be a responsible person to pull it off and, then, there you go.  And take a long road trip, leaving home with very little money in your pocket.
2. Books: Blue Jeans in High Places and It’s Even Worse Than it Looks (Was) because we need a reckoning and there are more of us that there are of them.

Mrs. Evans

1. Scour your course guide for interesting, unusual classes. Yes, you must take your required classes. And yes, you must take classes that contribute towards your major, but just remember that during this short time in your life, you are surrounded by experts in so many fascinating fields, including those you may never have another chance to enjoy.  Take a strange, obscure elective and relish it.  It may be the class you remember most fondly later on.
2. I love stories with strong female protagonists, which some may dismissively refer to as “chick-lit.”  For those looking for a  classic, I recommend my favorite novel Pride and Prejudice.  For those looking for a summer page-turner, I recommend Me Before You  before the movie comes out in June.