Mayer addresses 26 Ontonagon graduates

ONTONAGON - Eighteen years ago, Ben Mayer sat where the 26 Ontonagon Area 2017 graduates sat Friday night in the Ontonagon gym.

Mayer, who teaches band, history and coaches the Gladiator football team, was selected by the class to be the commencement speaker. He told seniors they could end up anywhere, but his path was "to come back here. Eighteen years after my graduation, you could say I've made it approximately 30 feet."

He added even though the road of his life has not taken him far, "I'd like to think I'm getting a little better at avoiding some of the metaphorical potholes on my metaphorical daily walk."

He then mixed humor and common sense in sharing some of the things he learned from high school and college. Mayer stressed the graduates may never know what kind of impact they are going to have on people. He described an incident when he was a freshman in high school. He was shy, awkward, quiet, and played in the band. "I was about as much of a nerd as you can be."

He went out for junior varsity football and sat the bench. He said one day while walking in the hall one, of the varsity running backs who was a great athlete (Jeff Bobula) went out of his way to talk to Mayer and ask how football was going.

"I was stunned some older popular kid would take time to say hi to a nobody like me." He said the incident changed the way he thought about treating strangers or random people he sees during the day.

He said he probably says hi to nearly a hundred kids a day now. "Every person whose day I might make a little bit better comes directly from that small interaction I had that day," he added.

In an age of technology and the internet, Mayer told graduates he is "worried about technology's effect on our ability to use our brains to figure things out. A person's intelligence is really their ability to apply knowledge to situations so they can solve problems. The more we use Google instead of our noodle, the less capable our brains will be. I would encourage you guys to use your brains as much as you can, ask why, try to figure things out, keep building your brain capabilities. The internet should give you access to information that you can use to enhance intelligence; don't let the internet replace your intelligence."

Other things Mayer said he learned and recommended was to "do stuff. Do as many things as you can, you never know what there is to gain until you try." He cautioned the class not to take themselves too seriously, to have fun.

In college, he said he learned that practice does not make perfect, it just makes permanent. "You can learn to do something wrong just as easily as you learn to do it right."

He also emphasized that "Change is OK." He described the changes in the area over the last 20 years. We had a copper mine, paper mill and shipyard and now they are gone, he noted. We had a Class C football program and now it is eight-man; we had two separate buildings and now there is one. He commented that some people would look at the change as bad, but "a lot of things are really great around here.

"I can honestly say I've never felt like I was making a bigger difference. Our community, despite its hardships, is a great place to work and be every day. Change is inevitable. If you want something to be unhappy about, you will find it."

In closing, he told students, "you have the power to make yourself happy. Your life will be great if you want it to be."

Prior to the address, the salutatory address was given by Colton Heikkinen and the valedictory address by Kaitlyn Ray. Both stressed the debt students owe to their families, school and community and thanked all for the support which brought them to graduation. The speakers were introduced by class officers Samantha Lutz, Kessy Domitrovich and Mitchell Borseth.

Superintendent Jim Bobula presented the class and the board of education members distributed diplomas.

The Ontonagon Area band, under the direction of Mayer, presented music for the celebration. Events also included a slide show presentation of class members, friends and families.

As students received diplomas, the announcement came of the multiple scholarships they received. ,All who applied for scholarships from the Ontonagon Scholarship Foundation received $1,500 awards.

Heikkinen received a four- year award from the foundation and Lutz received a two-year scholarship. A total of 24 scholarships outside the foundation were awarded.