Sean's High School Valedictorian Speech

Earlier this week, after four years of hard work, AP and other extra credit classes, and maintaining nearly all straight As, Sean became the valedictorian of his high school class of 2013! It was a repeat performance for Sean since he was also the middle-school valedictorian at the same school four years ago. Sean will be continuing his studies at UC Berkeley this fall, majoring in Computer Science and as parents, we could not be prouder, of course!

Video of Sean's speech

Here is Sean's entire speech:

Good evening family, faculty, and friends. It gives me great pleasure to speak to you tonight and it’s an honor to represent the class of 2013 as your valedictorian. I would like to start out with a quote by Justin Bieber... just kidding, just making sure you’re all paying attention!

All kidding aside... Henry David Thoreau said: "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."

I feel like I can speak for most of my classmates by saying we are ready to confidently go into the “real world.” Next year, most of us are lucky enough to attend college where hopefully we’ll further educate ourselves in something we love and have dreamt of. And if we want to jump into the workforce or pursue a passion of ours, we can attempt things without a fear of failing; there is nothing holding us back except for our own doubts.

Most of us have been told repeatedly over the years that we should know what we want to do after we graduate. But I would bet that most us—including myself—haven’t figured it out completely. And I think that’s okay. We don’t have to stick to the track that we’re on all the time—as long as we're going in the direction of our dreams, I think we’ll be alright.

l came to MCAA in seventh grade with a group of friends that I grew up with since preschool and a backpack that felt like it was filled with lead. A year later, most of my friends made plans to start high school in Nevada City. I wanted to transfer as well, but it didn’t work out. Every year after that, my friends tried to persuade me to make the move: there were more AP classes, sports teams like track, and—as one of one of my friends who shall remain nameless—put it so eloquently “hella hot chicks.” Was I missing out on the life I had imagined?

Over the years that followed, I made many great friends and it became evident that the teachers and staff at MCAA do their absolute best to help us succeed. Whether it’s Mr. Land spending his free period teaching me calculus problems I didn’t understand, Mr. Pimentel helping me with college applications, or Bonny making sure I ordered my graduation cap and gown on time (yes, that was a close call!), they were always willing and happy to help. I have no regrets about staying at MCAA. To the contrary; I've made long-lasting memories with great friends and received a solid education; I feel confident that I can now pursue my dreams.

So, how can we make sure that we will continue to follow our dreams? How can we make sure we don’t get stuck somewhere along the way? Of course I don’t claim to have the answers to these questions. There are people who are a lot older, wiser, and more experienced that this eighteen-year old high school graduate. But what I do know is this: we have to dream big. In the words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.”

In closing, I would like to thank all the people who have helped to get me here:

First and foremost, my Mom. I don't think you deserve enough credit for all you've done to bring me here today, so I want to take the time to say in front of all these people that I love you. I can always count on you for good advice and helping me through tough times. You’ve taught me good manners and ethics from a young age. I hope you know I’m as proud of you as your are of me.

Dad: You’ve taught me that hard work pays off and you don’t have to take the traditional route to succeed. Regarding the procrastination part—I’m still working on that.

My brother Rocky: You’ll always be my best friend and the younger brother with whom I’ve shared a bunk bed for more than 12 years. Driving back and forth to school by myself everyday would have been a lot harder without my copilot and personal DJ. Try not to miss me too much next year and I’ll do the same.

To all of my friends, (you know who you are), I love all of you. I’ll miss you next year, but I know we’ll keep in touch. And finally, all the teachers and staff at MCAA. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be in the great place I’m in now. After all, It did take a village to raise this child.

Thank you for your time. 

See also: this newspaper article

The 2012 DeCelle Lake Tahoe Relay

Our 2012 Team at the Finish

Last Saturday it was, once again, time for our favorite annual tradition: running the 48th annual Decelle Memorial Lake Tahoe Relay. This was our fourth time running it already. Over 100 seven-person teams participated in this running race; some extremely competitive and others mainly out to have a good time, finish before the 13h.15m cutoff, and enjoy the camaraderie that comes with relay races in particular.

 All Smiles the Evening Before

We ran our first Tahoe Relay in 2008 with Chris, Turi, and Amber and we were instantly hooked. Since then, our team has been a little different each year. For example, Hayes, who had been our anchor for three years is now in college in Southern California and, unfortunately, he still had some exams to finish.

With Part of the Team at the Start

This year, our team was—as RD April Carter commented—younger than ever! Our anchor (leg 7) runner, Sean S., was actually graduating from Nevada Union on Saturday morning and would drive up with his brother Nicky (leg 6) as soon as he was done.

Ricky Tackles the First Leg of the Relay

To start, we had another new runner, Ricky Mendoza. We had a last-minute cancellation and Ricky volunteered to join us the day before the race, never having run further than about 6 miles. He kicked off the run for us and paced himself extremely well. He just kept cruising while we leapfrogged him with the car, stopping to give him water and Gatorade every couple of miles.

Sean Starts Leg 2, the Relentless Climb to Spooner Summit

Ricky finished his leg at Zephyr Cove in 1:30 and handed off to Sean. It was nice to see Ed Walsh and his wife again at the relay hand-off point. They have timed this leg for around 20 years now!

The Tunnel on Highway 50, Coned Off for Safety, as Always, by Angel

Sean had run leg 2 last year and wanted to run it again. Leg 2 is the shortest (8.2 miles), but also the toughest, with a relentless climb to Spooner Summit. Just like Ricky, he kept a super steady pace and kept climbing the hills. He finished in 1:25, a very good time considering the steepness of this leg. We also ran into Grass valley area's George Raynsford on this leg, who ended up running almost three consecutive relay legs for his team. Wow!

 Sean hands off to Lisa (voted best action shot ;-)

At the top  of Spooner, another first-time relay team member, Lisa, was waiting. She had joined our team only a few months before and had only run a 10K once in training, but because she takes dance lessons at her school, she proved to be very fit... and tough!

Lisa Powers Down the Hill Towards Incline Village

During this leg, the temperature started to rise and it was slowly getting hot. The sunscreen came out and we had to stop more frequently so Lisa would not dehydrate. She kept running and just did an incredible job, finishing just under two hours in 1:59. Boo Yah!

And then it was my turn. I was ready at the relay hand-off point, with a new iPod playlist that Rocky had created for me just minutes before the start. I had just come back from a 3 week business trip to Europe and had flown in the night before, so still had plenty of jet lag (yep... excuses, excuses!) My training had consisted of running and bicycling at hotel gyms and walking around the different towns I visited and I had not run much further than 5 or 6 miles in one go this year yet.

Lisa Hands Off to Me (yes, that's really me)

Leg 4 is not particularly tough, but it is a bit longer than most (12.6 versus mostly 10 miles). I decided to get started slowly to get into a good rhythm and that worked well. It was very hot, but fortunately Vicky and the kids stopped every mile and a half with drinks and encouragement.

Hand-Off to Rocky

The section from Crystal Bay down to Kings Beach is one of my favorite runs and this is where I finally felt warmed up and started cruising. Rocky's new custom playlist (Tiesto, Wolfgang Gartner, Bingo Players, Nicky Romero, White Stripes, and more) certainly helped keep the pace. I thoroughly enjoyed this run with a prolonged runner's high.  Running around Tahoe again brought back many memories and made me feel somewhat nostalgic.

Tahoe in All Its Glory

It made me think about a big return to the Tahoe Super Triple in 2013. We'll see ;-) If I do, I better start training, because I finished with an all-out sprint to catch one more runner, which was fun. My time was 2:06, which is of course nothing to write home about, but I was very pleased with my steady fun run. Nothing beats running 72 miles around beautiful Lake Tahoe with family and friends.

Rocky on Leg 5

Rocky ran leg 5 this year, which starts with an unexpected monster climb and then goes into Tahoe City and around the lake to Homewood. It was still quite hot, but Rocky had been training for quite a few months with the others and he did amazingly well. Sean's friend Sean S. and his brother Nicky joined us during this section, Sean S. had just graduated from high school earlier that morning. Talk about timing!

Rocky and Vicky, Water Break

Rocky sprinted to the finish (2:03) to hand off to Nicky who would run leg 6. That 10.5 mile leg includes the dreaded "Hill from Hell." Nicky was also more or less a last-minute recruit, but fortunately he happened to be quite fit as well.

Rocky Hands Off to Nicky

The temperature dropped a little at this time and it started getting a bit windy. After a mostly flat first part, Nicky just put his head down and gutted out the long, tough hills. He finished in an amazing 1:30, also with little long-distance experience. A great feat.

Go Nicky!

We were originally a little worried about the 8:15 p.m. (the race started at 7 a.m.) cut-off, but once Nicky finished so strong, we were relieved. It looked like, with all the great efforts, we would almost have an hour to spare!

Sean S. Starts the Final Leg

Our anchor was Sean S. Our Sean and Sean S. are about to leave for a one-month summer trip to Europe by themselves (including Amsterdam, so watch out mom and dad!). Sean S. had been part of our team last year, so he knew what was in store.

A Well-Deserved Drink for Nicky

He started his leg with a downhill around Emerald Bay and then a steep climb to the top of Inspiration Point. By now it was evening and Sean was really moving, passing many other runners. From Inspiration Point, the road snakes down very steeply and Sean was clocking 6-minute miles!

Emerald Bay

Everyone that had finished their leg would immediately put on the new race T-shirt, so by now we already had six shirts walking around and we would show Sean S. the shirt for extra motivation. The grey 2009 t-shirt is still my favorite, but this one was was also quite nice.

Sean S and Sean on the Home Stretch

A couple more stops for drinks and Sean was already cruising to the finish where we all waited to run the final 100 yards with him as a team. Sean finished in 1:24, and our overall time was 12:00:05. If we had known it was that close to the hour mark, we probably pulled out the cattle prod to make Sean run six seconds faster!

The Team Finishes Together with Sean S.

We all received our medals and posed for the finish line pictures and then we promptly went to the Tahoe Brewery, which has also become a bit of a tradition (think chicken wings and beer samples). It took a while to get a seat, but we had a great time unwinding from the long day, and already planning on improvements we can make next year! We'll definitely be back!

Proud Finishers!

Next Up: A Major Career Change! Yes... Stay tuned for details!

Rest in Peace, Cornelius

After 17+ years of faithful mouse-hunting service, our cat Cornelius (Corn) died today.

The day we selected him from a litter of young kittens, he ran away and hid behind a large pile of firewood. We could have simply picked another kitten from that litter, but we really liked Corn, so I moved half a cord of wood to get him. The name Cornelius was actually picked a long time before he was born. One time, Vicky and I drove past Cornelius Ave. in East Nicolaus, CA and agreed that we would call our future cat Cornelius.

Corn loved to sleep in warm places, like on top of my laptop.

Corn certainly wasn't the easiest-going cat. He was a born hunter (on one occasion he took on an adult turkey vulture!) and made sure our place was always rodent and lizard-free. He had a bit of a wild side and would often hide in the grass and jump out. He had little time for staying on our laps; that's just the way he was and always remained. We would always warn kids that came over to be careful--he could strike at any time, as you can see in this video:

Corn in action

Corn was extremely curious and even checked out a few books on HTML5 late in his life.

Everything reminds us of him now.

We buried Cornelius in our backyard today in a spot overlooking the meadow. While we put some flowers down, a beautiful little white butterfly flew by and showed up one more time later. I think he is in a good place now.

"A stone I died and rose again a plant;

A plant I died and rose an animal;

I died an animal and was born a man.

Why should I fear? What have I lost by death?"

—Rumi

Rest in peace, Cornelius. You'll always be in our hearts.

Rocky's Eighth Grade Valedictorian Speech

Déjà vu. Last night, almost exactly two years after Sean graduated as the valedictorian of his middle school class and after a year of hard work, keeping the perfect 4.0 GPA, Rocky followed in Sean's footsteps and became the valedictorian of his eight-grade class at MCAA.

During the graduation ceremony he first played Rondo alla Turca (Mozart) on the piano (perfectly) and then he gave a very nice speech. There was no promotion ceremony for Sean (he is now a junior), but he also kept a straight A score up for yet another year. Needless to say, some really proud parents here...

Here is the entire speech:

Good evening and welcome, faculty, distinguished guests, family, and friends. My name is Rocky Lubbers and I'm really exited to speak to you tonight.

A Zen Master once said: "When you reach the top, keep climbing." I particularly like this quote, because it is very true on so many levels. To me, this means that we are never done, but in a good way. You're never too old to learn something new. The question is: how can we keep climbing? And at the same time, how can we enjoy the ascent?

I remember when I just turned 10 years old. My brother and I signed up to run a half marathon in Lake Tahoe. The day before, the weather was very nice, but on the morning of the run it started snowing and there was ice on the road. We started slowly and kept running together. The early miles were easy, but then came the infamous “Hill from Hell.” From what I heard from my dad who ran it before, it was a killer. I wasn’t too scared however, because I knew when we reached the top, we would keep climbing. And so we did. We finished the half marathon in 2 hours and 55 minutes.

This year, my physical science teacher Ms. Ellsmore explained to me that an object in motion stays in motion, unless acted on by an unbalanced force. This means that, in nature, an object can either move forward or backward, up or down, but ultimately never stay in the same place (at least not for too long). And so is it in life, school, and everything else. We should strive to be going up and forward, and to learn something new, each and every day.

Climbing the highest mountains in the world is not a risk-free operation. You don’t just stroll to the top of Mount Everest, or casually walk up K2. In fact, you can't even take a helicopter to some of the worlds highest peaks—the only way to get there is with a lot of concentrated effort. And yet, every year, adventurous climbers take on the challenge. Why? They do this, as John F. Kennedy once said, “Not because it is easy, but because it is hard.” For the next years—my high school period—I have some bold and challenging plans: both academically and otherwise. Before I am 16, I want to run a full marathon (like my brother did last month) and I want to continue to do well in school and learn all there is to learn.

In his famous “mountaintop speech," Martin Luther King, Jr. told a story of how he was asked in which age he wanted to live. He could pick any age in history, and although some sounded very tempting, he finally picked a “few years in the second half of the 20th century”—the age in which he lived. I think today—in the first half of the 21st century—is an equally exciting time. Not everything is perfect these days. We have wars, natural disasters, and some rough economic times, but I don’t think I would trade this age for any other in history myself. We have so many opportunities and technological advances and if we can work together to get the most out of it, we will be able to do amazing things.

As Martin Luther King said: “Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be.”

Thank you.

Next up: the Tahoe Relay--this weekend!

Why I did not go for a run last weekend...

Last weekend, Sean and I learned a lot about the basic ideas behind genetics and the probability of inheritance, by creating (and color-coding) a Punnet square with over 1000 cells (5 traits) for his "Martian Mating" Biology project.

Part of the complete Punnet square

So what are the odds he'll become an ultra runner?

The Martian couple--the big Excel spreadsheet shows the traits (number of legs, eye size, antenna/no antenna, dull or sharp teeth) for all their grand kids