April Program Scholarship Night

Joe Chontos, Vice President Legal, Speaking at the Groton Inn and Suites 

April's EBMA meeting, Scholarship Night, was held at the Groton Inn & Suites on Thursday April 29, 2010.  Joe Chontos, EB’s VP Legal, was the evening’s guest speaker.  Mr. Chontos provided members with a unique perspective on the value of higher education.  He sprinkled his talk with observations and words of advice drawn from his own experience.  His remarks, funny at times, were a testament to the students’ achievements, their parents’ contributions and their communities’ support.  He addressed future opportunity, social responsibility and appreciating the gifts one is given. 

    But before Chontos spoke, EBMA President, Joe Rossi brought the meeting to order and welcomed members and student guests to “my favorite event of the year”.  I look at these kids’ accomplishments, he said, and I’m reminded of what I didn’t do in school.  He recognized the retirees in the audience and previewed upcoming events including EB Night on May 25^th (John Casey principal speaker), the Lake Compounce Family Outing and the Annual Golf Tournament.  He announced the results of the Board of Directors elections and thanked Program Manager Mark Zecco and his team of judges for their intensive effort behind this evening’s events.    

     He thanked Dan and Denise Williams for coordinating table assignments and Judy Bogue for her continued event planning efforts.  He welcomed IT & Planning VP Kristin Fletcher, a previous Scholarship Night speaker. Student Spenser Zimmerman then led the Pledge and Danielle Foraker recited the prayer. 

     After dinner, Joe Rossi introduced Joe Chontos, Noting that he had been especially quick to accept the invitation to speak tonight.  Members welcomed him with polite applause.   

    The VP thanked Joe for his introduction comparing him to ex-Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Just like Putin, he said, you leave office but you never really go away.  But when you do return, you do a great job leading this organization.  He then turned his attention to the students in the audience.  You are a group of remarkable individuals, he said, a special part of EB’s extended family.  You are incredible young folks with tremendous achievements behind you and bright futures ahead.  We at EB are very proud of your accomplishments.

     EB produces a very special product, he said, recognized as a singular achievement in American industry. The accomplishments of this evening’s young guests, he said, are not unrelated.  These students, he noted, are the products of their home environments and their success is shared by their parents and grandparents.  Eight years ago, he said, I gave a similar Scholarship Night speech to many of your parents. I like to think, he joked, that I played a small role in your success.  Over the past few weeks, he said, he’d reviewed the applicants’ records, tabulated the results and independently confirmed the judges’ findings.  You are a very special, gifted, group of people, he said, the best of the best and the cream of the cream.  But with those gifts comes the responsibility to make good use of what you have been given.

        He offered several pearls of wisdom for the students to take away with them.  1) Forget you just heard you were special.  You have important work to do.  Don’t dwell on it.  2)  Take risks.  Don’t be afraid to fail, in fact you need to fail to succeed.  Many of you have found it easy in school up to this point, he said. He challenged them to leave the confines of their comfort zones.  You need to accept difficult challenges, he said, if you don’t you’ll miss a big part of life.  There’s a real danger to avoiding difficulty.  That’s where not being afraid to fail comes into play. If your character is never fully tested, you’ll never know how to respond when you’re knocked down.  You may have avoided that experience thus far, he said, but it’s coming.  At when it does your character will be fully revealed. 

     (At that point, however, he abruptly reversed his direction.)  I know what I just told you, he said, but ignore it: Don’t ever forget that you are special.  When you fail… remember that you’re special.  Pick yourself up, go back out and succeed. Value your own opinion more than anyone else’s; trust your own judgment more than you trust the judgment of others precisely because you are special.  Believe in yourself especially when you have failed and no one else still believes in you.   But, you must be thinking, aren’t his two main points mutually inconsistent?  You’re right.  They are, but get used to it.  Learn to accept tension between ideas that are seemingly irreconcilable. That’s what adults do. For example; balancing the will to excel individually with the recognition of basic human equality is a very profound and difficult exercise. 

     Others may not share your gifts, he said, but give them a chance.  They may still surprise you.  One’s station in life or money in the bank aren’t accurate measures of what people are, he said.  Discerning elements of humanity is a complex task requiring insight and understanding. Master that and you will have a fighting chance to become adults and to succeed. He urged the students to cultivate an appreciation of others’ human qualities, indicating that that was indeed the central point of his prepared remarks.  You came here tonight seeking awards and tuition money, he said, but you are leaving with much more - imparted wisdom and the secret of life. Keep that in your heart and nurture it; and come back and visit us back here at EB.

      Mr. Chontos was given a heartfelt round of applause and Joe Rossi once again thanked Mark Zecco and the judges for their hard work on behalf of the association.  He wished the students well and thanked everyone for attending before entertaining a motion to adjourn. The members filed out inspired by the students’ achievements; the students left a little richer and perhaps wiser. 

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