WINDHAM – This year’s Windham High School class of 2010 holds a special place in Principal Deb McAfee’s heart.

McAfee, who returned to school in September after missing much of last year due to a reoccurrence of brain cancer, began Sunday afternoon’s graduation ceremony at the Cumberland County Civic Center by telling the audience about the common bond she had with the graduates: They both started school in Windham on the same day 13 years ago.

Speaking prior to the 245-member class entering the arena, McAfee told the audience, “Thirteen years ago, this class of 2010 started school the same day I did. So, I am very excited that we’ve had quite a journey over the course of our 13 years, and I’m very proud to introduce to you the class of 2010.”

The definition of success was the common bond of the speeches at Windham’s ceremony.

Keynote speaker Kyle Jackson, only eight years out of Scarborough High School and a self-described resident of New York City, entrepreneur, world traveler and jujitsu competitor, defined success by saying, “There are walls full of posters, stores full of books and websites full of pop-up advertising that all stress one thing: In life you need to be successful. Religions are based on it, society judges you by it, and deep down our internal drive to succeed can be the cause of all of our daily actions.”

Getting a little technical, but imploring the graduates and audience to “stay with (him),” Jackson quoted psychologist David McClelland, who theorized in the 1960s that one’s personal measurement of success is motivated by one of three “need groupings”: personal achievement, power in relation to others or affiliation with others. Jackson said the graduates should figure out which category they fit into, and then pursue their goals.

“Many in this class are moving on to two- and four-year universities around the country. Others will be joining one of the branches of the military. Others, directly to the work force. And a select few to their parents’ couch to play video games and to ride out this recession until the right opportunity comes along,” Jackson said. “I have no doubt that not one of these groupings is any more or less likely to become successful in the future no matter what other people say. Because it doesn’t matter what other people say. The measurement of success is subjective. My message today is simple. Everyone measures success differently. And I implore you to learn as much as you can about yourself. Learning is the key to life, no matter which need grouping you fit into: achievement, power, affiliation. The most important thing to learn is who you are.”

Second honor essayist Alex Doering defined success from his own point of view.

“The students up here on this stage today are about to enter into an adult world where success is highly valued but little understood,” Doering said. “In this modern age, some people work their lives away in order to bring home the fattest paycheck or earn themselves the most impressive title. Why is it that so many human beings are willing to throw away their happiness or morals to conform to this?”

Doering then offered a range of people who are successful in their own way, starting with a stay-at-home parent who is rich in family and friends to a “diehard professional” who may not enjoy strong social ties but whose “work has the potential to positively affect us all.”

Doering then cautioned his fellow graduates to watch out for several traps that can snare them on their road to success. Money, he said, was a major hazard. Explaining how the Romans created currency as a stand-in for goods and services, Doering warned his fellow graduates to think of money as a tool, not a goal in itself.

“People who take on the mindset that money should be made just for the sake of making money are not truly successful,” he said. “Without using that money to buy what the body needs and the soul desires, it’s useless.”

Doering noted the second trap on the way to happiness and success is striving to earn titles that serve no purpose. “Instead, strive to make a difference in their life and the lives of others,” he said.

Doering’s final trap was losing what you care about along the way. “In the last several weeks, many of my friends have realized they don’t read for fun anymore. They don’t even have time for Harry Potter,” he said. “When striving to become successful, people should try as hard as possible not to give up or lose what they truly love.”

Doering then congratulated his classmates “for achieving your own idea of high school success.” Doering advised his fellow graduates to “slow down” and remember what is important when “the hustle and bustle of our world tries to change you … for a person who maintains balance in life while striving for success will be happy and the person who is happy is truly successful.”

Valedictorian Daniel McGovern also gave his opinions on success. McGovern – who started his speech by having the senior members of the state champion boys’ tennis team stand for applause – admonished his fellow graduates to “find your purpose, never forget it, and never give up on your ambitions.”

“Windham High School has given us the abilities and opportunities to do great things in the future,” McGovern continued. “If we, the class of 2010, devote our lives to solving the world’s problems.”

Derek Brown, president of the class of 2010, spoke about success in terms of “bucket lists,” those lists of accomplishments people want to achieve before they die.

Brown, however, said most people never achieve their goals.

“So what’s going on?,” Brown said. “Have we made our expectations too high? Do we constantly underachieve? No, I think the problem stems from lack of motivation and direction. But I also think that we, the class of 2010, have the ability to change that.”

Brown then went on to praise the success of the tennis, football, soccer and basketball teams as well as the Eagle Scouts, budding scientists and excellent students in the class of 2010. For Brown, success for the class of 2010 was already at hand, and future success was inevitable.

Brown reminded his classmates that they were 10 years old when the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 occurred. “We went to school the next day,” he reminded them.

Brown and his classmates were 12 years old when the country invaded Iraq. “We went on with our lives like nothing out of the ordinary was happening,” he said.

They were 16 when the stock market and banks started to falter. “We found our first jobs,” Brown noted.

Brown then concluded, “We won’t make bucket lists. We won’t dream of being astronauts, because we’ll be astronauts. We won’t dream of meeting famous people, because we’ll just be those famous people.”

New graduates Cameron Bodlovick and Katelyn Harmon share a congratulatory hug after the Windham High School commencement ceremony at the Cumberland County Civic Center on June 13. (Photo by Rich Obrey)