In one of my favorite films of all time, Dead Poets Society, the late Robin Williams plays the teacher John Keating.  Keating in his introduction to his students he pulls them aside in the halls outside of his classroom to reflect on those students who came before them.  Later in class he recites the lines of Frosts “The Road Not Taken.”  “Two roads diverged in a wood,” he says, continuing, “and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”  “I took the one less travelled” he emphasizes, “and it has made all the difference.”

This weekend we celebrated Homecoming.  Not necessarily in preparation, but with curiosity I recently started surveying the old yearbooks to learn more about those who came before.  In the 1915 Shrapnel I read the history of Robert McClure, a cadet from Alabama.  “It is hard to realize that pretty and jolly little cherub who arrived here in 1911” his story begins, “is now the dignified and severe Senior Captain who runs the battalion so well; but it’s true.”  “Jit” was McClure’s nickname, and it is evident from his yearbook NYMA changed his life.  

Not unlike “Jit” many of those who returned for Homecoming shared the story of how NYMA changed their life.  This included two very nice graduates from the Class of 2011, Anthony Helena and Brandon Butler who shared with me that NYMA had “saved their lives.”  So as I look at the cadets here and those who have passed through our halls, I am left recalling Frost’s poem “Two roads diverged” and for our NYMA cadets they have “taken the one less traveled” by entering the Corps, and it is my hope and prayer that it will make “all the difference.”