At the annual Baccalaureate ceremony, an alumnus parent is selected to give an inspirational speech to officially adopt the graduating class into their alumni family. This year, Berkeley had the honor of listening to John Touchton ’86, father of senior Ryan Touchton ’24, who delivered a message about embracing uncertainty and the transition between childhood and adulthood with elements of humor incorporated throughout.
To start the speech, Touchton ’86 began with a humorous introduction of who he was during his time at Berkeley. He said he began Berkeley as a “freshman with virtually no frontal lobe activity 42 years ago” to which the audience laughed. He described his college application and the person he was at Berkeley to be nothing above average other than the fact that he served as Head Guide as a senior, and was a part of the JV basketball team. Many school subjects were difficult for him to focus in, and he put less effort forward than he would have liked. “He needs to decide just what he wants from this class and what he wants from school and life…He has the ability he just needs to decide if he’s ever going to use it” says Mr. Morris, his AP Calculus AB teacher.
After captivating the audience with his humor once again, he proceeds to give six pieces of advice to the seniors that he wishes he would’ve known before going to college himself.
“Create fork in the road moments,” begins Touchton as the audience looks slightly confused. However, he elaborated that what he meant was that one should embrace the fact that you don’t know what you want to do with your life. Even if you think you know your life’s direction, you don’t. Everything is subject to change. He encouraged appreciation instead of fear for the moments of uncertainty we all have and helped the audience to see their value.
Second, and very importantly, Touchton advised the seniors to wash their sheets and towels more than once a semester (and implied the comment was specifically directed toward his male audience).
Then he explained the abrupt nature of becoming an adult. “The biggest change between childhood and adulthood is that you are now the CEO of your own life…You can no longer be passive, ” he says. Within the realm of adulthood, looking beyond college is very important as well. Touchton says that the key to finding your optimal career is to combine the things you love, things you are good at, and things that contribute to society
Touchton’s fifth piece of advice covered an unexpected perspective about turning to faith in times of hardship. Of course, he acknowledged the fact that the meaning of the word faith is different for everyone, but without the belief that “our existence is more than a flash of random consciousness” he would not be where he is today.
ANECDOTES AND ADVICE: Mr. Touchton ‘86 continues to give advice to the Berkeley community. (Photo Credit: Kostas Saravanos ’26)
Finally, to tie everything together, Touchton ended the speech by encouraging people who feel like they are ‘late bloomers’ not to feel discouraged. In other words, he wanted to ensure the audience understood that many people mature and grow later than their peers, and that is totally normal. As a late bloomer himself in high school, he understands what it feels like to wish he had taken advantage of more of the opportunities Berkeley provided.
He then officially concluded the speech by congratulating the class of 2024 for all they have achieved and was met with a standing ovation.
