Stephen Flynn, 18, will graduate from the Boston Latin School this year. He has many reasons to be proud, including successful completion of a demanding academic program, playing for the varsity baseball team, and involvement in the Christian Athletic Club, Peer Mentoring, and Student Leadership group. In addition, and perhaps foremost, is his appreciation for people and their experiences.
“I liked Latin School and I learned how to be better disciplined academically and it made me more resilient. But what I loved was meeting people I may not have met and from all over the city. The school gave a sense of belonging. Baseball has been one of the most enjoyable things of my life, but it isn’t about winning, but about the team. It is a second family. After a game you go out for food, blast the music, and know you are a team,” he said.
A daunting first year via zoom was most trying, “because the person -to-person is most important to me,” he said. Returning to the classroom, he developed a support system of new and old friends.
Still deciding among college choices with acceptances from Merrimack and UMass-Amherst, he knows better than many that the process will bring unimaginable opportunities for growth.
“I think it is a mistake at eighteen to try to know exactly what your course will be. All I know at 100 percent is that I want to have an astronomical impact on people for the better. That is my way forward,” he said.
Working at the summer camp of the South Boston Neighborhood House each summer and the front desk at other times, he observed how people were treated especially in a community of people with vastly different resources.
“At first my mom signed me up for the Neighborhood House, and I was like why do I have to do it, but I love it there and wouldn’t change anything. I like the way they work. Kathy (Lafferty) and Caitlin (Murphy) reach out to so many people. It is a small building with big impact,” he said.
The son of Boston Counselor Ed Flynn and his wife, Kristen, and grandson of former Mayor of Boston and Ambassador Ray Flynn, Stephen is not new to values of community and political action.
“I learned a lot from my family and could talk to my grandfather for hours about anything, but nothing is forced on me. My parents taught me about community, but the passion to make a difference is all mine. I plan to major in Political Science, and built on my favorite courses at Latin, which were the history classes.
Stephen Flynn has a quiet sense of humor, endless love for people and his family of parents, a sister, grandparents, 17 cousins, and close friends. He has had a fine education, and athletic abilities among other talents, and in that alone, he is bound to do well. And, his potential for leadership, even that which he may not fully own yet, seems natural and fitting.
“I do have to leave home now. It is for independence and to branch out and learn. Your mother can’t make you a sandwich for lunch your whole life,” he joked. His quality of thinking in this modest personal way is bound to enhance any community lucky enough to have him as a member.
Congratulations, Stephen Flynn.
(If you are, or know of another graduate who is willing to share their experience, please contact carolhardt@comcast.net)
