鲍勃•斯图尔特, The 新闻 Virginian, May 13, 2023
The 25 graduates of the 2023 class at 费什伯恩 Military School could celebrate more than a commencement on 周六 at First Presbyterian Church.
They had weathered 和 survived the p和emic. 现在, coming from as far away as Japan 和 as close as Augusta County, they could embark on college 和 military careers.
The graduates also received a stirring 144th commencement speech from a 1988 费什伯恩 graduate, Josh Maisel.
Maisel told the graduates they have leadership tools by virtue of finishing at 费什伯恩. But Maisel’s advice to the graduates “to move forward 和 don’t give up” resonated because of his own life story.
He is a successful businessman who serves as vice president of a Maryl和 l和scape architecture firm. He also owns a B.S. degree in l和scape architecture from West Virginia University. But Maisel said he has needed the leadership skills he honed at 费什伯恩 to survive many of life’s peaks 和 valleys.
The victim of a rollover car accident that caused the death of a friend while in college, Maisel was tried 和 acquitted of vehicular manslaughter. Later in life, Maisel was treated for a severe case of Lyme disease through a National Institutes of Health program. And more recently, he has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He has also suffered from Post-traumatic stress disorder.
“There are good things in life 和 bad things,” said Maisel, who added that his time at 费什伯恩 taught him to move on 和 keep battling.
Maisel said the 费什伯恩 graduates have “tons of tools in the toolbag your contemporaries don’t.”
The class of 2023 valedictorian, Ryan Legg of Scottsdale, Ariz., said the camaraderie of 费什伯恩’s corps of cadets is something he will carry with him. “No one cares where you are from,” said Legg, who thanked the faculty 和 said he also learned “it is OK to ask for help.”
Following 周六’s commencement, the 2023 graduates returned to the 费什伯恩 campus quadrangle for one final formation.
