Kelly Coles ’86 Welcomes VIth Formers to Alumni Association

The Class of 2025 is mere weeks away from joining the ranks of Millbrook School alumni. To welcome these soon-to-be graduates, Millbrook’s Alumni & Advancement Office holds an annual Alumni Welcome Dinner featuring an address from an alumnus.

This year’s speaker, Millbrook Trustee Kelly Coles ’86, P '19, inspired students to take pride in their Millbrook accomplishments and stay in touch with their alma mater. Here’s Coles’ speech, adapted for this article:

Alumni Dinner Address: Kelly Coles

I want you to look around this room. Look at your friends, roommates, classmates, teachers, and advisors. What do you feel? No doubt a whole range of emotions, which is to be expected. What I hope you truly feel though, above all, is an incredible sense of pride.

Pride for all you’ve accomplished during your time here, for all you’ve built, for your successes, the wins, the losses, highs and lows, the paths on which you are about to embark—all of it. Pride for all you’ve done with your time at Millbrook, individually and together. Pride—you’ve earned it and you should feel it, for yourselves and each other.

I don’t even know most of you and I feel pride for you. I am proud of you, as the newest members of Millbrook’s alumni network, for everything that you have accomplished, what you will accomplish, and the ways I know that you will continue to leave your mark on the world in ways that will reflect positively on Millbrook.

As you stand of the cusp of graduation, I want to talk to you about the importance of staying connected to Millbrook and continuing to live its motto, Non Sibi Sed Cunctis—not for oneself, but for all. These words, along with the values of respect, integrity, curiosity, stewardship, and service, have been your guideposts during your time here at Millbrook. You will carry them with you, and I am confident that you will go on to lead lives of meaning and consequence. And I know you will continue to contribute to the greater good.

How do I know this? You are a group who’ve come to Millbrook from as far away as the other side of the world and as close as right here, on campus. You are students, artists, friends, leaders, athletes, zoo curators—you all are what makes Millbrook, Millbrook, and whether or not you realize it now, the growth you have experienced here and the Millbrook values that you have lived every day are etched in your soul.

I speak from personal experience. My time here was formative more than that it was transformative. Millbrook opened my eyes and my world. I was encouraged to step outside my comfort zone. I was challenged and supported. I grew. When I left here to go to Middlebury, I knew Millbrook would always be with me. I knew I was prepared and that the relationships I built here would stand the test of time. What I couldn’t fully appreciate then was how deeply engrained in me the Millbrook values were and that those experiences and relationships would continue to shape my life. All these years later, Millbrook remains an integral part of my life; I continue to learn, grow and be inspired by the people connected with Millbrook.

Millbrook is in my DNA, and it’s in yours! As such it’s important that you respect it, you nurture it, and you care for it. What does that mean? Stay involved. Keep in touch. Say yes. Do what you can when you can. Millbrook will always be here for you.

As trustees we are reminded that our job is to hold the school and its mission in trust. That’s always been easy for me because of the immense pride that I feel for this place, its program, its people.

My hope is that you all will do the same. That you will hold the school and its mission in trust. Stay engaged with the school and with each other. At Millbrook you’ve learned to appreciate and care for what matters—and you show up for what matters.

Millbrook matters. The connections you’ve made here matter.  You must continue to cherish, nurture, and protect this place and the relationships you’ve made. And I can promise you that there isn’t a Millbrook graduate or person on this campus who won’t take your call or offer you guidance at any point in your life. Not for oneself, but for all.

Millbrook pride runs deep. Pride is belief, and we support and nurture that in which we believe. To quote my fellow board member, Paul Stafford, Millbrook is a part of my circle of caring. It’s just obvious!  I hope you will join me in making it yours.