School Meeting Honors Veterans Day with Lessons

To honor Veterans Day, students and faculty assembled in Hamilton Chapel on Monday morning to hear from Rich Newton, Belmont Hill Class of 2007. “It’s essential that we pause and reflect upon those who have sacrificed so much for us to be here each and every day,” said Greg Schneider, Ronald M. Druker ‘62 Head of School. Mr. Newton attended Colby College on an ROTC Scholarship and was commissioned as an Infantry Officer in the Army in 2011. He served as a Special Forces Officer until 2021, when he left active duty to pursue an MBA at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. While in the Army, Mr. Newton deployed to Afghanistan, Eastern Europe, and the Arabian Peninsula.

Mr. Newton said he wanted to share things he would have wanted to know when he was a Belmont Hill student and imparted lessons he learned in his ten years in the Army. 

1. Be better. Every single day, try to find a way to improve yourself. 
2. Be a professional. Be prepared and on time. Understand what is going on around you and act accordingly. 
3. Be kind. Make the people around you feel comfortable. 
4. Be humble. You will meet a lot of people in your lives. Many of them won’t have the same academic pedigree as you. That doesn’t mean they know less than you. Every single person you meet has something to teach you, you just have to be humble enough to hear it.
5. Be the change you want to see. I joined the military because it was exciting. I quickly found myself outside of my comfortable bubble. Everything I’ve learned in the past ten year was through service. You may not realize it right now sitting in these seats, but all of you have been given a lot... so make it count. Keep fighting for the change you want to see. Fight every day as hard as you can and never quit until you make it a reality. 

Please enjoy Mr. Newton’s remarks in their entirety.