“Don’t be afraid to fail.”

That was the key point in Covington County Circuit Judge Ben Bowden’s address to the Pike Liberal Arts 2016 graduating class on Thursday.

“It’s ingrained in our culture to fear failure,” Bowden said. “But I’ve always learned more from losing than I did from winning.”

Bowden pointed out past “failures” that went on to be some of the most well-known people of all time: Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg, Thomas Edison and even Jesus Christ.

“It was one of the most short-lived ministries of all time,” Bowden said. “The leader was beaten and killed. But it brought the salvation of the world.”

Bowden left the class with a poem by Edgar Guest titled “Don’t Quit” with the ending line: “It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.”

Thirty-two students graduated during the ceremony at Claudia Crosby Theater on the Troy University campus.

Salutatorian Deanna Adams and Valedictorian Hayes Lee also gave speeches at the ceremony.

Adams reminisced on the things the senior class will miss – sporting events, late-night Waffle House runs, and even packed hallways and a freezing cafeteria, but most of all, each other.

Her speech ended with this quote from A.A. Milne’s beloved character Winnie-the-Pooh: “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

Lee’s speech, on the other hand, focused on being “down and ready” for what comes next.

Lee used his younger sister as an example: “My sister recently started softball,” Lee said.

“Her coach told her to be ‘down and ready.’

“So she stood in the outfield with her glove to the ground. The problem was, he never told her what to do if the ball came her way.

“She was correctly prepared, but never moved because she didn’t know what to do next. The crowd got a good laugh out of it, but it got me thinking about how that relates to the senior class.

“Our high school career was us being down and ready. We’re prepared to make our next move. But we have to make it now, and not let the ball roll by.”