Last week we reported on this year’s graduations. Congratulations, graduates! Here are a few more photographs of Acton graduates as well as transcripts of the two senior speeches from Acton Boxborough Regional High School’s June 7 graduation.
Meant To Be
Braelyn Valente-Phillips Senior Speech 2024
Acton-Boxborough is full of remarkable students. Students that surpass the everyday expectations of what a person should be or what they could accomplish. I think because we are so surrounded by this excellence we forget to acknowledge our own. We have a tendency to act as though we are nothing special. I happen to know that every single person in this crowd has accomplished something incredible. Weathering AB is something incredible. From sleepless study sessions, to never ending after school practices, to confusing classes each day has been a bit of a battle. But in the end, has anything worthwhile come easily? Have any of our “incredible accomplishments” come to be because we sat back and let life happen rather than taking charge and working for it? I don’t know anyone who would call these last four years “easy.” Covid, impeachment, Roe v Wade being overturned, the insurrection, war and just general high school toils have tried to divide us, but today, all that gets put aside. For this singular moment we are one class united. We started high school when the world was on its head, and now, as it is possibly beginning to right itself, our lives are going to be flipped upside down again. Your stereotypical senior speech talks about the crowded hallways and how overwhelming freshman year was. In our case, freshman year was overwhelming for a completely different reason. The hallways were empty, there was tape and arrows on the floor and less than half the school present. On my first day of school I was looking for my biology class, it was last period and I was running late. As I turned the corner, I realized I had walked right by my classroom. I slowed and—in a very un-Braelyn turn of events—decided to go against the arrows and just sneak into class. With my luck, a teacher rounded the corner right as I twisted around. He asked me to follow the path laid out, so I did. Suffice to say, I was late to class. This is all a very unsubtle way of saying that life has not been straightforward for us, even with all of those arrows trying to guide us. We’ve struggled a lot these past few years, but we made it here. We are now exactly where we are meant to be. As much as I hated that phrase through this whole college process it turned out to be true. Through all the rejections and acceptances, this was the thing my parents repeated over and over again. You will end up where you are meant to be. And here we are. Whether you are attending college, taking a gap year, going straight into the workforce, or still not sure, right here right now is exactly where you need to be. We didn’t get here on our own. We’re not all about to enter the world completely alone. Teachers, administration, friends, family all stand behind us. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge our teachers specifically. The teachers who stayed up late to write our recommendation letters, the ones who took extra time to explain difficult concepts or edit our papers, the ones who were there just for a conversation on good or bad days, the teachers who showed that they care and that we matter. Junior year was not particularly easy for me. One of the main reasons I got through it was because of my English teacher, Ms. Berg. I don’t think she knew exactly what I was going through, but she always made time for me to talk to her or share my writing. She pushed me to be the best version of myself. At the end of the year she wrote cards to each individual student with a quote in it. I have this card hanging above my desk where I can see it while I work. It’s a quote from my favorite book, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, and it says “Through that telescope, the world way closer and larger than I’d ever imagined. And it was all so beautiful and overwhelming and I-I don’t know—it made me aware that there was something inside me that mattered.” For Ms. Berg, all the other teachers, and everyone else who has made an impact on student’s lives: Thank you for everything you’ve done, you have no idea the difference you’ve made. I plan on keeping my card with me wherever I go so I can remember where I’ve come from and who’s helped me get there. I’ve lived in the same town my whole life. Grown up surrounded by the same walls, learned with the same people. I’ve known one of my best friends since my first day stepping on the bus and another since that same day walking into our kindergarten classroom. I’ve been dancing at the same studio for 16 years, had the same teachers that whole time. My entire life has been centralized here, in this town. I’m absolutely terrified for what comes next, I refuse to pretend I’m not, and I know I’m not the only one. I’m nervous to leave my friends and family behind, the studio I call home, the memories I’ve made. That’s the only real thing we can hold on to though, right? Our memories. When everything is said and done, when we’ve graduated college, started our careers, started families, even retired, we will have this moment in our memories. Don’t let this go, once you end up where you’re meant to be, remember right now, the people sitting next to you, the weight of your cap, the tassel slightly obscuring your vision. We will never be this united as a group of people again, enjoy it. Thank you.
Spiderman
Tanvi Sistu Senior Speech 2024
I did a writing workshop about two years back and it had a prompt that read: What would Spider-man’s commencement speech sound like? I suppose it starts with some thanks for important people in his life, a sappy story about Uncle Ben, and the classic “Anyone Can Be Spiderman” circa Stan Lee—all things considered, pretty solid. So, I figured that I could draw inspiration from that prompt when thinking about what to write for today. Just as a disclaimer, this isn’t a traditional commencement speech, and I’m not Spiderman, but I could probably suss out a few connections here and there. While I may not shoot webs from my wrists, I can write a mean essay, courtesy of my English and Social Studies teachers. I don’t have a cool suit adorned with spiderwebs, but I have had the chance to wear some sick lab goggles (thank you Chemistry) while pouring something into another thing (it was last year, but I forgot). And, I might not be a typical superhero, but I know some things about what it takes to save the world. Obviously, I wasn’t blessed by a radioactive spider, so my strength is average and my speed sub-par, and I don’t even want to talk about my horrendous reflexes—but Spiderman and I agree on the principle that everyone is capable of being a hero; all you have to do is try. When we say try, we don’t mean tracking down and defeating villains who intend to wreak global havoc. We mean starting small: help a fellow student. Let someone who’s having a bad day know that they’re appreciated. Take the steps to make your voice heard. In the case of Spiderman, he tried and failed many times. He couldn’t save his friend, Gwen Stacy, nor was he able to save his Uncle Ben. But – he never stopped doing what he was doing; he never stopped being Spiderman. He kept saving his neighborhood and doing his best to honor his uncle’s memory because it was the right thing to do. He made more friends and matured as Peter Parker outside of the superhero persona. He never let his setbacks define the future which he could pave for himself. That’s what makes him a hero. Personally, I never really thought that I could be a hero. Failure is terrifying. Losing something is even scarier. And the probability of those things happening as I step out of high school is overwhelmingly high. So, why bother being a hero? I could stay where I am, content, not saving the world or anything, and I would never fail or lose anything. When I say it out loud, it sounds even worse. Holding myself back from experiencing the future is the greatest disservice I can do to myself—and the greatest one you can do to yourself. Spiderman and I are big believers in the human capacity to overcome challenges and succeed, and I have no doubt that all of the students in front of me have the potential to do that and change the world, All it requires is dipping our toes into the vast future, the unknown future that I never precisely visualized. To summarize it in a few words: You Can Do It. It won’t be easy, nor will it be simple. It’ll be dizzying, blinding, beautiful, bittersweet, and everything in between. The future comes at you at a relentless, industrial pace. What’s most important is not your ability to slow down the inevitable. It’s your attitude in the face of a world that feels like it’s spinning too fast. Before you get too overwhelmed, and believe me, it will happen, may I suggest the following : 1. Take a deep breath 2. Look in the mirror 3. Remember how far you’ve come. I mean, we could do it now. I don’t have a mirror but look among yourselves. All I can say is wow. I hope you feel the same. I wish that I could tell you that I am absolutely confident in what the future holds and what I will do, but I’m not. I’m apprehensive. I’m nervous. I’m unsure. But as I continue to wade through those emotions, I see hope. I see gratitude, happiness, tranquility- I see a future that looks a lot less scary than it did when I was in ninth grade. Moreover, I am comforted by the fact that I have you all to fall back on. I can’t thank the people around me enough for the welcoming, diverse, and brilliant community that I have been able to surround myself with. So, in that unpredictable future that doesn’t seem so scary anymore, I want you to truly remember Spider-man’s words: I believe there’s a hero in all of us. To find it, all you have to do is try. Remember: start small and keep going. Class of 2024, I am immeasurably proud of us. Congratulations and thank you for a wonderful four years!
