蘑菇传媒

So Class of 2025, this beautiful campus, this beautiful evening is for you!

At this final and very momentous ritual, the final leg of your 蘑菇传媒 journey, I want to say a humble and heartfelt thank you. 

You have modeled this year’s school theme, togetherness, in every step of your liberal arts journey. We know it has not always been easy, as 蘑菇传媒 asked each of you to lean into excellence each day, in and out of the classroom. Your embrace of challenge has inspired and lifted your classmates and a grateful faculty as we’ve collectively watched you grow and contribute in so many meaningful and extraordinary ways. 

You are curious, capable learners who have embraced the responsibility that accompanies the privilege of a 蘑菇传媒 education.

I am certain that your learning journey will continue in college and well beyond for the rest of your lives as you pursue honor, beauty, and wisdom and the aspiration of a life of meaning and purpose.

And this is where true, meaningful learning lies 鈥� in your connections with and to others! This is what your liberal arts education is all about! Where your deep passion for lifelong learning results in the betterment of each and every community to which you belong.

You have the skills and knowledge, the habits of heart and mind to be anything to do anything you can imagine. Use your 蘑菇传媒 education to dream big dreams because we know you have the capacity to make the world a more humane and better place.

And one final request鈥攖ake time to express your gratitude to those who helped you to get here. We are all stronger on our path in life together in the company of others. As you reflect on your 蘑菇传媒 experience throughout the evening, I am certain teachers, coaches, mentors, friends, parents, and family members come to mind as you hold space to appreciate ALL who have supported you and will continue to do so going forward.

Thank you, Class of 2025, for all of the ways that your journey has enriched ours.

We are indeed very proud of you! Welcome, everyone, once again. And, Class of 2025, congratulations!

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Each year, the senior class chooses a classmate to give a senior address at the Commencement ceremony. This year, the class elected two speakers, Jack Khachatryan and Zainab Khan to give the senior addresses, read them here:

Hi everyone. My name is Jack Khachatryan, and I鈥檓 proud to be standing here today as a member of the graduating class of 2025. For the past three years, every single morning at exactly 7:00 a.m., my phone has buzzed with the same reminder: 鈥淧rove it.鈥�

It started after a particularly tough lacrosse game, a loss that really got to me. I remember feeling disappointed, unsure of myself, and a little lost. In the aftermath of that game, I set a reminder. I didn鈥檛 overthink it. I just typed 鈥淧rove it鈥� into my phone and saved it. In hindsight, that鈥檚 kind of vague. It could have meant anything. Prove I can graduate. Prove I can play lacrosse. Prove I can eat the Reaper sandwich from Dave’s Hot Chicken. All valid goals. But I knew something inside me needed that push.

At first, I thought it was about proving myself to other people, coaches, teachers, classmates. But the longer that reminder stayed on my phone, the more I realized: this wasn鈥檛 about them. It was about me. About facing the things I wasn鈥檛 sure I could do, especially when I felt uncertain or unprepared. See, that鈥檚 what I eventually came to understand: the challenge wasn鈥檛 really self-doubt. The challenge was uncertainty.

It鈥檚 easy to feel confident when you鈥檝e done something before. But even in the areas where I felt strong, I found myself hesitating, not because I didn鈥檛 think I could succeed, but because I had never done that exact thing in that exact moment before. The fear wasn鈥檛 about ability,it was about not knowing how something might turn out. And now here we are, on the edge of that very thing: a future full of unknowns. New places, new pressures, new expectations. The uncertainty ahead feels familiar. But what lies ahead鈥� is not.

So, how do we overcome uncertainty? Well, this would be the perfect time for an inspirational quote, 

Unfortunately鈥� I couldn鈥檛 find one I liked. So you鈥檒l just have to take my word for it: Confidence is the enemy of uncertainty. That鈥檚 what I learned. Confidence is the enemy of uncertainty

In my experience, when you approach something with confidence, you often get the desired result. If your goal is to avoid Yondr checks, something my grade is quite good at, and you approach it with confidence, then you will likely succeed.

Let me be clear, though, uncertainty isn’t a bad thing. None of us is leaving here today with everything figured out. We鈥檙e all stepping into new territory. And with that comes uncertainty. But with confidence, uncertainty encourages us to grow, to learn new things in the aspiration of certainty.

Now, Confidence鈥� doesn鈥檛 mean having all the answers. It means moving forward anyway. It means trusting yourself even when the outcome isn鈥檛 guaranteed. And most importantly, confidence isn鈥檛 something we find alone, it鈥檚 something we build with help. But here鈥檚 some good news: we鈥檝e been preparing for this uncertainty all along.

Whether we realized it or not, we鈥檝e spent the last four years, the last eighteen years learning how to handle uncertainty. Through difficult classes, unexpected challenges, failures, and comebacks, we鈥檝e grown. We鈥檝e stretched. And we鈥檝e found out that we鈥檙e more capable than we thought.

One thing I admire most about the Class of 2025 is our breadth of talent, from our athletes, sculptors, science olympians, to our sailors, musicians, debaters, and even our very distinctive driving styles.

But what鈥檚 even more impressive is how often we鈥檝e shared those talents with each other, lifting each other up in the process. Class of 2025, we didn鈥檛 just prepare ourselves for this moment; we prepared each other. And just as we鈥檝e helped shape each other, we鈥檝e also been shaped by the people who stood beside us from the beginning.

I want to take a moment to thank one of those people in particular, my grandfather, who is here in the audience today. Papik, Shnorhakal yem Dzer zoh-ha-be-roo-tyoon-ne-ri hamar. Yes ays-tegh ch鈥檈i li-ni a-rants Dzez. Papik, shnorhakal yem k鈥檝o zohoghut鈥檡unneri hamar. Yes aystegh ch鈥檈i lini arrants鈥� k鈥檈z.

That means: Thank you for your sacrifices. I wouldn鈥檛 be here without you.

And I know I鈥檓 not the only one who feels that way. To every parent, grandparent, teacher, to every person here, thank you. To our teachers, especially,  thank you not just for keeping us in uniform, but for challenging us, for believing in us. Everyone here has helped build the foundation that gives us the confidence to face whatever comes next. 

That鈥檚 the other part of confidence, it doesn鈥檛 just come from within. It鈥檚 built by the people who support us, who believe in us when we鈥檙e still figuring things out. The vast majority of the people who have shaped our lives up to this point are sitting in this crowd today; in a way, part of every one of you is graduating today. But a large number of the people we will meet, the people who will shape our lives after this point, are out there, waiting in the real world. And that’s a scary thought, that “uncertainty”, but we can find confidence in knowing that we’re not moving forward without these people here today, but moving forward as a culmination of all of you.

So we鈥檝e looked at the past, how 鈥淧rove it鈥� brought me to this moment. We鈥檝e looked at the present, what we carry with us right now. Now let鈥檚 look forward, toward the future, and what we choose to do with it.

Now, when we talk about the future, there鈥檚 a lot of pressure to 鈥渃hange the world”, another form of proving it. And that鈥檚 a beautiful idea, but also kind of overwhelming. I’ve had the great fortune of knowing my classmates for upwards of 13 years, and for many of us, myself included, setting out to change the world may not be the best idea. If that’s what you want to do, don’t let me stop you, but for the rest of us, let me offer a different idea. Clarissa Pinkola Est茅s once said, 鈥淥urs is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.鈥�

So let’s start smaller. If we want to change the world, we would find greater success if all of us set out to change our neighborhoods, our schools, whatever community we find ourselves a part of. Let鈥檚 be the kind of people who see something small that needs doing, and do it with large commitment, dedication, and resolve. Not for recognition or acknowledgement, but because we can. Because we鈥檝e been given the tools, the support, and the confidence to make a difference.

That鈥檚 how we change the world.

So tomorrow morning, when my phone buzzes again at 7:00 a.m. with the words 鈥淧rove it,鈥� I鈥檒l still read them. But I鈥檒l read them with a clearer understanding. Not as a challenge to be perfect. Not as a pressure to impress anyone. But as a quiet reminder that I鈥檓 ready. That we鈥檙e ready. Not because the future is certain.

But because we are prepared to change it.

Thank you, and congratulations, Class of 2025.

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Good evening, everyone! Teachers, families, friends, and most importantly, the Class of 2025.

It feels surreal standing here before you all. For years, this moment has felt so far away, filled with so much anticipation, and now we’re finally here. Not just as students fulfilling a milestone or receiving a diploma, but as individuals who have experienced caring, community, and change.  

Being at 蘑菇传媒 for four years, one of the things I am immensely grateful for is the people I have been able to meet and call my friends. The friendships we have formed, the chaos we have survived, and the memories we have made. Our class really is special. And no, I鈥檓 not just saying that because it鈥檚 my job to make us sound good, but genuinely, the class of 2025 is unique. 

You could walk up to any single person in our grade, and I promise鈥攖hey will surprise you. With their wild range of passions, insane work ethic, ridiculous talent, or just that one random fact they know so much about. A mind-blowing number of extracurriculars to sky-high GPAs, creative genius to the kind of quiet, steady leadership that doesn鈥檛 ask for attention but earns respect鈥攚e鈥檝e got it all.

But it was not possible to get here alone. I am so, so grateful to all of our teachers. Thank you for putting up with us, for showing up with patience and energy even when we definitely didn鈥檛 make it easy. Whether it was those painfully awkward silences during Mr. Chard鈥檚 Senior Seminar discussions or procrastinating writing college essays, you were there. Thank you for sticking with us through every late-night email, half-baked group project, and 鈥渨ait鈥� what are we doing again?鈥� moment. You taught us so much more than just what was on the test鈥攜ou taught us how to think, how to care, and how to keep showing up.

To our family and supporters, I want to thank my parents for putting me in a place where I was able to thrive and for supporting me through it.  And to all the parents sitting in the audience right now: thank you. I know it鈥檚 not easy letting your kid go off to college or into the unknown, but you鈥檝e shown up for us in so many ways. From throwing amazing senior lunches, to keeping your house door unlocked (thank you, Bethany), to just welcoming us with love and open arms (thank you, Charlene and Amanda), you鈥檝e made this journey possible. 

As we look ahead, whether that鈥檚 college, work, a gap year, or just figuring life out, I hope we don鈥檛 forget what we鈥檝e found here. That our differences are actually what connect us. That it鈥檚 okay to not have it all figured out. And that showing up, for ourselves, and for the people around us, is one of the most powerful things we can do.

When I think about these past four years, I realize that 蘑菇传媒 wasn鈥檛 always the easy path. It challenged us. It pushed us. It asked us to think deeply, speak thoughtfully, and grow in ways we didn鈥檛 expect. But it was the right path. And I think that鈥檚 what makes it all the more meaningful.

I鈥檇 like to end this speech by quoting one of my favorite books from elementary and middle school:
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just keep doing what鈥檚 easy. Sometimes you have to do what鈥檚 right.鈥� 鈥� Diary of a Wimpy Kid. 

Class of 2025, thank you for being part of this chapter. I can鈥檛 wait to see who you all become in the next one. Thank you.

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WATCH THE LIVESTREAM OF THE 
38TH COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES

CONGRATULATIONS, CLASS OF 2025!