Senior President Speech

I remember how it felt to be a freshman. I remember being new middle school life. I remember how it felt to be a new kid. I’d like to say I handled it very well but it doesn’t come without its hardships. I had a little if not a lot of help from my friends. We all stand here right now because we have made it. We live in the point of our lives where our school life ends and our college live will begin. We are the top dogs. We are the big men and big women on campus. This is no small feat. We are survivors and we are leaders. As leaders it is our job to be THAT senior. The one the kids look up to and say “That’s Jeremiah!” or “That’s Patrick!” or “That’s Sianie!” We are and will be that senior class. We can go nowhere but skyward. With our combined efforts we will leave behind a legacy. We are a poorly sown quilt. But we are strong. If Eric and I become your co-president then we will rise above. We will be THE senior class. Only with you can that happen. Thank you.

This is a little speech I wrote to inspire my fellow students to make a mark on the school where we put 4 years of hard work into. Not to brag or anything but I won that election...no big deal. But the sentiments expressed by that little 16 year old kid (shut up I have a late birthday) still ring true to this very day.

It is definitely pretty embarrassing to look back at your old self and wonder what was going on in your head. But knowing where and who you were then paints an even brighter picture of where and who you are now. That difference was the result of a lot of hard work, determination, skill, and growth. That difference is years of new opportunities taken, new people met, new horizons discovered, and new challenges faced. That difference is uniquely your own doing. No one else in the world did what you just did. That difference is the weight of all the decisions you made along the journey of life. But look at you now. You are still standing after everything that happened to you. You are a survivor. A champion. A leader.

You may have not done a lot of things particularly right. You may have gone to a few parties were you should have been studying. You may have unintentionally missed a class or two...or ten. You may have asked that girl/guy out and been totally shut down. But you are still here killin' it. You are less than a quarter-mile to the finish line. You lived to tell the tale for you and the generations behind you. You can share the knowledge you have gained in so many ways. You could be on a panel, perform a comedy routine, share it with your club/organization, write articles about it ;) , or simply embody it. To embrace it and radiate it with your presence.

So we as the upperclassmen. The seniors. Have a job to do. To leave behind a #wpilegacy. We have so much to offer the communities in which we live and the world. We should start first with the school which will give us that shiny diploma and give back. We are patchwork network of people from all over the world, and come from wildly different backgrounds but we have tremendous strength. We ARE WPI. We hold the power to build bridges, make complex machines, create theories, fix problems and change the world.

So be a leader, a role model for someone. Know that the Senior High School you should be proud of the person you are now. The life you have lived has allowed you to grow into the beautiful creature you are today. So think about the growth you have had since high school and think about much you will grow further into the future. But the future is not here just yet. Live your life a quarter-mile at a time and be a leader. So my gorgeous Senior Class of 2017, lets keep shooting for the sky.

P.S. Also in keeping with our legacy, remember to donate to the Class Gift and ask about the class shirt & other merch!