2020届毕业生做出了选择 奥斯汀·萨默斯，20岁 to represent them as the Senior Speaker at 毕业典礼 2020 on June 12. During the ceremony, Head of School Audrius Barzdukas P’20 introduced Somers.

“自然哲学家, 今年的资深演讲者以好奇心和对自己所在社区产生持久影响的渴望来处理每一种情况. When he was peer tutoring our younger 中学 students, 他意识到有必要在我们的高中和初中之间建立一个有意识的联系. He successfully created the 较低的学校/上学校 Buddy program, 让四年级和十一年级的学生合作，这样当低年级的学生作为五年级学生来到戴克高地校区时, they have a member of the senior class looking out for them. 他的正能量和真诚的同情心也在我们的咖啡馆庆祝学生才艺活动中熠熠生辉. But don’t let his gentle nature fool you—he also has a brown belt in Muay Thai.”

奥斯汀·萨默斯20年毕业典礼演讲

在任何, 我只想说能在我们的虚拟毕业典礼上演讲对我来说有多特别 艾米丽·温斯坦, who was one of my first friends at Poly. 她不知疲倦地工作，是一个好学生和好朋友的完美例子. 谢谢你，Emily.

再次欢迎大家的到来, 我希望今天你和你的家人在这个疯狂的时刻快乐健康，无论是我的同学, 他们的父母, 兄弟姐妹, 爷爷奶奶, 护理人员, 家里的狗, and anyone else who postponed their online yoga or Chloe Ting workout, 感谢您抽出时间来庆祝保利预科的2020届毕业生.

首先，我要祝贺我们所有人完成了高中的要求. No matter the highs or lows we’ve gone through, 我们加入了包括政府官员在内的著名校友的行列，这说明我们毕业于一所极具声望的学府, 作家, 科学家们, 艺术家, and voice actors in the Kung Fu Panda movie series.

不像今年的很多高年级学生, 我不是全美运动员, 我不是以优等成绩毕业的, I didn’t study abroad in a different country, and I don’t have any music up on Spotify, so how in the world could I speak for such a diverse group of talents, 个性, 爱好, 和期货?

尽管如此，我真的很荣幸能在这里向大家讲话，我很感动能被选中来做这个演讲. 为此，我感谢你. 我只希望能很好地代表这群了不起的学生，在过去的四年里，我很高兴与他们共度时光. Although I am honored, this is where the difficulty set in when writing this. 不像今年的很多高年级学生, 我不是全美运动员, 我不是以优等成绩毕业的, I didn’t study abroad in a different country, and I don’t have any music up on Spotify, so how in the world could I speak for such a diverse group of talents, 个性, 爱好, 和期货?

在写这篇演讲的时候，我开始从自己在保利的经历中寻找灵感. I started in ninth grade like many of us, coming in on the first day of school as cool and as self-assured as you could be. I came to Poly with one of my best friends, Alexandra Fried. 我们刚从曼哈顿的一所小型K-8学校毕业，在那里我认识了一群30多岁的孩子，在我生命的大部分时间里. 在那里，我一年参加三项运动, 取得好成绩, and starred as sailor and chef #4 in our eighth grade play 小美人鱼. I also had a cool new girlfriend, so needless to say, I thought I was hot stuff. But I was humbled in about five minutes. 当我第一次下车走进门口的时候，我甚至不知道我在博彩网站排名的哪个地方. 我也找不到亚历山德拉. 发现自己很慌张, I went into the restroom to kill time before her bus arrived, and there I bumped into Isaiah Wilson and his SpongeBob backpack. 我惊呆了. 我从整个中学最大的孩子变得觉得自己很渺小. This place was different than anything I had ever experienced.

I’m sure that when many of us came on campus for the first time, we realized that Poly stands out as a school. I think my mom put it well after I had my interview in the fall of eighth grade. She constantly went on about how genuine and down to earth Poly’s staff was. She was right: the faculty here stand out. 在过去的四年里，没有什么比听到奥巴马的讲话更真实、更真实了. Larose’s laugh in ninth grade English, seeing Ms. 在十年级的创意写作选修课上，听我们的小说故事是哈克拉夫特的纯粹乐趣, 医生的同情心. 迪卡洛在11年级前，就对星战表现出了强烈的热爱. Bernieri in the senior year religion elective, or the kindness of Ms. Doughterty, 我一直没怎么了解他, 但当她在走廊里跟我打招呼或问我那天午餐吃了什么时，我能感觉到她的特殊性格. Who would’ve known we’d be trading fist bumps every day with Ms. Lizzi in the front hall, or that we’d be laughing our heads off on Ms. 一有机会就去卡罗的沙发上，或者真的很期待去图书馆见卡罗女士. Bean and grill her about her kids or her search for a new house? 除了Mr. Wong could I talk about baseball and Pokémon in the same conversation, 在谁的办公室，而不是女士. 当我路过和他们打个招呼的时候已经有一群学生在玩了?

When I think of my time at this school and in this class, the memories won’t be filled with blockbuster events like proms or big games, but with the little things—the recurring experiences that became habit for us, like taking the subway home with your best friend, having your morning hangout spot with your crew, throwing the Frisbee or the football out in the back fields, or rushing to Commons to beat that dreaded lunch line.

这个班互相帮助, 我确实从一些非常棒的人那里得到了我应得的帮助，我现在可以称之为我最好的朋友.

我们都有这样的回忆, 无论是不同还是相同, and the beautiful thing is that we created them with each other. 我喜欢这门课的一点是我们有勇气走出去认识新的人, to go talk to somebody we’ve never spoken to before, and befriend those we normally wouldn’t naturally connect with. 对一些人来说，高中生活并不容易，但正是这门课的品质让它变得容易多了. 正是因为这些特殊的人，他们让新生或害羞的学生打破了自己的壳, 引导他们对自己作为高中生和毕业班的一员变得更加自信. 这个班互相帮助, 我确实从一些非常棒的人那里得到了我应得的帮助，我现在可以称之为我最好的朋友. 正因为如此，我们应该感谢他们——他们值得得到很多认可和尊重.

是的, 我们是在一个世纪以来第一次全球流行病中坚持下来的班级, we were the ones who had to adapt to a new way of life and learning, 我们是在短短几个月里经历了最令人大开眼界和变革的经历之一的人.

**写这篇演讲稿的时候, it was my intention to not say the words corona or quarantine or pandemic. We all know about it, there’s no reason to mention it. 但这段时间确实夺走了我们创造与我们之前的毕业生一样的回忆的机会. 这是一片空白，至少曾经是. 现在, 在这个空间里是新的记忆, 20年的回忆, 40, 60, maybe 80 years from now we will be telling to our future families and friends. 是的, 我们是在一个世纪以来第一次全球流行病中坚持下来的班级, we were the ones who had to adapt to a new way of life and learning, 我们是在短短几个月里经历了最令人大开眼界和变革的经历之一的人. 和, 长大后，当我们的孩子在做数学作业时，问我们谁会一次买35卷卫生纸, 我们可以说, “你不会明白的, 你们这些孩子过得太轻松了.”

This brings me back to those little moments I mentioned earlier, and how those would be the ones that would make up most of my memory about Poly, not the 错过了舞会 or inability to graduate in person this month. 三月份，当我们最后一次走出校园时，那些小小的回忆并没有停止, 如果我像世界各地的毕业典礼演讲者一样，试图以深刻的信息结束他们的演讲, it would be to never stop making little memories, 永远不要停止你开创的事业因为我们被困在里面太久了. 从晚上9点到凌晨4点，永远不要因为你可以停止和你最好的朋友视频聊天, never stop telling people that you miss them or that you love them, 永远不要停止联系那些你有段时间没见的人，只是为了看看他们怎么样, 永远不要停止努力成为一个更好的厨师或一个更好的面包师或一个更好的艺术家来打发时间, 永远不要停止尝试新事物, 听新类型的音乐, 读新书或玩新游戏, never stop having too many family movie nights or family walks to count, 永远不要停止期待下一次你能制造这样的回忆. Never stop engaging in little acts that make you happy, because whether after one chapter or the entire story of your life, those are the details that make all the difference. 类似的, our Poly experience isn’t rounded out by the time we failed a midterm, 错过了舞会, or even got an A in a really important class, 它在说走廊里发生了什么, making a joke during class even if it’s ill timed, 走一小段路去吃午饭, 或者待到很晚，即使你不需要和朋友多呆一会儿. 再加上我们在家时花在一起聊天或发短信的时间, by the letters you send and the online games you play with each other, and by the anticipation of a massive hug when we get to see each other again.

用史密斯女士的话来说. 帕蓬，没事的.

I am proud to be a part of 保利预科’s most well-rounded, 自适应, strong, and good-looking graduating class ever.

等这一切结束，我们还会在这里, 我们会变得更强大, 更严格的, and more appreciative of what we had and have. This class has been through so many ups and downs, and it’s clear to see that we are experiencing one of those downs. 每一场暴风雨的雨水都会耗尽, but no human being can run out of smiles, 的笑, 的笑话, 的积极性, 或是爱情, 我永远都不会表达我对这个班级的感激之情，感谢你们收留了我，帮助我成为了现在的自己, to my friends whom I will never forget, to the teachers who became some of my best friends, to my family for being there every step of the way, 致乔伊和克里斯蒂安, 谢谢你帮我准备演讲, 还有我的狗狗Dooska, for sitting under my legs as I wrote it.  I am proud to be a part of 保利预科’s most well-rounded, 自适应, strong, and good-looking graduating class ever. 祝贺我们所有人. 谢谢，我爱你们.