ladies and gentlemen good afternoon my name is dan richardson on the principal of belmont high school on behalf of the administration faculty and students of belmont high school i'd like to welcome you to our commencement ceremony for the class of two thousand we are here today to celebrate the commencement of august jewett's congratulations to the class of two thousand and eighteen each year when graduation comes around i find myself thinking about its significance and what brought us all to this point and more importantly what the future might hold for all of you commencement does not mark the end of a stage in your life it's the beginning of a new and exciting one over the past four years i have seen firsthand how you have faced challenges both big and small and have persevered to win and if she excellence we will all finally remember the individual stories the fun times and the impact that you have had on our school community and the difference that you have made this year similar to previous years i have taken the time to reflect on our journey together when i think of the class of two thousand and eighteen the recurring theme of gratefulness comes to mind today i like to recognize those groups of people we are thankful for first i would like to thank you the parents for trusting us with your children for all the support and encouragement for the early mornings and the late nights for being here today to see firsthand your work to success your hard work and unconditional love and commitment are evident in each of these graduates today secondly i would like to thank you the students for showing up each day trusting us with preparing you for the future employer working so hard to become well deserving graduates it has been our pleasure to work with you along this journey i have enjoyed every step and wish nothing but the very best group each and every one of you and addition i would be remiss if i didn't also thank you for some of those fun antics that we have reminded us not take ourselves so seriously and sing your brain a big thank you goes to the belmont public schools faculty and staff to put it clearly our community simply is just lucky to have you every day you go above and beyond to do anything and everything you can to support our students along their journey to become the fine young adults they are today like any production behind the scenes tremendous effort and energy goes into planning and teaching every lesson i am privileged to work with such a talented and dedicated team every day thank you to our police and fire departments for supporting us and helping us to create an environment which our students remain safe and able to thrive without you they were not be able to accomplish our important work of educating our students a very special thank you goes out to those in our community who support is often unseen in the audience today there is a large number of community members who wish to remain anonymous and continue to get to belmont high school because they believe in the leadership vision mission and what belmont high school stands for i can never repay you or thank you enough for caring so deeply today i feel incredibly proud of this community and thankful for the opportunity to serve you finally a last word to a soon to be a long night of belmont high school take every opportunity to grasp on to the wonderful future that lies ahead whether it's college university the military or the work force there's a saying i strongly believe in i know hope you take it with you on your next  is wherever you go go with all of your heart i hope you all do just that and thank you for allowing me to be part of your story i wish you all the best for a successful prosperous and rewarding future congratulations class of two thousand it is now my pleasure to introduce to you mr ben brody the president of the class of two thousand and eighteen thank you principal richards i'd like to start by offering you a quote and because i'm a latin nerd this is going to be a latin quote the quote is interpreted dextro which means enter with your right foot now as three hundred thirty one right feet step across this graduation stage today i hope that this quote is on the minds of each and every one of the people whom they carry bear with me this is more relevant than you might think now i want to flash back to this past august when jessica chen and i were selected to help miss ross in her guidance groups for freshman orientation you know the one where you take a tour around the building have no idea where you're going and basically spend the entire time wondering how the heck you're going to survive the next four years regardless of how it felt as freshman as seniors we had to introduce ourselves talk about what we do around the school and explain the weird things that go on at b h s like having doubles and triples and drop days and those weird parking spots close to the school you know the ones that to the naked eye seem yellow but are actually just white lines that reflect the sun weirdly anyway there are probably five or so groups that we spoke to and each time as soon as we started talking i noticed a roomful of deer in headlights staring back at us by the third or fourth group i realized it had to do with how enormous we seem to them not in a literal sense of course i'm a strikingly average five foot nine and jess as we all know one best for being all of four foot eleven but much more in a these two are seniors in high school and look how much they have accomplished sense and it could have been any one of us it just happened to be myself and jess because i think that if our freshman yourselves could see how far we've come now we'd be even more shocked than those freshman were looking at jess and i like for me freshman year if you told me that i'd have the guts to sing and dance and the lip i probably wouldn't have believed you flash forward to this year and i was one of the people who ran it now that is true but i'm going to pretend i wasn't in it because you guys who have seen it know that i was like easily easily the worst one in the entire video and i'm sorry for that anyway flash forward to this past spring and i'm up in new hampshire for admitted students day sitting with a group of twenty or thirty prostheses in a situation that i'm starting to realize is remarkably similar to the one i had just described sure enough in walk to college seniors who introduce themselves talk about what they do around the school and help explain the weird things that go on there as well the first one gets up their smiles confidently and says hi i'm jenny and i'm sitting there feeling like confident comfortable for all of about seven seconds because then she starts talking about what she does on campus she goes i'm a marine biologist of a research in with a professor since freshman year now i'm a senior i've been published in six scientific journals and and i'm sitting there like oh my god like i have that deer in headlights look at just like like those freshman did when i was up there and then the symmetry of it all it just sort of clicked for me life is a series of these evolutions whether it's high school college a new job a new relationship or anything else we go through this period of growth culminating in new version of ourselves as we move on to the next stage of growth but through this process we often forget what we learned in our old stage as we sit where we are right now we are on the precipice of the old and  we can look retrospectively on our lives as high school students as we look prospect of lee whatever comes next the people who we've become throughout high school the ones who have really earned that deer in headlights look from those incoming freshman those people haven't gone away and when we get to the beginning of the next part of our respective journeys that same coffin and that same level of comfort that same feeling of belonging and of i've made it like all the stuff that makes up our right foot and our best but our petty dextro if you well it can all stay with us if we put our minds to the point here long winded though i may be is that we should all be sure to enter petty dextro during this transition all of us can look to the future and put our best foot forward put our right foot forward take on this journey with the same zeal and confidence that i know we will all have as we walk across this very stage and remember that being a deer in headlights is simply a product of trying something new and a small step on a long journey if we can all do this then i can say with one hundred percent certainty that the world had better watch out for the b h s class of twenty eighteen thank you graduates of the class of two thousand and eighteen parents grandparents friends and relatives faculty members and members of the school committee but i am pleased to present the first of two school committee awards for outstanding achievement scholarship the first award is presented to a senior who is a standout student who took many belmont highs most rigorous courses is frequently toured to by his peers in teachers alike for assistance in out of the classroom a student who is generous with his time in his apt in his academic leader has been book award last year this student is an active volunteer at his greek church through the basketball league greek school and even earned certification a proficiency in the greek language he has shared his love of sports as a beaumont youth basketball association coach of the last four years and is a leader on the field court track and can be counted on to stay late pick up after events in practice or take teammates hold the student as dedicated as a member of his family while his accomplishments are many one of his most remarkable achievements is his ability to balance as many responsibilities while also remaining a person of great integrity and generosity he will attend harvard college in the fall the recipient of this award goes to coast  i like to thank superintendent failon mr richards and the school committee for this honor and also my friends and family for their incredible support benji upon his love for a lot and writing his speech being the sports junky that i am i look to boston's rich sports history for my inspiration quickly arrived in the form of kevin garnett after being traded to boston in the summer of two thousand and seven he helped lead the celtics to the two thousand and eight and be a championship control first anything is possible when it comes to situations that you will face you can't control everything that comes around the corner odd and difficult predicaments aren't avoidable and all that can be done is to tac them head on and are i'm sure even six foot eleven kevin garnett was apprehensive at the thought of moving to the east coast and dealing with a horrific driving that bus journey and are known for one night in my junior year i found myself up at three am or could possibly be important enough to keep me up so late you may ask gluing yarn to a piece of paper for my biology class i certainly never expected to be doing an arts and crafts project for my most advanced class you can't to submit every homework assignment they receive and certainly not every event that you experience however i would like to thank mr alfred for bringing a little creativity into the lab even if it cost me some speed some sleep as a class of twenty eighteen we've gone through some pretty unique situations together as well who could forget the flooded bathrooms the hacking scandal twenty seventeen or the fact that the school would have the nerve to make us take a gym class and our junior year it despite all of these on for unforeseen circumstances over the years here we are second there is the interpretation that kevin garnett intended one of optimism and hope although there are some things that are out of the unpredictable i've learned through watching all of you that the majority of life is under our control i've witnessed th hours and hours that all of you have put into your respective clubs music sports performances and other activities nothing was left to chance and instead we took things into our own hands in order to ensure that our goals were met even our senior prank demonstrate a fine much effort we put into the things we care about and honestly i still can't believe the school hasn't figured out our second frank yet there's a reason that our arts programs are heralded for being the best around and that all the h s sports teams made the postseason this winter a first for mr davis time as a flight extractor it isn't a fluke this class the class of twenty eighteen special i believe that we are born this way but instead we fought for every inch of our success and made a mark at the h s and our greater community kevin garnett arrived as a new face in boston but from day one he came in ready to work with the most passion and commitment that i have ever seen today we find ourselves facing a similar transition one from high school to a new chapter in our lives whether it be college career gap year or their pursuit we have been through a lot and accomplish just as much in now we know we have an opportunity to start fresh and do what we love and dream of i encourage you all to follow in coming on that steps anything is possible relish all of the unexpected twists and turns anything is possible go into the world where your heart  go in your championship and most importantly enjoy your life thank you thank you costas and i look forward to finding out what that second senior prank is ok at this time i'd like to superintend fallon to come to the podium to present the second school committee award good afternoon the second school committee award for outstanding achievement in scholarship is presented to the senior who is highly engaged student with a strong work ethic who  excellence in a wide range of academic subjects with ease and humility who pursues her interests with energy and intensity whose love of learning extends beyond the classroom at belmont high is an avid photographer has had her photography pop received an achievement award from the national council for teachers of english for superior writing who participated in the highly selective and we're going young writers conference at bread loaf is passionate about serving the community it is a reception of the three presidential awards for community service has volunteered at places as varied as the belmont food bank pantry a psyche i psychiatry lab at m g h and the museum of science the seniors co president of the belmont tony and club is involved in a variety of activities including student senate national honor society and coffee club the senior works part time at belmont books is personable funny and friendly and has taken on belmont high and novel set out her to make her mark at stanford university three sippin of this award is sophia shows m thank you superintendent failon principal richard and the school committee thank you also to the many teachers and family members in the room for your support throughout the years and of course congratulations to my fellow classmates whether you consider these past four years to be the best of your life or not there is no denying that we are all now experts in life at belmont high school we've walked these halls more times than we can remember past the row of dunkin donuts cups sitting outside the library or even the occasional student asleep in a cubicle we know exactly how long it takes to get from the front door to our favorite spots and we all understand the thrill of seeing a sign on a teacher's door and realizing we might not have class started teachers but it wasn't always like that four years ago i walked into belmont high school on the first day of freshman year feeling very small and very clueless i remember a teacher actually having to tell me that it was ok to walk to my locker on my own because i was so used to waiting for an adult's directions but i was hesitant to go up stairs without permission that first year there were so many new things to adjust to free periods a new building and in my case pacifically a film photography course i signed up for photo one initially because i needed to take an art class and because i thought the course would be pretty basic you know just one step up from an i phone something i already knew how to do as it turns out belmont high school is one of the few remaining institutions in massachusetts with a functional darkroom so i spent the majority of class time that year testing the limits of how long a person can spend creating a single picture i remember for our first biggest simon we were asked to shoot a series of portraits and my little sister naomi was my own unfortunate model it took us a long time there are only twenty four exposures on a roll of film but i was terrified to use up a single one of them i kept checking the light meter rethinking the composition telling my sister to pose just a little bit differently or scrapping any single idea altogether what would have taken me fifteen minutes with my iphone took hours and even then i was sure that the photos would be blurry or too dark or that i would unload the film incorrectly and ruin every shot before i even got a chance to see them the majority of that roll of film was not most of the photos feature naomi with a scowl and appropriate reaction given the situation my favorite photo ended up being one that i didn't even recall taking a picture of my sister looking at something off camera her head thrown back laughing it was one of the few photos that i had neglected to painstakingly plan out as the class progressed i came to understand that film photography like many other things in life is more about the process than the final product sometimes it took me three days to perfect a single image sometimes i couldn't perfect an image at all i'll admit that this uncertainty was often maddening still somewhere along the way i learned to appreciate the meaning behind each obstacle perfection i've discovered is far less important than improvement setbacks great growth and missteps give us the chance to take risk the scratches on my favorite print are reminders of the work that went into creating this science experiment that goes completely a wry introduces new questions that you wouldn't think to ask before the injury before a big game allows you to learn from your teammates as you cheer them on from the sidelines as we step away from the the mill year routines of belmont high school and into the next stages of our lives we will all encounter setbacks there will be moments when we feel small confused and a little bit lost but while the prospect of th challenges is surely frightening there is also excitement and the opportunity to work through something new and to learn from the moments that don't immediately go our way whether you are sitting here today as a graduate or as a teacher family member or friend come to support someone you care about we all have new beginnings ahead of us let us remember to learn from every setback to embrace the difficult moments and to celebrate what we accomplish whether the outcome is as perfect as we hoped it would be or not after all the beauty at this time i would have asked the belmont high school senior acapella choir to come to the front to perform take me home so the official flares have gone up in the air to present to the diplomas i asked superintendent phelan to come to the podium for the fischel presentation cox and members of the school committee i hereby certify that the students assembled here today have completed their requirements to earn a belmont high school diploma at this time i'd benjamin collin adams abigail rose anderson naomi quinn arsenal lulu asked baghdad timothy joseph bailey brandon are thomas edward ballard a livia bible james joseph bo luna catherine bradley hurley hailey roser dang brown sir henry daniel brown brian eric collins nicholas michael couple  dennis michael chad crowley jake andrew cutting him elizabeth d'angel eleanor golda dash jack joseph dorothy will windsor sebastian freeze autumn kennedy go into bridget mae gardener caleb henry harris seneca jane hart margaret and higgins should i say michael lawrence kill bryan daniel emily sara logan julia and logan erin scott looney caroline nicole mad catherine elizabeth mannix the matthew jonathan messer alec james mo francisco lucas james matthew pol mary j power jackson c pullman nicholas steven robert michael rodriguez samuel l rogers max carlos michael patterson shay mary margaret tol sebastian thomas tol william of daniel valentine william john duran wester ma barbara any kelly wet marley lynn williams george patrick yan brian paul miller barbara cindy joseph to the office secretaries c the incredible work in organizing the events of the last few days seniors as my last remarks to you welcome to the alumni association of belmont high school congratulations class of two thousand