STUDENT SPEECHES
On Graduating (excerpt) by Sidney Howlett ‘21
On Math (excerpt) by Jeremy Green ‘21
delivered at Graduation in June 2021
delivered at the Academic Awards assembly in May 2021
[...] Society tells you that you have to become
I’ve been at Burke since 6th grade. That’s seven years
“bite sized” in order to become controllable and
of math classes. Despite the high quality mathematical
CLASS OF 2021 Jackson Adams
Helen Jentoft-Herr
Rayan Al-Amiri
William Kelly
enthusiastic in a math classroom. Sometimes that meant shouting out an answer before
Helen Khuri
people had finished the problem. It could’ve been asking
Jax August
Kyra Layman
ridiculous, ultra-specific questions that threatened to derail
Lily Barnes
Jonah LeCompte
the entire lesson. Or gasping out loud when I realized where
Huit Blackmon
Sujin Lee
the teacher was going with a point and how cool it would
Nicholas Catlett-Jenkins
Rebecca Meroney
Jennifer Chiancone
Nathaniel Miller
be when they got there. When I made a crazy mathematical
Brandon Chism
Ronan O’Donnell
intuitive leap, get ready, because you were going to hear about it right away. It was extra fun when I couldn’t even put
William Christie
Owen O’Rourke
Isabela Cividanes
Dorcas Ogba
Maya Cole
Julia Parachini
Jonah Coleman
Sigita Puskorius
Alice Crafford
Jacob Rosinplotz
Marlon DeBose
Abby Ross
Morgan DeShazier
Ravi Sadasiv
love nothing more than learning new and interesting things.
Caterina Dinale Sella
Megan Schmuecker
Add that to the fact that in math, learning something new
Liam Donovan
Harper Schwartz
and interesting is extra rewarding. There is nothing more
Sam Eckart
Lauren Simpkins
satisfying than the moment where you go from being
Keely Ferrando
Noé Sitbon-Taylor
Isabella Garcia
Natalie Thorpe
baffled by something to understanding it. As you stare at
Skye Garrett
Dylan Valet
Kalea George-Phillips
Runhui Wang
Ethan Glaser
Reece Watson
Isabel Gottlieb-Nemo
April-Imani Watts
Jeremy Green
Nathan Weisbrod Kodie Wilkins
Katherine Hirsche
Anatiyah Worthy-
Sidney Howlett
Stewart
outside voices that try to tell you who you need
around 8th grade of the number of times I got a little too
Peter Attarian
Gabriel Hershberg
likeable by others. There are a lot of different,
education I’ve received, I think I lost count somewhere
into words what I think I figured out. And when I was as ultraconfident as I was ultra-wrong. All of these antics, though, stemmed from the same reason. Let me break it down mathematically. Take the fact that I
these letters, numbers, graphs and symbols, something just clicks; it starts to make sense, and then you realize how perfectly everything fits together. Because, of course it does. It’s math, which humans basically invented to help describe the world around us-so it has to make sense.
to be and what you need to achieve, to be successful in life. And you need to understand that it’s all a lie, because no one truly knows who you are, but yourself. [...] I came into high school thinking that I would be the best student out there, and that I would be singing with my peers like in High School Musical – which did not come true might I add, and I hope you all realize that I’m not talking about the “best student” part. But at the end of it all, none of my expectations truly mattered, because I found more than I would have ever would’ve imagined. I found a family. This includes my teachers that taught me many things in class, that I have sadly all forgotten since summer started – but most importantly tools to use for when I’m off to college; Damian, who has always made time to chat during lunch; the most unique classmates that make everyday a surprise; a great group of friends that have become my sisters; and finally, finding happiness within the person that I am becoming – or at least starting to become, since my journey is far from over. And I could start going into a spiel about how I’ve grown and my hardships, but this isn’t an essay for the Common App (aren’t we all glad that’s over?). So I’ll leave the class of 2021, or shall I say my family, with this:
MOVING UP The 8th grade’s ceremonial progression into the High School stood out this spring: theirs was the first fully in-person event in the theater since the 2019-20 musical. Each student could invite two in-person guests, with dozens more attending via a livestream to celebrate the 33 members of the Class of 2025. Student Emcees Miriam K. G. ‘25 and Tommy K. ‘25 Speakers & Performers David G. ‘25, Emily R. ‘25, Jaya T. ‘25, Michael S. ‘25, Sophia H. ‘25 Remarks Susan Hearn, Head of Middle School Damian Jones, Head of School
As we come to this final chapter, remember to take chances and make the most of being young and weird, because the right people and lessons will come to you at the right time. And because why wear grey like everyone else when you can wear neon green?
[...] Math is a cumulative discipline, so I will surely have to recall many things I learned in Burke math classes as I move forward in life. When I do, I’ll remember those over-excited moments (and probably cringe). But more generally, I’ll look back fondly on a wonderful seven years learning from the wonderful people of the Burke Math Department.
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1968 Edmund Burke School Magazine
STUDENT SPEAKERS
ACADEMIC AWARDS ASSEMBLY 2021
Winter 2021
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