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ALUMNA SARAH HOLSBERG ’10 GIVES KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT GRADUATION Thank you, Ms. Miller and Ms. Thorne, for the opportunity to speak this afternoon. My name is Sarah Holsberg. I am an Early Childhood Education and English double major at SUNY Geneseo. I went to the Berkeley Carroll School in Park Slope, Brooklyn for middle school and high school. I graduated from Parkside in 2010 and graduated from high school in 2017. When I was at Berkeley Carroll, I swam on the swim team, performed in musical productions, played clarinet and baritone saxophone, sang in the choir, and created a twelve-foot tall self-portrait of myself. I was accepted into all of the colleges I applied to, and I have the opportunity, through my majors, to reflect on my education and how it has impacted my life. Now, through staying in touch with Ms. Miller and Ms. Thorne, I can share these reflections with all of you. My time at Parkside helped me come out of my shell. I didn’t speak a word until I was two, and I felt uncomfortable looking at people in the eye. I initially thought that if I looked someone in the eye, that it was me picking a fight, and not me looking up as a sign of trust. I needed a learning environment that was secure, loving, and closeknit, and my parents found that in Parkside. I did a wheel pose with the help of Mr. Hanuer. I learned how to juggle from Mr. B. I laughed along with Mr. Vargas’ jokes,
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and still remember the lyrics to the “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” parody he played during class. I made great friendships with my classmates, and even though it has been difficult to stay in touch, I still appreciated the friendships of Ian, Andrea, Paloma, Galen, Georgia, and Tia, as well as my other classmates. I sang in the choir with Ms. Anne and lip-synced my first concert at the Barnes and Noble Book Fair. It was my first concert, and I was nervous. I walked in the Walk-a-Thon for Haiti, and I was so inspired by my ability to make a difference that I am now in a community service organization in college. I read some of my favorite books, including the Percy Jackson series, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle, and even read Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night during my time at Parkside. I even performed as the goddess Artemis in Ms. Cahn’s class, and made my own costume out of a pillowcase and butterfly stickers. I deeply appreciated my appointments with Ms. Scovel, Ms. Schlegel, and Ms. Tuohy, and they helped me come out of my shell in ways I am grateful for years later. I wrote poems in my classes, and I have a love of reading and writing that has served me well as an English major. Friday mornings were my favorite days of the week, because I got to attend Advanced Art with Ms. Brunner and work on my artistic skills. I still have my old sketchbooks, and look fondly at the drawing of Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars, which originally was my biggest fear.
