Class of 2023

It was three years ago, he said, that he was listening to one of his favorite podcasts when his curiosity got the best of him, and he decided to “mindlessly meander Google” to search where the podcasters went to college.

One of those podcasters, according to Ryan, went to the College of the Holy Cross, a school he hadn’t heard of until that moment.

“I can owe my discovery of this school to curiosity, and interestingly enough, I will be spending my next four years there,” Ryan pronounced.

Being curious, Ryan said, also helped to transform “some of my otherwise mundane classes into captivating experiences.”

“It is the subtle difference between apathy and engagement, and the key to being a true learner,” Ryan declared. “However, this truth exists beyond the classroom, whether it be in the workforce, at a trade school or in college: remaining curious ensures we all achieve our own full potential. Always take away more from an experience than what you just learn. Curiosity is key to the door of opportunity, whether that be college, a job, or slightly better performances at Quizzo trivia nights.”

At one point Ryan told his peers, “Asking someone a question about themselves, taking an extra minute to dig into the truth about something – these are the kinds of things that make our lives more interesting and help us understand one another better.”

“If we learned anything over the past four years, it is that there is more to take away from experiences than simply the experience itself,” he told his fellow graduates. “We have all learned to reflect a little bit about the deeper meanings embedded in those experiences.”

In giving a brief mention to the graduating seniors’ journey through high school, the fond memories made together, and COVID, Ryan asserted, “certain things seem to matter more now” and “certain things seem to matter less.”

“I’ve learned a lot of things throughout my time in high school,” he said. “I have learned how to add and subtract chemical formulas. I have learned how to integrate and derive complicated functions. I have learned, for better or worse, how to finish physics labs the day before they are due. But all of these things collectively help reveal the most important takeaway I have gained in high school, something that was never explicitly taught to me in a class: I have learned how important it is to be a learner.”

He further noted that “no one has ever become successful by absorbing information that comes to them” and “likewise, the most scholarly and accommodating teacher in the world can only have so much of an impact on the student who does not make an effort to know more.”

After pointing out to his classmates “we are all on the precipice of our futures,” he asserted “now is not the time to decide the

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