Senior Class President Michelle Li ’22 BTHS Commencement Speech
I want to start with something many of you have heard me say since freshman year. All of us are a part of something unique and special - Brooklyn Tech’s 100th anniversary graduating class - for a reason. In the past four years, I’ve always told you that I don’t know what the reason is, I just know that there is one. After four years, I think I have my reason. I’ll reveal that reason in a bit.
First, parents and teachers, I think you can agree with me when I say that my peers, the 100th Anniversary graduating class of Brooklyn Tech, are one of the most tight-knit and supportive groups in all existence. Weren’t you proud when we participated in protests and pushed proposals? Weren’t you proud of all those town halls and meetings we attended to discuss and share our thoughts on incredibly important topics that many adults don’t even care to think about? And let me tell you something I was proud of: when everyone banded together both on social media and outside of it to raise awareness for important issues and causes.
Our togetherness is unmatched. Our strength and loyalty to one another is unparalleled. No other group of people will ever lift one another as we do for each other.
But what I’m most proud of is that I’ve seen more togetherness than discord. I’ve seen us argue with one another, yes, but I’ve also seen more instances of us arguing together. Arguing for what’s right and sometimes we argue for something that’s wrong, but nevertheless, we don’t hesitate to stand up for one another. And when we realize that something we said or argued may have been incorrect, we always correct ourselves. Most of us have that very difficult skill of being able to admit when we are wrong.
Those are the things I’ve noticed in my years here, and I am so honored to be in the same space and class as you.
Now here is my reason: we are the reason. Our togetherness is unmatched. Our strength and loyalty to one another is unparalleled. No other group of people will ever lift one another as we do for each other.
We have something that no other group of people has. Let me explain. We’ve heard stories of people getting into schools and landing jobs because of connections. Usually, these connections are because both parties had something in common from the past such as working at the same company or going to the same school. In our case, we aren’t just people who simply went to the same school as one another. We went to Brooklyn Technical High School, we were in the 100th anniversary class, and we were frickin’ awesome together.
Sure we have 1500 students, but I’m certain that each of us knows of or has met at least 50% of our peers. And that’s it. That’s the thing we have that no other group can have. We have interactions, connections, and support. In the future, we’ll do more than recognize one another, we’ll REMEMBER one another. And we’ll be reminded of all the memories, clear or vague, that all of us shared together. Telling us to keep in touch is like telling a fish to swim because I know for sure that our connection will never fade.
Congratulations to Brooklyn Tech’s 100th Anniversary class! I can’t wait to see us take over the world.
Michelle Li is now a freshman at New York University
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