Good evening. I would like to welcome Dr. Riley, Mrs. Butler, Mr. Friese, Mr. Curland, Ms. Crowley, Board of Education Members, First Selectman Chesebrough, Stonington Public Schools’ administrators, teachers, staff, parents, relatives, and members of the Class of 2020. It has been an honor to serve as Class President and it has been amazing to see all of us grow over the past four years. I am truly excited to see how all of us will continue to grow in the future.

As the Class of 2020 we have been dealt an unfortunate hand, and unless there are any psychics amongst us, it has not been what we expected, and especially not what we had hoped. Even though it is not what we wanted, and not what we deserved, it is what we must accept, and there is no better group of young adults for this to happen to than us, the Class of 2020. The past four years have been a journey. We have shared the good times and the bad times, we have shared laughs and frowns and we have emerged stronger from every challenge we have faced, and there is no reason to think that this would be any different.

A wise man named Iroh once said, “Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you keep moving you will come to a better place.” Everyone who I have come to know in my class has had the strength to make it to the end of this tunnel, and we all have the inner strength to continue our journeys, no matter what direction they may be in.

Today I must inform you that the last 18 years of our lives have been our First Act, our Prequel, our Tutorial, and what comes next will be more challenging, but also more rewarding. I have no sage advice for what comes next, because I, like the rest of you, am yet to see the other side. I do know, however, that the connections that I have made in the past four years will continue to stay with me during our next step. As we all step into the great unknown, I urge you to remember that no matter where you may go, you are never that far from any of your classmates. It has been an honor serving as your Class President, and I look forward to seeing where you all will end up.