CLASS OF 2024 Co-Presidents Isabelle Chardavoyne and Jaya Karamcheti deliver the Presidents’ Address. (Lisa Lord Photo)

 

By JAYA KARAMCHETI and ISABELLE CHARDAVOYNE

Class Co-Presidents

Good evening everyone and welcome to the Melrose High School Class of 2024 graduation! My name is Isabelle Chardavoyne and my name is Jaya Karamcheti, and we are the co-presidents of the Class of 2024. We are so excited to be here standing in front of you tonight to celebrate such a momentous occasion for the people we have been with for the past thirteen years. First, we want to knock on wood that there are no power outages, or lightning that could strike upon us at any second, but just in case we have come prepared!

Before we start, we’d like to thank everyone who has made it possible for us to get to this point. Thank you to our teachers, who have taught us lessons in not just grammar and mathematics, but how to act out obscure Shakespearean plays and mine chocolate chip cookies. Thank you to Mr. Merrill, who has instilled in us the importance of fruits and vegetables [props – ear of corn and a pineapple], Mr. Beaver who never shies away from saying hello in the hallway, even when he pronounces our names wrong (just so you know before we officially graduate, our last names are C and K), Mr. Corrigan, who always impresses us with his short pants (to show off his shoe game of course), and all the faculty members without whom MHS would not function. Thank you to our families, who have stood by us throughout our academic and personal journeys. Thank you to the students in front of us, who have defined our high school experience. We couldn’t ask for a better group of people to have shared the last four years with. And the sincerest thank you to our class advisors, Mr. DiBenedetto and Mr. Keoseyan. Nothing would have been possible without you guiding us to success. You are truly a dynamic duo, and our class is forever grateful to have you.

You probably know our class as the ones who shut down all of the bathrooms, who petitioned for a school-wide party bus after prom, and who spent their freshman year showing off their Google profile pictures instead of their faces (what a shame that all of our cameras broke that year). Though this is all certainly true – and, as the class moms, as some have called us, we sincerely apologize for our kids’ behavior – there is much more to the class of 2024 than what is at surface level.

So what, if not that, defines us?

While writing this speech, we spent a lot of time trying to come up with the characteristics that defined us as a class. In the end, we realized that what defines us is not what we think of ourselves, but the impact we have had on those around us. We asked some of Melrose High School’s teachers what words they would use to describe our class, and they weren’t what we would have expected – hectic, chaotic, etcetera. They were actually positive. They were…

Resilient.

Passionate.

Enthusiastic.

Adventurous.

Supportive.

Energetic.

Eccentric.

Dedicated.

Kind.

Thoughtful.

And, in the wise words of our class advisors, who probably know us the best out of everyone, “obnoxious.” But we’ll forget about that one.

In short, we have witnessed firsthand that the people we started our education with are more than just random faces and names. They are the individuals that make our class us. We want to acknowledge that our class would not be what it is without the most special member, Grace Zinck. Grace’s endless smiles and positivity have left an indelible mark on our community, and have inspired us to live every day to the fullest and never stop being kind to others. Grace happened, and we are so lucky she did.

Our grade has certainly put us through the ringer, and we’ve probably done the same for them. While they’ve sent us frequent messages about their senior assassin targets, we’ve responded with constant pestering to send us photos for Senior Week hallways and class dues. But at the end of the day, we wouldn’t ask for anyone else. Congratulations and thank you to the Class of 2024 for everything. We’ve had the time of our lives with you.