“What is wrong with the world is that we do not ask what is right.” — G. K. Chesterton in 1910.

Insight from over a century ago feels more pertinent than ever. What is unkind and inconvenient is obvious to us. It is the smaller moments that we seldom acknowledge.   

This morning, we all had to wake up a little earlier than we would have liked. This cap makes my head look a funny shape, and, of course, there is the slight panic that the words I chose for this speech will not resonate. But still, the line of our family members eager for good seats began before the gates were even open. And somehow, a class known to give this faculty a run for their money is graduating with astonishing success, much of it entirely driven by personal passion. As for the speech, here goes nothing. 

It is impossible to fully understand our privilege. Every one of us is inexplicably lucky to have the security this school provides: a built-in community, teachers who invest in your success beyond the classroom, and the repeated chance to fail, learn, grow, and try again. For every ounce of self you commit to this community, it remembers and returns. 

In these later days of senior year, when we are all clawing at the walls for a change of scenery, it is simple to forget what is right. That the mayhem of health class did give us a good laugh now and again, that the same person you pass like clockwork on your daily routine offers a smile, and that you’re in a building with people who have seen you at your darkest, but who tend to help you through it rather than remind you of it. 

I believe this community has graciously prepared us for tomorrow: the calm after graduation, the excitement of starting anew, and the capability to extend yourself to others, even those you have just met. 

As we look towards tomorrow, the challenge isn’t to recognize what needs fixing, but to be the people willing and prepared to create the change. 

Or, as I was once told: “It is not what we take from life, but what we give back to others that defines us. If tomorrow never comes, that’s how I hope you’ll measure yourself. Not by how perfectly you carried the heavy things, but by how often you reached for someone else’s share.” 

When you lead your life in this way, you are more likely to see the good. To move through struggle. 

The good that corrects all that is wrong with the world is your service, that prideful, uniquely Pelham commitment to others. Look towards tomorrow, confident that if tomorrow never comes, we will take with us from the world all that is right. Thank you and congratulations again to my peers.  

Student Government President Taya Senerchia gave this speech during the commencement ceremonies Saturday at Pelham Memorial High School.