Ciara Lynch

Greetings to the graduating class of 2026, to the faculty, staff, family, and friends. If you weren’t aware, the mascot of our high school is the Pelican. Now, I’ve always wondered why that is. As you walk through the cafeteria or through the halls, you see him everywhere. He’s on our murals, he’s stamped on our newspaper and our website, he finds his way onto all the school merchandise. 

Yet, I never really understood why we are the Pelicans. I don’t see many pelicans in our town. Maybe we should have been the Pelham Skunks, or the Pelham Eastern Gray Squirrels, I see a lot more of them than I do the pelicans. It’s not an especially graceful bird either. Why didn’t we pick the Pelham Bald Eagles? The Pelham Falcons? Do we like alliteration that much? 

So, I decided to do some research, because unfortunately, ChatGPT wasn’t working. I’m just joking, by the way. I used Claude. I found out that the pelican was the symbol of Thomas Pell’s family crest, the man who founded our great town. The pelican is said to symbolize sacrifice and charity, and I’m sure Thomas enjoyed that his last name is found within the name of the bird. 

Regardless of the reason, the fact remains that we are the Pelicans, and I think that we fit the description. An interesting fact I discovered about the pelican is that it is one of the heaviest birds capable of flight, and thus, it has to have a greater wingspan to compensate. When I first arrived at Pelham Memorial High School, I decided to hit the ground running. I immediately took up cross-country and track, as well as the Sock’n’Buskin plays and musicals, and I even joined a few clubs while I was at it. 

Anyone who has taken part in one of our sports, the musicals, a club, our science research program, joined our orchestra, jazz band, or chorus, or participated in any other school activity understands how immediately that pressure hits you, and balancing classes with that seemed nearly impossible. 

But as the years progressed, those experiences proved to be paramount to our success. I won’t pretend I didn’t dread studying for my first AP exam, or that I didn’t feel like passing out after my first 5-kilometer run in cross country (because I did pass out and it was embarrassing and we don’t need to get into that). Either way, I needed to go through that in order to become who I am now. Because of our efforts, we grew and extended ourselves beyond what we ever imagined we were capable of. That growth has made our ability to thrive and succeed in our future a much more feasible task. You could say that in order to manage the weight, we had to spread our wings further, just as a pelican does.

Now the ways in which we are pelicans don’t just end there. A unique trait of the pelican is its ability to dive into the ocean from high altitudes, reaching speeds of up to 40 mph before impact. You see, pelicans do not just dip their toe in the water; we dive into unknown depths in search of our prize. Now, that ocean can be intimidating, but pelicans swoop down there anyway, because there is no halfway for us. When pelicans set their sights on something, we go for it to the best of our ability. 

Sometimes we come up short, and we don’t catch that fish. We’ve all had those kinds of setbacks. It’s missing that game-winning shot, it’s blanking on the most important test question, sometimes it’s getting second in the Olympics. I remember when I first tried out for the school musical, “BatBoy,” I was cast as the unforgettable role of rancher number 3. Now, I won’t pretend I wasn’t disappointed, but that disappointment didn’t last very long. I still gave that role 100 percent of myself, just as a pelican would, and the next year I shot higher, because we do not let any of that stop us. Pelicans do not give up after their beak comes up empty; they fly right back up, refocus, and go for it again. We find that refocusing in the rigorous practices, the late-night rehearsals, the after-school academy work, and the countless hours studying. Pelicans do not strive to get it right the first time; we strive to keep working at it, we strive to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, and to get familiar with unfamiliar waters, because contained within those waters are our goals, our aspirations, and our future. 

I think maybe the most important factor that makes the pelican such an excellent bird is that, unlike eagles or falcons, pelicans fly together, in a flock. Class of 2026, I want each of you to look at the person to your left. Now look at the person to your right, you may not know that person well, or maybe they’re one of your closest friends. Either way, you are connected because all of you are pelicans, and each of you is part of a flock. Now that flock isn’t just students, it’s the counselor who managed your schedule, it’s the teacher who spent a little extra time with you to explain trig functions (apparently the secant is sad and the others know how to have a good time I guess), it’s the hall monitor who says hi to you every morning when you walk in even when you’re late five days in a row, shoutout to Ms. Clapp. Each of these individuals and many others have played a role in your journey, as the pelican only succeeds through the support of others. 

Even though the pelican isn’t the most exciting of mascots, we pelicans have achieved something extraordinary to be here today. We have spread our wings through our experiences, we dove in headfirst to pursue our goals, persevering even when we didn’t catch a fish right away, and we have done it all as part of a community. And whether you go on to be a great dane, a friar, a bearcat, or whatever you become in your future, I want you to remember that you were first, and will always be, a pelican. 

Congratulations, class of 2026.