Mia's Speech

Mia Finestone - Graduation Address - June 10, 2020

If you could describe yourself in only three words, what would they be? Would you choose qualities from the silly side of you? Or more serious ones? To be honest, I don’t even know how I would answer that question. As a person, I know what I stand for and what I believe in, but I am still changing. I may not know who I am right now, but because of the people around me, I know who I want to become. 

When I think about my friends, who they are, and what qualities they have, I see amazing people who would do anything to make others happy and feel supported. I don’t want to forget the memories of laughing until my stomach hurts with my friends, trying weird food combos, or even just having a meaningful conversation. I don’t want to forget choreographing dances or making a youtube channel; playing tag on the play structure or photo shoots on swig. My friends are people who I want to be connected to forever. 

Brandeis is the same way. My teachers are people who spend their days helping us in any way they can, and I am so grateful to them. I strive to be able to do that in my future: to help others as much as they have helped me and this school, and to make others happy as much as my friends are able to do for me. I don’t want to let go of my friends or my teachers, because I don’t want to forget how to achieve my goal. 

I am afraid that if I do forget these memories, I will get distracted by my life and forget what I am working towards, forget who I am trying to be. So I will do my best to not forget these things. I will try my hardest to work towards the person I know I can be by remembering to be supportive, kind, and thoughtful towards others, just like my friends and teachers have been to me.I hope that these memories will stick with me, because with them, I know that I CAN become the person I want to be.