By HANNAH HASELTINE and KATE URCHUK
Class Valedictorian Address
Hannah: Good evening everyone. We’d like to take this moment to again congratulate the class of 2025. I’m Hannah Haseltine …
Kate: … and I’m Kate Urchuk …
Hannah: … and it is an honor and a privilege to stand before you today as Melrose High School’s class of 2025 co-valedictorians. First and foremost, we would like to extend our gratitude to the people that have helped us get here today: classmates, teachers, support staff, our respective families, and administrators.
Kate: And, special shoutout to MHS guidance staff and administration who chose to name us as co-valedictorians instead of forcing us to run a mile like in Modern Family.
Let me set the scene…it’s your freshman year taking AP Biology with Ms. Scott, and you need a lab partner. For us, the scramble for partners left Hannah and I as lab partners by default. That day could have been the start of a historic rivalry, but instead blossomed into a friendship that propelled both of us to much greater heights.
Hannah: We proceeded to take many classes across disciplines together throughout our four years. Some highlights include APUSH 2 in the timeless land that is Ms. Edsall’s room (no seriously, there is no working clock in that room), where we were humbled monthly by the hardest tests ever given to MHS students…
Kate: …and Calc BC with Mr. Sawyer. We could tell you all about Hannah’s foray into the world of whiteboard art, the “Red T of Shame” that haunted junior year, or our morally questionable passion projects enabled by Ms. Mays, but that’s reserved for Mr. Sawyer’s 10 minute set at Giggles. We may have been freshman lab partners by default, but we are now proudly friends by choice.
Hannah: Despite having similar academic aspirations, and what our matching stoles might suggest, neither of us took the same path to get here. Throughout our high school years, both of us have maintained a commitment to the arts: whether it be honors chorus and Red Hawkapella for Kate, or orchestra, Poetry Out Loud, and the school newspaper The Imprint (being sold at this very graduation!) for me; we are appreciative of how they have enriched our respective high school experiences.
However, our story would not be complete unless we regaled you with our time in Italian this year. If you’d have been a fly on the wall in our class, you would’ve heard about how Kate and I would have given almost anything to speak to the May 30th versions of ourselves—just to have some semblance of an idea that everything would work out in the end.
Kate: Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but today is May 30th, so by February-us-logic, we should have a lot figured out by now. If we had received time travelling pigeons three months ago, updating us on our future plans, I’m not confident we would have taken as many risks or been able to enjoy becoming the versions of ourselves that are here today. Moreover, I wouldn’t want to spoil the excitement I felt when I found out I’d be sharing this honor with one of my best friends. Also, I would’ve wasted a ridiculous amount of time wondering how on earth pigeons time-traveled, and might not be here today. However, I don’t think I see February Hannah and Kate on the field right now—do you?
Hannah: No, but we’re here … so we can probably tell them. I’m excited to share that Kate will be attending Carnegie Mellon University to study mechanical engineering next year.
Kate: And I’m excited to share that Hannah will be attending UCLA next year for cognitive science.
For everyone here today for whom the future holds uncertainty as it did for us three months ago, we want to let you know that it’s okay to know some, but not all of, the answers to your questions, to desperately want to know the answers you don’t have, and, frankly, to end with a lot more questions than you started with. However, we hope that you will not let this diminish what we have learned, and who we know ourselves and the MHS Class of 2025 to be.
Hannah: Our last few days as MHS students were spent running around the school asking members of the MHS staff how they would describe this graduating class in one word. Definitely not an easy ask. To our surprise, not a single teacher we asked said the same word as another.
Kate: While we observed some outliers (such as “average”, which was quickly amended to be “within one standard deviation of the mean”, as well as melodramatic and flaky. Thanks math department), many of our subjects were very thoughtful in their response, taking time to choose their answer carefully. Here are some of our favorites.
Hannah: The class of 2025 can be described as the following: Authentic.
K: Inspirational.
H: Passionate.
K: Relentless.
H: Resilient.
K: Smart.
H: Adaptable.
K: Diligent.
H: Exuberant.
K: Silly.
H: Tenacious.
K: Versatile.
H: Kind.
Hannah: We think you get the idea. As we all step into the next chapter of our lives, it can be easy to lose sight of who we know ourselves to be. So, Class of 2025, we urge you: hold tightly to your authenticity, inspiration, passion, resilience, and drive. Remember your adaptability, tenacity, and versatility in the face of conflict; your diligence and intelligence when there’s a problem others say can’t be solved. Never lose your exuberance, silliness, and kindness. As we all head in different directions, let these truths ground your next steps. Bring these things with you wherever you go, and the world outside of MHS will be better for it.
Kate: As I scribbled the day, month, and year on top of every school assignment from kindergarten to senior year, 2025 could not have felt further away. Today, you must remember that you are not alone—physically, or in the metaphorical sense that seems to be the message of every chorus song I’ve sung for the last 7 years. The scariest part of not being alone, however, is knowing we are seen, from our highest highs to our lowest lows. In those moments, my instinct—and probably yours too—is to stop trying, to remove ourselves entirely from accountability; therein, failure is inevitable. There is no inherent shame in failure. There is, however, shame in not trying. And never, ever be afraid to step on a few toes to reach your goal— that’s why we wear steel toed boots on the robotics team. In my four years on the team, and now as co-captain, I’ve written grants; designed robot mechanisms; driven our robot at the World Championship in Houston (twice!); and redesigned said robot mechanisms. “Redesign” seems to suggest I failed the first, second—nth—times around, right? But, truly, the real failure would have been refusing to iterate—on the robot and on myself. Class of 2025, do not be afraid to try and fail. Learn from your failures. And when you succeed, raise the bar for yourself.
Hannah: I am confident that each and every member of the graduating class can name at least one particular area on this campus that has become their safe space. Whether it be the cozy corner of a favorite teacher’s room, the stage in the auditorium, or the track at Pine Banks, it’s probably seen you through a lot the past four years. A place in particular I can think of for myself is right where we are today: Fred Green. I have served as color guard captain at MHS for the last two years, and have practiced and performed on this field countless times over the last four years with the marching band. As I stand here today for one last time as an MHS student on Fred Green, I cannot help but remember all of the memories I have made on this very field. I hope to one day be able to reflect as a member of the UCLA marching band about performing in the Rose Bowl with as much gratitude and fondness as I have for the Melrose marching band. Today may be the end of this chapter on this field, but it’s the start of something new.
Kate: The year 2025 now holds a new connotation for many in the audience. When in fifty years personal memories become entangled with what is currently history in the making, do not let the year 2025 be tainted by what you could not control. It is our responsibility to take back not only this year, but our futures—for our families, our friends, and the future versions of ourselves we deserve to meet.
Hannah: So, class of 2025, take this moment to look around. I know I need it. Make sure you thank someone today. Hug someone a little tighter. Feel all the feels. You’ve worked hard for this moment. Don’t let it pass you by. This has been Hannah and Kate (I’m Hannah, she’s Kate) signing off.