By IAN GAUCH and OLIVIA FRAKT
Farewell Address
Ian: Good evening everyone, my name is Ian Gauch.
Olivia: And I am Olivia Frakt. Before we share our stories, we wanted to thank the significant adults in Melrose and elsewhere in our lives that got us to where we are today.
Ian: Olivia and I have had very unique experiences growing up in the city of Melrose and believe that our stories, although different, can unite to create a bigger, more powerful message of how Melrose High School and the community as a whole has made us the people we are today.
Olivia: Ian and I did not know each other until winter of this past year, where I heard him share his story at a local event. His story made me think. I had felt out of place growing up in Melrose, much like Ian had described. Despite our different social circles and contrasting school experiences, we are leaving this town with the same sense of community and appreciation for what Melrose High School has to offer.
Ian: When I was around 5 years old I got strep throat, a common infection for kids. But for me, it came with a host of mental health and neurological symptoms, including OCD, ADHD, Tics, Anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideations. I was suffering from PANDAS, an incredibly complex autoimmune disease. At that time (and even now), it was rather obscure, to everyone, including some medical professionals, making it very hard to get a diagnosis.
Living with PANDAS was a nightmare. I had to leave the Melrose community to attend several therapeutic day schools and one psychiatric hospital. I felt confused and like an outsider to the community that I was once a part of. I was no longer “a normal kid.” I had some friends from sports and my neighborhood, but as my condition grew worse I started to lose them too.
When I was finally diagnosed and properly treated, it seemed like returning to Melrose Public Schools and my community was a possibility. We made a plan to get me back to MHS, but I was unable to read, I didn’t know basic math and science, and I hadn’t been around typical kids my age. After two years of hard work and fighting for my goal I was granted the opportunity to come back to Melrose. For me this was the greatest gift I could have gotten. It was a new chapter in my life.
Olivia: I have been an anxious person since birth. For example, my parents couldn’t even put my onesies on over my head because it would send me into a panic. As a preschooler at the Franklin School, I played alone at recess, too afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing to ask other kids to play. At the Roosevelt, fear of making a mistake in group activities meant I worked alone. Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School was a daunting place for an anxious kid, and I spent my lunch hours in guidance. Without a circle of friends, I felt out of place, returning home from school with little motivation to do my homework. While I enjoyed being part of various volleyball and soccer teams, I didn’t have the skills to push past my anxiety disorders and make meaningful connections with my peers. Although I went to the same school, attended the same classes, and lived in the same town as most of my peers, I didn’t feel like I belonged. As an incoming freshman at Melrose High School, I was determined to challenge myself and change this trajectory.
Ian: Despite all the challenges I faced and the challenges that would come, I finally made it back. I wrestled and played football. I joined the marching band for my freshman year, even though I didn’t know how to play an instrument. I did all this not only because I loved it but because I wanted to put myself out there. I wanted to feel like a normal kid, and looking back I realized how important all of that was and how it’s still paying off. I made friends I never thought I’d have and connections that will live on far longer than my time here at MHS. I was given the support necessary for me to succeed and I learned how to self advocate. I can say confidently that, without the opportunity to come here, I wouldn’t have a bright future ahead of me like I do now. The odds of me crashing and burning were greatly diminished because of this school and the staff who work here.
Olivia: I began my four years anxious and afraid of my teachers, my peers, and just about every other person in the building. As I gained my footing, I started to realize that my teachers weren’t out to get me, instead they only wanted me to succeed. In order to do so, I, much like Ian, had to learn how to advocate for myself, which meant actually talking to those teachers and students I had been so afraid of. By speaking up, I was able to utilize many of the tools Melrose High School puts in place for students like me, who want to learn and succeed but need support to do so. My teachers pushed me to get involved in clubs and attend meetings, which gave me the ability to get out into the community where I’ve faced my fears about public speaking, and my classmates, head on. I gained a sense of who I was as a person, and how I could push my fellow students to discover who they were as well. With the tools available to me at MHS I forged my own path, always being encouraged to explore new and individual learning opportunities. Attending Melrose High School allowed me to gain leadership skills, take part in incredible learning experiences, and make meaningful friendships that I will carry with me as I head off to college.
Ian: I am often reminded, by my parents, that it is a miracle that I am where I am today. They tell me that they learned of PANDAS just in time, and had they not, I likely wouldn’t be here. When I first heard this, it hurt, but it also gave me a deeper and more intense appreciation for life. It is because of the educators at MHS, particularly the special educators, that a kid who was unable to read in middle school, got an academic scholarship to Massachusetts Maritime Academy where I will further my education. It is because of my coaches and my teammates who supported me all four years that I will play football there as well. The special educators, my coaches, and my teammates all played a pivotal role in my success and I am indebted to them because of that. I am now healthy enough that I can tell my story and understand where I came from in a more in depth way. I am lucky to have been able to do my senior internship at one of the therapeutic day schools I attended. I was one of the student liaisons for the SEPAC board and I was a member of the Melrose Youth Subcommittee in city hall. I will forever be grateful for the chance to rejoin my community and attend Melrose High. My experiences here and the people I have met have shaped who I am and have given me the confidence to take on the next challenge.
Olivia: Much like Ian, Melrose High School has also allowed me to follow my own path. As a graduating senior, I pride myself on being an active community member, something I never thought I would get to say. Experiences I have had at Melrose High School allowed me to learn not only with my peers but from them. I’ve gotten to work at our community arts studio, building relationships with kids across all five elementary schools, sit in as a representative on the School Committee, and most recently complete my Senior Internship at City Hall. I’ll be spending my next four years at college across the country in California. I would not have done any of these things if I had not met my anxieties head on, and that is the one thing I want to leave you with. It is okay to be afraid of challenges, as long as that doesn’t stop you from working through them.
Ian: For the longest time, I never knew how to communicate my experience to others. It took putting myself out there once, making an unexpected connection with a peer, and finding support I didn’t know existed to get me to this stage today. So, to all of our friends in the audience, whatever your next step is, I encourage you to stay open to new experiences and people – be mindful of differences, be tolerant. You don’t know the challenges others are facing or who you might connect with if you open yourself up to meet new people and share your story.
Olivia: To the family members here today, thank you for advocating for us, for supporting us behind the scenes, and for accepting us for who we are even when others don’t. To the staff and administration in Melrose and at MHS, you created an environment where both Ian and I, as well as many of our classmates, were able to grow as individuals in our own ways. For us, as two students who started high school isolated and anxious in different ways, to be up here giving the graduation speech in front of hundreds of people is a success that is a direct result of the community of Melrose, and we are grateful to all of you.
Ian: Keep each other well.