Class of 2024 celebrates graduation at Mountain Winery
Senior Mission Award speaker Om Tandon (‘24) gave a speech in place of the valedictorian address. Faculty voted him as a representative of the class who “fosters and models kindness, respect, integrity, academic excellence, intellectual curiosity and personal accountability consistently.”
Om discussed his journey recovering from three basketball injuries as examples of resilience. He centered his speech around the importance of community, which helped him come to terms with the effect his injuries would have on his dream of playing college basketball.
“Success is not about the awards, accolades or anything to do with greatness; rather, it’s important to recognize that we are a product of our loved ones’ support,” Om said. “All of the hard work wouldn’t have mattered if it weren’t for the people around us caring for and guiding us. True resilience is about being vulnerable with others and embracing their support when faced with challenges and disappointment.”
Om then asked his fellow graduates to think of the impact their loved ones have had on their high school careers, reminding them to carry the same support they received at Harker into the future. Kabir Ramzan (‘24) appreciated Om’s message, noting the difference between witnessing a graduation and experiencing his own.
“In the past graduation, I was working on a service level, whereas this time I was listening more directly to the speeches,” Kabir said. “I feel like I gained a lot more of the wisdom the speakers were imparting. In particular, a lot of Om’s speech really stood out to me in terms of his perseverance in dealing with the unexpected.”
Vocal music teacher Jennifer Sandusky conducted the 2024 graduation chorus’s performance of David Brunner’s “Hold Fast Your Dreams.” Ipsita Mandal (‘24) accompanied on piano.
Next, keynote speaker Veronica Pugin (‘08) took the stage. As a former White House Senior Policy Advisor on Technology and Economy under the Biden-Harris administration, Pugin spoke about the impact of AI on jobs, emphasizing the future’s unpredictability. She encouraged the class of 2024 to approach uncertainty with a forward-looking mindset.
“I have learned that you are more likely to see those positive discoveries if you approach life’s uncertainty with optimism,” Pugin said. “You won’t even notice some of the positive discoveries and opportunities to work towards if you’re not optimistic. And you have reason to be optimistic: you’re entering adult life with one of the most privileged educations in the world.”
Following Pugin’s speech, the 2024 graduation chorus performed The Harker School Song, written by David Len Allen and arranged and conducted by vocal music teacher Susan Nace.
Head of School Brian Yager delivered his farewell address to the class of 2024, which centered around the symbol of Harker’s orchard, the heart of the upper school campus. Yager noted that trees yield greater harvests after undergoing stress as a metaphor of his hopes for the graduates.
With the conclusion of the speeches, the graduates processed to the stage to receive their diplomas from Yager and Barsky. Finally, they turned their cap tassels from right to left and tossed up their caps as celebratory doves filled the sky.
“You are both the tree and your own orchard, and part of a larger orchard,” Yager said. “The beauty of a tree and an orchard is that they get to start over each year. Keep this in mind in the future when you find yourself unable to succeed in the way you had hoped in an endeavor or phase of your life.”