在2020年毕业典礼上，学院院长奥德里乌斯·巴兹杜卡斯(Audrius Barzdukas)告诉观众，在Poly, our featured speakers are our students.  He introduced Emily Weinstein ’20, recipient of the Joseph Dana Allen Award, presented for the highest scholarship, combined with commensurate character.

“今年的获奖者是一个完美的、永远有思想的文科学生,” Barzdukas said. “在过去的四年里，她完全沉浸在我们的学术课程中, excelling in both the STEM fields and the humanities. One of her teachers wrote, “作为一名老师，她是那种推动你不断学习和成长的学生，每次上课都能把你最好的一面带到课堂上. 她的作品始终如一地展示了她惊人的创造力和熟练的编程能力的完美结合, 每个应用程序从它的文档到它的执行都在讲述一个故事.’ In what free time she created for herself, she was the managing editor of The Polygon, the school’s newspaper, and the Polyglot, our yearbook. She’s a singer, an artist, a writer, and a scientist. Intellectually generous, infinitely curious, and genuinely kind, 她从与同学合作学习的过程中获得快乐. Self-reflective and humble, she pursues knowledge for its own sake.”

Commencement Speech by Emily Weinstein ’20

如果你在四个月前问我，我对大四剩下的时间有什么期望, 我永远也不会想到，我会在家里上虚拟课程，每天都穿着睡衣. I wouldn’t have imagined a world in which, “Sorry, my Wi-Fi is acting up” was a valid excuse to miss class, but I must admit, 一旦有人的宠物有机会客串，课程就会变得更好.

I’m sure we do not need another speech on our current situation, so I promise not to linger, 但我想借此机会感谢一些大四的同学，感谢他们在这艰难的时刻付出的努力.

We had hoped for so much—commitment day, Prom, an in-person graduation, and many of the senior traditions that we’ve waited for for so long. 感谢我们社区的成员，我们在某种程度上弥补了我们的损失. 莫莉·奥康纳(Molly O’connor)负责，让我们仍然可以在Instagram上庆祝同龄人的辛勤工作和成就. Olivia Hurley began the new tradition of Friday-night Netflix Parties. Austin Somers works tirelessly to keep us all entertained, be it at virtual Coffeehouse or in this graduation ceremony. Shoutout to the Polyglot staff who worked overtime to get us our books, to the Polygon editors who continue to publish stories, to the Poly Math team which still competes in online competitions, and to everyone who has not given up in the face of hardship. In a time that is so directionless, your efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Now, 我们今天在这里庆祝2020届毕业班的成功，以及所有让我们来到这里的人. I am honored to be speaking before you. 在过去的四年里，我孜孜不倦地为保利社区服务，尽我所能. Though, I must admit when I first got here, I had no idea what I was doing nor what I wanted to accomplish.

In ninth grade, I was lucky enough to have Ms. Whalen as my English teacher. It happened to be Ms. Whalen’s first year at Poly as well, 她给我们的第一个任务就是给她写一封信，这样她就能更好地了解我们. I told her of my love of math, Harry Potter, and warned her that I was uncomfortable in these new situations, so not to expect much from me. She wrote back, “It’s good to know I have a fellow newcomer in the group. I’m glad to have you in my class.

It was a simple response, 但我无法告诉你，在我如此不确定的时候，这些话给了我多大的安慰. This sentiment set the basis for my Poly education, and I would come to discover that the passion and genuine care Ms. Whalen had for her students was a shared trait amongst all of my teachers.

I remember early on Dr. DiCarlo encouraged me to participate in Math League contests, Ms. Hutchcraft prompted me to submit my writing to outside competitions, and Dr. 当我以为年鉴终于把我击垮时，里德总是在我身边支持我. 在保利求学期间，无数人对我的教育和生活产生了影响. 我在英语系花了很多时间来完成我的论文，在和老师测验的前一天，我在数学系花了很多时间. Licata struggling through problems.

Although this support kept me motivated and saved my grade on occasion, I unfortunately cannot credit it with pointing out a direction in life. One of the benefits, or perhaps detriments, 作为一个十几岁的孩子，不知道十年后你会在哪里.

Even the most meticulous student, 就像我的老朋友米歇尔·关(Michelle kwan)一样，她的退休计划受到了马场的启发，她展望不久的将来，却看到了毕业后生活的模糊画面. I am no different. 这也是我来保利的原因之一——去弄清楚我想要追求什么. 但有这么多人给我指路，我无法缩小范围. Don’t get me wrong—I’m not complaining, I’m just confused.

Poly打开了我的眼界，让我看到了我可能学习和希望从我的教育中得到的一切.

Poly打开了我的眼界，让我看到了我可能学习和希望从我的教育中得到的一切. Perhaps the aspect of the Poly curriculum I am most thankful for, though, is the technology requirement. In sophomore year, I enrolled in Ms. Belford’s Introduction to Computers class. I had spent my middle school years studying computer science, learning a myriad of programming languages, Photoshop programs, and graphic design skills that led me to resent a computer screen. I remember sitting there, bored, as we talked of binary and booleans. 然而，当我们被分配到第一个项目时，就好像我脑子里的开关被打开了.

It was simple: recreate Flappy Bird on Scratch. Nothing about the program itself stood out, but when I got to work, my love for programming got the better of me. That night, I rushed through my other work, 迫不及待地想完成我的模拟，那只黄色的圆鸟飞过我的屏幕. I struggled to find a rhythm because after all, I had sworn off learning technology for two years, 但我相信休息是让我重拾激情的必要部分.

The challenge is what finally drew me back in. I emailed Mr. Polizano soon after and begged to be let into the computer science track. 由于他的判断失误，他让我进来了，从那以后他就不得不和我打交道. Learning computer science at Poly was different from my previous experiences. 我仍然得到了老师们的支持，在截止日期前的每一天都在Mr. Farrar’s office fixing my unsavable code.

After our Game Design class with Mr. Rosenberg, Seamus McNulty and I started the Programming Club, which became a place for the school’s programmers to work on our assignments, plan new projects, and hang out with like-minded people. In turn, 创客空间成为计算机科学专业的学生们度过所有空闲时间的地方, and I’m sure the faculty truly appreciated that.

I found my people, and I found my passion in computer science.

I found my people, and I found my passion in computer science. Poly提出的要求，我原本害怕的是因祸得福. Plus, I never would have learned how to make a robot out of Play-Doh containers, 我们也不会在创客空间里看到那么多霓虹绿椅子. That’s right, you have me to thank for those.

So, what is it exactly that I am trying to get at here? 是不是每个人都应该停止他们正在做的事情，制造一支培乐多机器人军队，或者在17岁的时候计划退休? Well, if that’s what you want to do, it worked out for me, so I’m not going to stop you, but I was aiming for something else.

我在保利的经历凸显了博雅教育的成功. I came here blind, unsure of anything. 像我的许多同龄人一样，我的生活磕磕绊绊，日复一日，试图弄清楚这一切. Poly opened my eyes to one thing I am passionate about, 但这并不能解释我对统计学的新热爱，也不能解释我后脑勺想要追求创造性写作的冲动.

世界需要更多的创新人才，现在正是开始的最佳时机.

I’ve changed my mind countless times about what I want to do, and that’s okay. If there’s one thing Poly taught me, it’s that I have the choice to be unsure, to try different things. No one expects us to have it all figured out. Some things will stick, others won’t. Especially now, 我们有时间去追求自己的兴趣，追逐那些我们一直渴望实现的疯狂想法. And you know what? 世界需要更多的创新人才，现在正是开始的最佳时机.

在你的努力中，你会绊倒，会跌倒，但要知道，有人会接住你. Make sure to thank them along the way.

Thank you to my dean, Ms. 内斯特，还有我在保利的老师们，没有你们，我不知道我会在哪里.

感谢我的父母和家人这18年来对我的支持和容忍, and to my friends who dealt with an onslaught of messages, asking what I should even speak about.

Thank you to everyone who had a hand in the Class of 2020’s success.

To everyone listening, thank you for giving me the chance to speak my mind. 我为我们感到骄傲，我的毕业生们，无论如何，我们都会没事的. Congratulations.