At Friday’s All School Meeting (ASM), Seniors Eddie Lou ’24, Andrew Morgan ’24, McKenzie Williams ’24, and Julia Carmona ’24, presented their Senior remarks. Each highlighted moments they thought were integral to their time at Andover and what they had learned from their experience throughout high school. The gathering also marked the last time 2023-24 Co-Presidents, Elenor DeHoog ’24 and Ryan Lam ’24. would present on stage at ASM.
First to speak, Lou introduced the concept of destiny versus coincidence. He encouraged the audience to stay present in every moment and enjoy their entire time at Andover.
“My speech was [about] how I learned that being present would help me enjoy and get value out of difficult experiences. I was basically encouraging everybody to be present and look at the present moment and try to get the value out of it, instead of just focusing on the future or the past. I also introduced the idea of destiny or coincidence, and how regardless of what the future looks like, everybody still has control over what they do in the present moment, and being present and fully immersing yourself into the here and [the] now is how we can enjoy our experiences and get the value that we want,” said Lou.
One audience member, David Song ’26 shared his thoughts on the Senior remarks. He particularly noted Lou’s message and how it deeply resonated with him.
“I really enjoyed all of [the] speeches. My main takeaway was from Eddie’s Senior remarks when he talked about being more in the moment. Too often we think about what’s going to happen in a week or in a month or a year. But when you forget to be present in the moment, I think you lose out on a lot of valuable life experiences,” said Song.
Another student Cameron Manzo ’26 conveyed his takeaways from Senior Morgan ’24, particularly about his emphasis on how students should spend less time on their phones and more valuable time with their friends.
“Not being on your phone and being present in the moment is really important. It makes you reflect. [I realized that] socializing [is crucial] because you only get so much time here. And 6 hours per day is a year,” said Manzo.
Williams, another Senior speaker, recalled her time at Andover and her journey to discover something that she’s passionate about and good at. She stated how her goal was to inspire students to try new things while at Andover, and to not get discouraged by others’ abilities.
“I talked about growing up. I opened about how my brothers [were] incredibly accomplished, and how I didn’t feel like I was as accomplished as they were. I wanted to attend Andover because it promised the opportunity for me to find something that I could excel in. I talked about how at Andover, I learned to try new things, and that it was okay to try new things, [because] that’s how you find new passions that you can become good at.” said Williams.
She continued: “My speech was especially for people out there who have siblings who are accomplished, and maybe feel like they’re not up to par. I really hope that students can take away that it’s okay to try new things. In the process of trying new things, you need to abandon any shame you have, and be okay with stumbling and looking a bit stupid because that is really necessary in order to find some growth.”
Henry Zimmerman ’27 recalled William speech, sharing how her wisdom affected him. He also added his own impressions of the special All-School Meeting, naming the event to be a community bonding one.
“McKenzie made a great point. [She] used her family to describe what it feels like to be around people who are really overachievers. She brought us a great example of how you can still try new things, and you can still learn without comparing yourself to others. [She] helped us see that even though there are many great people here that you can compare yourself to, [it’s] even better to use the example [they set] to inspire you to try new things and to achieve your own greatness,” said Zimmerman.
He continued: “Senior remarks were a great opportunity for the wisdom of older students to be imparted upon the student body. We had some incredible speakers who were able to distill the best lessons and best experiences. Also the hardships [from] their Andover experience, were distilled into a short speech, and transmitted that to the entire student body. So I think the school is definitely better off [from] it.”
After all four senior remarks, Lam and DeHoog encouraged the current Seniors and non-Seniors to interact with each other as much as possible. They concluded their presidency by expressing their gratitude to Andover on stage.
“As of yesterday, Seniors graduate in exactly one month. So both seniors and non-seniors, try to learn about each other as much as possible.”
They continued: “From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, Andover for supporting us… and we love you.”
