A Moving and Encouraging Sendoff for the Class of 2019

We look different, sound different, practice differently, and believe differently — yet we share the rich history of taking risks because we believe in the power of possibilities.

- Julie Anderson Head of School

Members of Cheshire Academy’s 225th graduating class were awarded their diplomas on June 1 during the school’s historic commencement. There were 106 seniors honored under a large tent on Slaughter Field. Top academic and senior awards were presented and five speakers offered the class their personal reflections along with words of encouragement and inspiration as members of the Class of 2019 prepared to depart their alma mater. From here, Cheshire’s newest alumni will go on to attend highly ranked colleges and universities: 64% of the class will attend institutions in the top three selectivity categories (as defined by Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges) in the nation, with nearly half attending “most competitive” and “highly competitive” schools.

In his opening remarks, senior class president Lorenzo Rodriguez ’19 welcomed family members and friends before reflecting on his years at the Academy. In anticipation of what lies ahead, he remarked to his fellow classmates, “I know the future might seem a little scary and uncertain, but we are graduates of Cheshire Academy. This great school has provided us with all the tools possible in order to succeed and become the best versions of ourselves, a testament of the academic foundation Cheshire Academy has left in each of us.”

The school was honored to have Roberto S. Goizueta, a celebrated theologian and the Margaret O’Brien Flatley Professor Emeritus of Catholic Theology at Boston College, as this year’s keynote speaker. His father, Roberto C. Goizueta, a 1949 Cheshire Academy graduate and former CEO of CocaCola, was Cheshire Academy’s keynote speaker at the school’s Bicentennial Commencement in 1994. In her introduction of Dr. Goizueta, Head of School Julie Anderson surprised him with a poignant gift: Anderson presented the younger Goizueta with a commemorative 1949 Webster Dictionary in honor of his father. In the biography of the elder Goizueta titled, “I’d Like the World to Buy A Coke,” he said he regretted leaving two things behind when he fled Cuba … his Yale diploma and the Webster Dictionary he received when he was valedictorian at Cheshire Academy in 1949. Dr. Goizueta was clearly moved by this gesture, taking a moment to compose himself as he approached the podium, expressing his sincere thanks before delivering his address.

In her Salutatory Address, Ally Breen ’19 talked about the transformative impact of her time at CA and the journey of this very diverse group of classmates. “The scholars, artists, musicians, and athletes that are graduating today did not necessarily begin this way. We came into this school as intelligent, creative, artistic, and athletic students aspiring to be something greater. It is clear that Cheshire Academy has provided us with a truly transformative experience, as we have learned how to be better students and better people.”

“ … we are just beginning to chase our dreams, and there are endless paths we could take from here. Have confidence, passion, determination, and trust in yourself. Be grateful for the opportunities we have been given, and use them to better yourselves.” And, she added, with a note of sentiment, “We will make new friends, new memories, and have new experiences, but we will always have Cheshire Academy to look back on as our home away from home.”

Valedictorian Kamila Zygadlo ’19 followed Breen with her own encouraging words: “Be curious, have integrity, be courageous.” Curiosity is “… the driving force behind anything and everything we do — all the research, discoveries, inventions, breaking of records, new ideas … it’s our curiosity, this interest in learning simply for the sake of learning, that makes us start to wonder about the answer. Cultivate your curiosity … have your own moral and ethical values, and ... always adhere to them.”

She continued, “Courage doesn’t mean you are not afraid of anything. It means you do not let that fear stop you from doing what you want … it takes courage to be who you really are, not who others want you to be. It takes courage to show yourself to the world as you are, with all the flaws and imperfections that make us humans.”

“Whenever I am asked what I love most about CA, the answer is always the warm, welcoming, and supportive community that I found here. I have learned so much from all of you, but it is these three lessons — curiosity, integrity, and courage — that I hope we will all take from our time here. Be curious, have integrity, be courageous.”

After awarding diplomas with Board Chairman Richard Cerrone ’67 and Chief Academic Officer Laura Longacre, Head of School Julie Anderson P’19, ’23, took the opportunity to thank the Class of 2019 and commented on the wide range of talents, interests, backgrounds, and experiences represented by the graduates, and the Academy as a whole: “Under this tent we celebrate individuals from more than thirty countries, including those who do not practice religion and others who are devout in their practice. We, Cheshire Academy, are atheist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Korean, Italian, Chinese, Spanish, Jamaican, Polish, gay, straight, transgender, black, white, brown, liberal, conservative, and more. We are everything. We are possibilities.”

Anderson added, “We look different, sound different, practice differently, and believe differently — yet we share the rich history of taking risks because we believe in the power of possibilities. ” and asked the graduates to think about risk and impact.

“Since 1794, Cheshire Academy has been a pioneer; a school that took risks from the moment we existed. We allowed students a safe place to practice their religious beliefs at a time when freedom of religion was not guaranteed. We were co-educational in the early 1800s, at a time when gender equity in education was the exception rather than the norm. The Academy embraced international students from the 1860s, long before the phrase global citizenship existed.”

Before recessing to Slaughter Field for the traditional hugs and handshakes with faculty, and countless celebrations and family photos, Anderson reminded CA’s newest graduates, “Ours is a community in which we encourage you to take risks, to expand your perspective, and to do so with an open mind and an open heart. Now that you are preparing to leave the Academy, armed with the understanding of taking a risk to open your mind and heart, I charge you to consider: ‘How will you impact others?’”