CONGRATULATIONS, CLASS OF 2022

Though rain fell for much of the afternoon on May 27, 2022, it did not dampen the excitement in the air as the CSG community assembled to honor the Class of 2022.

This was the day that each student had been working toward since the start of their CSG career. The pride and joy they felt could be seen on their faces as they exited the ceremony with diplomas in hand—it could be heard in the traditional senior scream that erupted after they recessed out from under the great white tent and onto the Cinderella stairs.

But in addition to the excitement and joy, the ceremony was also poignant at times, recognizing that the start of a new chapter comes only with the closing of another. During her speech to classmates, Student Council President Cynthia Alexander ’22 described the late-night phone conversations her mother—also a CSG grad—often has with her fellow alumnae.

“While we say goodbye to each other today, know that our late-night conversations will never end, and that we’ll be laughing about our time here at CSG for the rest of our lives,” Alexander said. “If home is a group of people, then you all are my home. I know that I’ll have a part of my home wherever you are,” she said.

Alexander told the CSG community that she was grateful—for her fellow students, for their families who supported them and celebrated their achievements, for their teachers and administrators.

“Our teachers here haven’t just taught us formulas, names, and dates,” she said. “They taught us to be warm, compassionate, generous, and understanding. They taught us to appreciate the world around us and to love learning.”

During her speech, commencement speaker Lucy Kirk ’58 also expressed gratitude for the time she spent learning at CSG.

Cynthia Alexander ’22

Lucy Kirk ’58

Kirk told the Class of 2022 that after she left CSG and embarked on the beginning of her higher education at Wellesley College, she knew she wanted to do something different, but she wasn’t yet sure what that was.

“I had no idea what I was going to do,” she said.

Kirk shared the path that her higher education and career ultimately took: How time spent living in Argentina for an international program ultimately inspired her to pursue a master’s degree in international relations, and how that later led to a career in the CIA that would include domestic and overseas assignments.

She urged each member of the Class of 2022 to listen to their inner voice and pursue their passion.

“Let that lead you into and through your life,” she said.

Class of 2022: What’s Next

Cynthia Alexander Amherst College Julianne Aslaner University of Cincinnati Ella Ballard The Ohio State University Atticus Basso-Schricker New York University Caroline Caskey Ohio University Rose Clubok Barnard College of Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary Grace Edic Northeastern University Kayden Edwards Howard University Abigail Falk Wesleyan University Anja Fleege University of Cincinnati Jay Gammons University of Arizona Maya Gonela The College of Wooster Suhanna Halaharvi The Ohio State University Emma Hardy Clemson University Ansley Herron University of South Carolina Katie Humphrys Southern Methodist University Inaya Hussain Northwestern University Tori Johnson University of Cincinnati Ainsleigh Kemper Ohio University Alexis Knight University of Hawai'i at Manoa Angelina Kofman Northeastern University Eva Krupovlyanskiy The Ohio State University Zydeco Lamaze Columbus State Community College Max Lang Oberlin College Eden Lanham Vassar College Fennik Lindstedt Hofstra University Sarah Long The Ohio State University Sarah Lonser Northwestern University Catherine Lyons Ohio University Elizabeth Maite The Ohio State University Evelyn McCarthy Purdue University Makenna McCoy Wake Forest University Riley Murphy University of Miami (Florida) Sophia Nagy The Ohio State University Gia Noel Butler University Molly Pawlik Villanova University Mairin Pema Emory University Taylor Porter Savannah College of Art and Design Carly Priest Haverford College Saba Rehan The Ohio State University Kiera Rennick Grinnell College Allison Renshaw The Ohio State University Ruthie Saar University of Colorado Boulder Neva Schehl University of Cincinnati Elizabeth Schrim Clemson University Bonita Seeley Ohio University Reilly Shackelford University of Alabama Avery Sharfin University of Colorado Boulder Lane Sharfin University of Arizona Diana Skestos Skidmore College Lauren Sloan The Ohio State University Emma Spangler Villanova University Natasha Spivak Kent State University Casey Sussman IUPUI Abby Vanderzwan The Ohio State University Eva Weiland Dartmouth College Esther Woda University of Maryland Grace Wong Wake Forest University Riona Yu Cornell University