Lakeside School

The following is an excerpt of a speech by Interim Head of School/Upper School Director Ryan Boccuzzi. Find additional speeches by Student Government President Gresham Crone ’26, Matheus Keller ’26, Sonia Mohan Patten ’26, and Upper School Assistant Director Whitney Suttell on our blogs and reflections webpage.

. . . We’ve all heard that “change is the only constant in life.” But you don’t often have moments when it is so obvious that a change is about to happen. You may know that change is coming when you make plans to change careers, decide to move to a new city, or make a decision about whether to start a family. But often change is unexpected; a person you meet who ends up having a tremendous impact on your life, an unexpected loss, or when an opportunity that you didn’t see coming presents itself.

And this is what is so special about today. The reason so many of your loved ones have joined us is because commencement is one of those rare moments when you are on the precipice of something new, and with that comes tremendous excitement and opportunity.

Not that change is anything new to you. Take a look back at the last 12 months and what has changed over your senior year. Maybe your plans for next year are different than you expected? Maybe you connected with different classmates this year than you initially planned? Look back even further to the start of 9th grade and how much has changed. None of us had any idea that the Vassar Center would exist when you were in 9th grade, and I’m sure each of you can think of a class or experience that made an unexpected impact on you.

And one thing is for certain, your 9th grade self could never have predicted how much time so many of you would spend playing hacky sack. So. Much. Hacky sack. You could have given me 100 guesses as to the next part of 90s culture that would make a roaring comeback in 2026 and I still don’t think I would have come up with hacky sack. Outstanding.

And again, this is why commencements are so special; you know that change is right in front of you, but none of us knows exactly what is in store for each of you. However, one thing I can say with confidence is that you will soon have more control over your most precious commodity: your time.

I don’t necessarily mean that you’ll have more free time, though that may also be true. What I mean is that you will be in charge of your time more often. You’ll take fewer classes in college, you may have fewer family obligations, and you’ll have new choices in how to spend your free time.

Some of you may follow in the footsteps of many other Lakesiders and do everything you can to fill that time despite the adults around you imploring you to make time for yourself. I am not here to judge that choice. Nor should we judge each other’s decisions about how people choose to allocate their time. My ask is that you spend your time thoughtfully, purposefully, and intentionally.

Feeling like we never have enough time might be a universally held sentiment in 2026, but I don’t see it as all bad. I remember telling all of you when you were in 9th grade that one of the hardest things about being at a school like ours is that there are more amazing opportunities available to you than you can possibly take part in. Really I was saying that you’re not going to have enough time. Sometimes not having enough time is an indication that you have meaningful options all around you — it’s a positive thing.

But unfortunately, we seem to be in a world where everything is vying for less meaningful versions of your time. Apps and devices designed with the sole purpose of stealing time from you, and content built to keep you engaged in order to sell you a product. I recently saw an article in the New York Times that referred to this as “ultraprocessed time.” Like ultraprocessed food, ultraprocessed time is engineered for convenience, compulsion, and stimulation, not for nourishment, and it makes you less healthy. So it is more important than ever to monitor how you purposefully spend the time you have.

There will be periods of your life when a specific relationship, or your family, or your job might require a disproportionate amount of your time and that is totally natural. Being completely invested in different aspects of your life at different times can lead you down inspirational paths. But always take a moment to check in with yourself and think about whether you’re spending your time in ways that are aligned with your values. Is your time being used to create a positive impact on your life and the lives of those around you?

The people I know who seem most fulfilled and satisfied with their lives are those who — whenever they can — judiciously allocate time to the activities in which they find purpose.

I’ve noticed a shift in how many of you have spent your time in recent weeks and I encourage you to reflect on how it felt. Whether it was lingering on the Quad after school, or spending time with your family before you head off to college, or deciding that the last bit of studying for diminishing marginal returns in preparation for an assessment was not worth it (and gosh, I wish you’d learned that lesson earlier!); you have been more intentional about how you’ve elected to finish your tenures as Lakeside students and it has been great to see.

And while there will be occasions in your life when you might get to plan how you will allocate your time - what classes you pick in college, what career you choose to pursue - there will be other moments when you have to make a split-second decision as to whether or not something is worth your time. I encourage you to approach all of those moments just as purposefully.

Take this purely hypothetical situation… it’s past 3 a.m., you’ve been up all night, and you’re being driven on a bus to an unknown location. You arrive groggy, maybe you just woke up from being half asleep, but even though you are tired, someone gives you a cowboy hat and asks if you want to learn how to line dance and you have to decide at that moment if it’s worth your time. What do you do in this purely hypothetical situation?

Well, obviously, you choose to line dance. For those that don’t know, the video you just saw was from two weeks ago at our senior prom when nearly the whole class decided that even though it was 3 a.m. and they had been up all night, they would learn to line dance together. It was a blast.

The video we just watched in many ways embodies the type of intentional choice I hope you will make regularly. There may be moments in your future when you will have to decide to prioritize your time based on money, or your career, but I hope you will also spend your time embracing opportunities that bring joy to yourself and others.

Class of 2026, you are so ready for what lies ahead. The bonds you’ve formed here with your classmates and with the amazing educators who have worked with you along the way will remain strong as you head out into the world. I hope you use your time to be the best version of yourself whenever you can - to be someone who helps others and creates good for those around you.

The one other place I hope you allocate some time is to stay connected with each other and with those of us on campus. Being a Lakeside alum means being part of something bigger than yourself. Take advantage of those relationships and come back to campus to let us know how you are doing as you begin to transform the world around you.

Congratulations again to the Class of 2026. Thank you for the memories and for the time we’ve been fortunate enough to spend together.