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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

PELHAM – During a bright, windy and beautiful morning on McLean Lawn, the Indian Springs School class of 2024 accepted their diplomas and looked to the future during the school’s 70th graduation exercises.

Family members, friends and faculty gathered together to honor 64 graduating seniors in the Indian Springs School class of 2024 on Monday, May 20.

“I am so incredibly proud of you,” said Scott Schamberger, head of school at Indian Springs. “The class of 2024 will forever be imprinted in my mind as the class of misfit toys. Gangly and awkward at times. A little uneasy and unsure about their individual and collective value at other times. But filled with amazing talents just waiting to be discovered and nurtured. You have genuinely good hearts, and it has given me so much joy seeing how this class has finally come together.”

Former fall mayor and senior Nathaniel Street delivered the opening remarks of the ceremony to the class of 2024.

“As we gather here sweating with pride right through our suits and dresses, it’s surreal to think about the journey that has (led) to this moment,” Street said. “From the first steps we took in our first years on the grounds of this place to the confident strides we take today, we’ve grown not just in knowledge but also in character, resilience and camaraderie.”

Street expressed his gratitude to the staff of Indian Springs for their unwavering dedication, patience and belief in the class of 2024’s potential. Street also shared his thanks to parents, friends and family members for their support, encouragement and unconditional love.

“To my fellow soon-to-be graduates, what an incredible journey it has been,” Street said. “What we’ll tell alumni and family who ask is that we’ve navigated the highs and lows of high school life, forging friendships that will last a lifetime and memories that will forever hold a special place in our hearts. In truth, the real value of our time here is that we shared time together as a school that people have taken pride in for generations.”

Each year, seniors select two individuals from the graduating class to deliver addresses during the ceremony. This year’s speakers were Eason Shi and Ryan Lee.

Shi shared that the thought of graduation didn’t really sink in for him until his last public concert.

“As we came to the end of our annual Christmas Carol, I became sentimental,” Shi said. “The revelation that I was leaving this place struck me very suddenly.”

Shi recalled what it was like to come to Indian Springs from Shanghai, China.

“I love Springs for its campus,” he said. “I was born and raised in a metropolis so studying on this campus was, to an extent, magic realism.”

Shi closed his address by speaking on embracing the uncertainty of the future.

“Life is full of uncertainty and regret and we do very little about it,” he said. “We can only embrace it. We embrace uncertainty just as we embraced our past three years and reconciled with ourselves.”

During the second address, Le expressed his gratitude to his family for supporting him and shared how he never would have thought that he would be giving a speech in front of everyone during graduation.

Le spoke on the type of introverted individual he was when he first began at Indian Springs and encouraged those in attendance to learn from it and to be more than a bystander.

“Stay open and be social,” he said. “Don’t fall into that pit trap of safety the younger me would have sat in. Get out of your comfort zone and take every opportunity you are given. You will never know if you will regret not doing it, so just do it.”

Le said to his fellow graduates that if there is anything they’ve ever thought about doing, to try it.

“You can be so much more than a bystander,” he said. “All it takes is just making yourself do it. Regardless of what you think of me or what I think of you, I know you have the potential and character like no one else. Be present, be here, be active, be a participant and not a bystander.”