Graduation speakers have been elected for the 2024 Senior Graduation at Saratoga Springs High School. This exciting opportunity has been given to Jaden Calderon and Adam Brown. Out of many candidates, these two essays were a perfect fit for this year’s celebration.
Brown’s story starts in Greenfield and beginning school at Geyser Road Elementary, then moving on to Maple Ave Middle School. Brown’s roots are in Saratoga, and it’s safe to say these experiences at these schools helped shape him into the person he is today. Brown said, “I think Geyser Road was a fantastic foundation. I really loved my time there. The teachers that I had were all amazing people and I think that they had a big part in encouraging me and my academic and educational development.”
Brown is a very busy student. He is the secretary of the Fiddle Club, Vice President of the Academic Team, and one of the presidents of the Peer Tutoring Club. One of his goals for the Peer Tutoring Club is to spread the word and have students take advantage of this student-led tutoring.
Brown’s favorite part of being in the building was the environment that teachers have built for him to enjoy. Specifically, his favorites being AP World with Mrs. Perry and AP European History with Mr. Taormina.
His favorite experience overall was going to Scotland with the Fiddle Club. “That was an incredible experience, it was my first trip abroad, my first abroad trip to Europe. It was just such an incredible thing to experience and that has to be my favorite thing that’s happened in the past four years,” said Brown.
Freshman to Senior year is a big jump for so many things to happen and change certain aspects of life for individuals. Brown’s perspective from Freshman year to Senior year has made him more grateful for the people around him. “As I prepare to leave for college, I am realizing how many amazing people I am surrounded by. My friends, my family, anybody in my life who’s been encouraging me along the way. And I’ve just realized, how much those people mean to me and how much I’m going to miss them when I move,” Brown said.
Brown felt encouraged to write a speech for this year’s graduation because he wanted to give a final word and wanted to give an intimate speech and share it with the people with whom he has gone through high school. The inspiration was the trip to Scotland, content wise, but truly it was the goodbye to classmates; a bittersweet moment.
Brown’s advice to upcoming seniors was to treasure the time that is given. “In your Junior year, it seems like it’s such a distant and foreign concept,” Brown said. “If you’re about to become a senior, just take a moment to realize you’re approaching the end of high school. While it’s difficult to move on, just treasure it.”
As Brown’s High School years come to an end, he realizes that some things will be missed. Ending a chapter of what he has known all his life in Saratoga will soon start a new chapter from all of his successes. “Cliché, but I will miss the people. Everyone here is amazing. Also, the rapport that I have with a lot of teachers in the building and the relationships I have throughout the district and community,” Brown said.
Brown is going to continue his journey with a bright future attending Harvard University studying Social Studies in hopes of entering civil service. His big hope is to make a change and make people’s lives better, leaving the world a better place than what he came into.
“Congratulations, Class of 2024. Everybody’s going to go do big things, and I can’t wait to read all about all of the incredible things we will do,” Brown ended with.
Jaden Calderon also has earned a speaking role at the graduation ceremony. It all started at St. Mary’s, and he grew up mostly in Saratoga. He also went to CBA for a few years, but then transferred to Saratoga once realizing Saratoga was the right fit. Calderon’s experiences from Saratoga, specifically, have helped him grow in ways such as being outgoing. The small community forced him out of his shell to talk to other people. Additionally, the swtich from a private school to a public school made him develop be more independent than before.
Calderon is very involved in extracurricular activities. He participates in indoor and outdoor track, NHS Volunteer Coordinator, Vice President oof NASA Club, Secretary of Coding Club, and a member of Guitar Club.
His favorite moment from this year was giving a lecture in Coding Club. “It was a really great experience and I thank Ms. Lucci and Ms. Martino for letting me do that and it was just a great time for everyone involved. I made minesweeper in Python And then taught the class how to do it. It was really cool,” Calderon said. As he moved on with school, he realized he likes talking and teaching things specifically on coding. “Last year in physics I also gave a little lecture,” Calderon said. “It was just a fun experience to teach a class. I think I just like talking to people about that sort of stuff. Also, thank you Mr. Warner.”
Calderon has a passion for public speaking, which was a main driving factor in why he applied for the speaking role. A friend had reached out to Calderon telling him about the opportunity. Carlderon has a lot to say to share with his classmates.
Some advice that Calderon has for other public speakers comes from his own experience. He said, “Always write more than you think because you’re going to speak really, really quickly when you’re in person on the stage. You don’t have to practice and remember it verbatim. That’ll just make you nervous when you slip up, which you will. So just be looser with it. Know your speech, but you don’t have to know every word of this speech.”
Calderon’s advice to upcoming seniors is also very inspirational. He said, “I would say get involved, do as much as you can. And this is the year where you can do that”.
He is going to miss how tame Saratoga is. College will be more time-consuming than the High School. His next step is to major in Physics at Northeastern University. He said, “I always knew I wanted to do something STEM, and then I took physics with Mr. Warner, and it was perfect. It was a perfect fit for me. The plan is to get a doctorate in physics and then we’ll see from there. I’m sure they have lots of Co-op experiences. Quantum computing is a field that I might be looking into.” Mr. Warner was someone that Calderon looked up to. He loved his teaching style, and refers to him as a role model that changed his life for the better.
Congratulations to this year’s speakers and their accomplishments to through the years. Best of luck to you both!