Through my final year at MIT, I keep finding myself in a tizzy. My excitement for the future dangerously flirts with a sense of apprehension, in an all too familiar feeling.

I’ve reflected on these emotions and recently I dug into what seems like ancient history: my high school self. I felt a similar mix of infinite opportunity and responsibility during the end of my high school experience. I found my commencement speech for Phoenix Country Day School’s class of 2008. It epitomizes my optimism for the future unlike anything I have written to date.

It was an honor to give this speech to a school that also shaped who I am today. Commencement Speech-Deepa Rao

This speech was written during my senior trip in Kern County, CA, where I received a scribbled note on a piece of campsite stationary that informed me that I had gotten into MIT. Although, I will never know what pushed me off of the notorious wait list, I am convinced that it was my shared creativity with the MIT admissions staff: my artwork, music, and projects at PCDS. After months of perseverance in the face of uncertainty, I finally knew where I would be for the next four years: exactly where I wanted to be. It was with this sense of hope, optimism, and pure elation that I wrote my commencement speech.

Enjoy.