Head of School Audrius Barzdukas P’20 told the audience at 毕业典礼 2020 that at Poly, 我们的特邀演讲者是我们的学生.  他介绍了 艾米丽·温斯坦20岁, 约瑟夫·达纳·艾伦奖获得者, 被授予最高奖学金, 结合相称的性格.

“This year’s award winner is a consummate and unfailingly 虽然tful student of the liberal arts,巴兹杜卡斯说. “She has fully immersed herself in our academic program over the past four years, 在STEM领域和人文领域都很出色. 她的一位老师写道, ‘She is one of those students who pushes you as a teacher to constantly learn and grow and bring your best into the classroom each meeting. Her work consistently demonstrates a beautiful combination of her amazing creativity and her proficient programming ability, with every application telling a story from its documentation through its execution.她在空闲时间为自己创作, 她是《十大网堵平台》杂志的总编辑, 校报, 以及通晓多种语言的人, 我们的年鉴. 她是歌手、艺术家、作家和科学家. 智力慷慨, 无限好奇, 真诚的善良, she derives joy from the process of learning collaboratively with her classmates. 她自省而谦逊，为了知识而追求知识.”

毕业典礼致辞 艾米丽·温斯坦20岁

If you had asked me only four months ago what I expected from the remainder of my senior year, I would not in a million years have guessed that I’d be having virtual lessons from my home and be indulging in daily pajama days. 我无法想象这个世界, “对不起, 我的Wi-Fi坏了”是旷课的正当借口, 但我必须承认, classes got 100 percent better once there was a chance for a guest appearance from someone’s pet.

我相信我们不需要再就当前形势发表演讲了, 所以我保证不再逗留, but I do want to take this opportunity to thank some members of our senior class for their hard work in these stressful times.

我们希望有这么多承诺的一天, 毕业舞会, 亲自毕业, 还有许多我们期待已久的古老传统. And thanks to the members of our community, we were somewhat able to remedy our losses. Molly O’Connor took charge and allowed us to still celebrate the hard work and achievements of our peers virtually on Instagram. 奥利维亚·赫尔利开创了周五晚上Netflix派对的新传统. 奥斯汀萨默斯 孜孜不倦地为我们提供娱乐, 无论是在虚拟咖啡屋还是在这个毕业典礼上. 大声喊出 通晓多国语言 工作人员加班帮我们拿书，到 多边形 继续发表故事的编辑, 到保利数学队，该队仍在参加在线比赛, 感谢所有在困难面前没有放弃的人. 在一个如此没有方向的时代，你们的努力并没有被忽视.

现在, we are here today to celebrate the success of the 2020 graduating class and all those who have gotten us here. 我很荣幸能在你们面前讲话. I have spent the last four years working tirelessly to serve the Poly community in every way I could. 虽然, 我得承认我刚来的时候, 我不知道我在做什么，也不知道我想要完成什么.

九年级的时候，我很幸运地遇到了她. 惠伦是我的英语老师. 碰巧是她. 惠伦也是在保利的第一年, and the very first assignment she gave us was to write her a letter so that she could get to know us better. 我告诉她我对数学的热爱, 哈利波特, 并警告她我在这些新环境中感到不舒服, 所以别对我期望太高. 她回信说:“很高兴知道我在小组里有了一个新同事. 我很高兴有你在我的班上.

这是一个简单的回答, but I cannot tell you how much those words comforted me at a time that I was so unsure. 这种情感为我在保利学习奠定了基础, 我渐渐发现，她的热情和真诚关怀. 惠伦对待学生的态度是我所有老师的共同特点.

我记得早些时候. 迪卡洛鼓励我参加数学联盟的比赛. 哈奇克拉夫特鼓励我把我的作品提交给外部竞赛. Reid was always around to support me when I 虽然t the yearbook had finally broken me down. Throughout my time at Poly, countless individuals have had an impact on my education and on my life. I’ve spent so many hours in the English Department trying to finalize my essays and in the Math Department the day before the quiz with Ms. 利卡塔在困难中挣扎.

虽然这种支持让我保持动力，有时还能帮我挽回成绩, 不幸的是，我不能相信它为我指明了人生的方向. 其中一个好处是, 或者是损害, of being a teenager is not knowing exactly where you will be in 10 years’ time.

即使是最一丝不苟的学生, like one of my oldest friends Michelle Kwan—with her horse-ranch-inspired retirement plan—looks into the immediate future and is met with a hazy image of life past graduation. 我也一样. That’s one of the reasons I came to Poly—to figure out what I wanted to pursue. But with so many people guiding me in so many directions, I couldn’t narrow it down. 别误会，我不是在抱怨，我只是有点困惑.

Poly opened my eyes to everything I could possibly study and hope for from my education.

Poly opened my eyes to everything I could possibly study and hope for from my education. 也许我最感激的是保利学院的课程设置, 虽然, 是技术要求吗?. 在大二的时候，我进入了Ms. 贝尔福德的计算机导论课. 我在中学学习计算机科学, 学习无数的编程语言, Photoshop程序, 图形设计技能让我讨厌电脑屏幕. 我记得，当我们讨论二进制和布尔值时，我坐在那里，很无聊. When we were assigned our first project, 虽然, it was as if a switch in my mind flipped.

这很简单:在Scratch上重新创造《十大网堵平台》. 这个项目本身并没有什么特别之处, 但是当我开始工作的时候, 我对编程的热爱控制了我. 那天晚上, 我匆匆做完了其他工作, impatient to complete my simulation of the round yellow bird flying across my screen. 我努力寻找节奏，因为毕竟, 我已经发誓两年不学技术了, but I believe the break was a necessary part of bringing me back to my passions.

挑战最终把我拉了回来. 我发邮件给 Mr. Polizano 不久之后，他请求进入计算机科学的轨道. In his lapse in judgment, he let me in, and he has had to deal with me ever since. 在保利学习计算机科学与我以前的经历不同. I still had the support of my teachers, spending every day before the deadline in Mr. 法勒的办公室正在修复我无法保存的代码.

在我们和Mr. 罗森博格, Seamus McNulty和我创办了编程俱乐部, 它变成了学校程序员为我们做作业的地方, 计划新项目, 和志同道合的人一起出去玩. 反过来, the MakerSpace became the place for the computer science students to spend all of our free time, 我相信老师们都很感激你.

我找到了我的伙伴，找到了我对计算机科学的热情.

我找到了我的伙伴，找到了我对计算机科学的热情. The requirement Poly put in place that I originally dreaded was a blessing in disguise. +, 我永远不会学会如何用培乐多橡皮泥容器制作机器人, and we never would have gotten the army of neon green chairs in the MakerSpace. 没错，你得感谢我.

那么，我到底想要表达的是什么呢? Is it that everyone should stop what they’re doing to make an army of Play-Doh robots or maybe plan your retirement at age seventeen? 好吧, 如果你想这么做的话, 这对我来说很有效, 所以我不会阻止你, 但我的目标是别的.

我在保利的经历凸显了博雅教育的成功. 我瞎眼来的，什么都不确定. Like many of my peers, I am stumbling through my life, going day by day, trying to figure it all out. 保利让我看到了一件让我充满激情的事情, but that doesn’t account for my newfound love of statistics or that urge to pursue creative writing scratching at the back of my head.

The world needs more of our innovative minds, and there’s no better time to start.

I’ve changed my mind countless times about what I want to do, and that’s okay. 波利教会了我一件事, 而是我可以选择不确定, 去尝试不同的东西. 没人指望我们把一切都搞清楚. 有些事情会坚持下去，有些则不会. 特别是现在, we have the time to pursue our interests and chase those crazy ideas we’ve been itching to make real. 你知道吗?? The world needs more of our innovative minds, and there’s no better time to start.

In your endeavors, you will stumble and fall, but know that you have someone to catch you. 一定要一路感谢他们.

谢谢我的院长. Nestor, and to my dedicated teachers here at Poly, without you I don’t know where I would be.

Thank you to my parents and my family for supporting me and putting up with me for eighteen years, 还有我的朋友们，他们处理了大量的信息, 问我该说些什么.

感谢所有为2020届毕业生的成功做出贡献的人.

对每一位听众，感谢你们给我机会说出我的想法. I am so proud of us, my fellow graduates, and no matter what, we will be all right. 祝贺你.