Diya Vijit Nair was introduced by her fellow Valedictorian, Abbie Fang:
I do not have the words to accurately capture this person whatsoever. But what I can say is that she would never be struggling here like I am because when it comes to language, she truly knows it like nobody else, whether that be in debate competitions, English essays, the New York Times crossword, or a good therapy conversation. And this fall, she’ll be attending the honors college at the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in psychology. But not only is she a truly exceptional individual when it comes to everything academic, but she is the most thoughtful and wholeheartedly good person that I know. I am so proud to be able to call her one of my closest friends — it’s Diya Vijit Nair.
In my desk drawer, I have a large envelope that I’ve tucked away. It’s a time capsule I made in kindergarten, decorated with a truly disproportionate stick figure and what I think is supposed to be a bird. Today, 12 years later, I’m finally going to open it.
The thing I’m looking forward to most isn’t reliving memories or looking at my terrible drawings. I’m most looking forward to reading through what I thought my life would look like, and seeing how different it turned out to be. So much has changed, and to be honest, I think my kindergarten self would be more than a bit surprised: my then very best friend of two whole months moved away at the end of the year, I didn’t become a millionaire by the age of 18, and most disappointingly, I never fulfilled my dream of flying through a cloud.
I’m bringing this up because at the start of our freshman year, we all made predictions for the future, though they were probably more realistic than mine.
And I’m sure that if you look back over the past four years, you’ll find that not everything turned out as expected. Maybe it was a college decision that didn’t go as well as you’d hoped, a relationship that changed in ways you didn’t imagine, or something else entirely that you had no way to anticipate.
Now it’s easy to look at these so-called “disappointments” and see failure.
But the thing is, there’s also a lot of amazing, wonderful things that five-year-old me never would have foreseen.
Like meeting my closest friends and finding teachers who changed my perspective. Like walking into classes I thought I’d hate but ended up loving. And especially like getting the opportunity to stand in front of you all today.
So think back on your unexpected moments: people you met, things you tried or choices you made, things you never thought would happen but made a world of difference anyway.
Because from this moment on, our paths stop being linear. There’s no one right choice for you to take — instead, we’re faced with dozens of micro-decisions, each forming a path that’s as unpredictable as it is exhilarating. So keep in mind that even if your road takes a turn, it’s not always a bad thing — there’s so much good that you can’t possibly anticipate.
So, I’ll leave you with this: A few years ago, we planned out this day, and today, we plan out the next few years. So, make a time capsule. Fill it with your dreams and your goals. And then, see where life takes you. Thank you!
