Senior Speakers [Jan. 29]

The senior speaker series continued on January 29 and featured seven members of the Class of 2021: Justin Buchman, Riku Ogura, Nate Rouette, Drew Serafino, Marwan El-Bendary, Andrew Gingold, and Omar Zakaria. The series launched with the Class of 2017 as an addition to the chapel program where all seniors delivered a speech, presentation, or performance to the Suffield Academy community. Head of School Charlie Cahn said he hoped the program would serve as a formative experience for the seniors, an opportunity to strengthen the community, and a way to continue providing engaging chapel programming. These talks are supplemented by traditional chapel events including the Alumni Leadership Day program, Student Council Elections, and Kent-Davis Speaking Competition during Commencement week.

Justin Buchman is a postgraduate from Weston, Massachusetts who read the poem “Youth” by Edgar Albert Guest. Subsequently, he noted, “As I finish my last years of youth this poem reminds me to have no regrets and live life to its fullest. I am very grateful to everyone at Suffield who helped me reach my goals. Lastly, I’d like to thank the whole Suffield community for being so welcoming and warming during this time.”

Tokyo, Japan is widely known for its iconic skyline, active nightlife, bustling streets, and renowned cuisine. After sharing a video that he made featuring his home city, three-year senior Riku Ogura insisted, “For those who have not been to Tokyo I highly recommend you visit, and I hope this short video I made will make you more interested in going.”

They met on a soccer trip to Nationals before becoming teammates as Tigers. Nate Rouette is from North Granby, Connecticut and Andrew Serafino is from East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. They have since become close friends on and off the field, each pushing the other to grow as individuals. Together they explained the importance of their friendship and concluded, “Our main message to the community is that sometimes the best things in life are unexpected.”

“The thing that I believe differentiates one person from the other is the individual's identity,” said Marwan El-Bendary from Cairo. “In Egypt, we know everyone in our building, and being friendly and welcoming is a part of my identity. The dorm became a family to me, exactly what I needed when I was so far from my own.”

With eight arms, three hearts, and nine brains, the octopus is one of the most intelligent creatures in the ocean. From West Hartford, Connecticut, four-year senior Andrew Gingold fulfilled his childhood dream last summer of having one as a pet. After sharing his tragic story he advised, “Even with hard work and close attention to detail not everything always works out as planned. Nevertheless, I valued everything I learned and for that one day my childhood dream was a reality.”

“If it wasn’t for my big brother Youssef who mentored me and also studied abroad, I would never have been a member of the Suffield Community,” explained Omar Zakaria who left Cairo, Egypt to attend school in the US. Speaking about the importance of family he said, “I would advise my peers and all teenagers to appreciate their family and show them more love.”

The series will resume on February 12.

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