The Senior Night Remarks of Taha Syed ‘25

Class of 2025 President Taha Syed ’25 was scheduled to deliver remarks to his peers at Senior Night on Friday, May 16. A severe storm passed through St. Louis and its devastation affected members of our community. Senior Night was unfortunately canceled as a result, but we wanted to share Taha’s remarks here for all to enjoy.

It’s been a tough year. We started strong with college applications and quarter grades stressing us out more than they should have, and as we progressed back from winter break, we got hit with the all-too-dreadful ALT paper. For GAP kids who took GAP because you didn’t have to write a 15-page paper, I don’t think you guys had it any better.

Despite this, everyone made it through, but as we returned from spring break and made one final push before summer, the all-too-common lines I heard were “I’m ready to get out of here,” and “I can’t wait to leave this place.” It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out our feelings towards MICDS at the time. But as the last day came, a mutually shared feeling of nostalgia engulfed Hearth as we got ready to walk.

For those of you who don’t know, this is my 14th year at MICDS. I grew up here. I saw teachers and classmates come and go. I saw as Ron Holman stadium was built, our old pool was blown up during recess, and experienced the weirdly coincidental power outages during skate week when STEM was being built.

Having gone through elementary, middle, and high school, I remember the countless times I went to my mom and asked if I could leave MICDS because of how hard it was. As I reached the last day of Beasley, I thought I would never make it to high school, let alone make it through middle school. As I went through years, though, I realized I was prepared to face the world ahead of me.

I mean, who would have thought within MICDS’ 100-acre campus, with 48 interscholastic sports teams, a sustainably award-winning STEM building, and a faculty-to-student ratio of 9:1, you would have all the support and resources you need to succeed. We have built in time to meet one-on-one with teachers. We have free time throughout the day to get work done, so we could have time to do sports or theater or both—because at MICDS, you don’t have to choose one or the other. If you want to do sports and theater, you can; if you want to explore arts and science, you can.

It is these countless opportunities you have that not only prepare us as we leave MICDS and move on with our lives, but also allow us to shape ourselves and create a unique and personal attachment to the school.

As our time at MICDS comes to an end, it’s easy to look back and highlight all the difficult and hard moments, but within each moment of struggle, there was a moment of laughter. For me, it was the moments where my math class would skip lunch to study a little more together, hoping we would pass another one of Doc Carter’s tests. So yes, it has been a year—a tough year to say the least—but as we felt the stress, quarter grades, and college apps, we also got to see CeCe get thrown into the pond. We got to see advisories trying to flex-seal cardboard boats, hoping they wouldn’t sink (it didn’t work at all). We had homecoming where we went 4/4 against Burroughs, and the overly-competitive senior assassin, where we saw Bennet Baur win it all.

Through the hard times, I saw everyone help and encourage each other, and because of this, I believe every student here today is armed with all the tools and resources you need to face the world ahead of you. I see doctors, lawyers, athletes, actors, engineers, artists, and educators. More than anything, I see a group of people who are willing to take advantage of the opportunities they have, and a group of people who will support and lift their peers around them. On a personal note, I would like to thank Ian and Reagan for all their help this year. I genuinely don’t think anything would have gotten done without you two.

As you all prepare for graduation, I want you all to think about all the memories you made here at MICDS that you will cherish the most.

Thank you all for your belief in this year. In the words of William Henry Danforth, engraved in the bench outside our natatorium: “Aspire nobly, adventure daringly, and serve humbly.” Thank you.