Class of 2025 Salutatorian Mac Froedge Shares Her Thoughts

The Salutatorian of the Class of 2025, Mac Froedge ’25, was scheduled to deliver remarks during Senior Night. Due to devastating weather that afternoon, Senior Night was unfortunately canceled and Mac instead shared her thoughts at Commencement on Sunday, May 18, 2025.

Good afternoon, parents, teachers, family, friends, and my fellow graduates (we made it!). My name is Mackenzie Froedge, and it is my honor to be standing here as salutatorian of the class of 2025. If you had told me four years ago I would be giving this speech, I would have laughed. And then probably cried. And then tried to Google how to give a speech. Which I still did. So, with a little help from Google and ChatGPT (please don’t come after me, Honor Council), I decided I would start my speech with one of my all-time favorite quotes. In searching back through all the Shakespearean plays our English teachers made us read and the microthemes I wrote for Dr. Roth, I remembered a quote from one of my favorite philosophers, Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda. Master Oogway once said, “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.”

Our years of being students at MICDS are in the past, but that does not mean we cannot cherish those memories. I would first like to say a thank you to the teachers who put up with our shenanigans and guided us through our high school years. Thank you to all the other important workers at this school, especially Mr. Rainey, for letting us have breakfast at your house during senior skip day. Thank you to all the parents and loved ones who have supported us throughout our lives. Now, to my fellow graduates, I guarantee you there will be times when you look back and are grateful to be done with high school: No more writing 32 different college applications, no more 15-page ALT papers written the night before, and no more math tests crammed for at 2 am. Well, at least until we start college. But I can also guarantee that there will be times we look back and are sad at the friends and memories left behind. I, for one, will miss the golf team sleepovers, the choir concerts where I still don’t know the dances to the songs, and the field days where my advisory for the first time in four years won a station. It was cornhole. These memories are ones I will consistently look back on as I move forward in my life. I hope all of you will do the same as you reflect on your time at MICDS.

In high school, we may have gravitated towards certain groups: The “smart” kids, the athletes, the popular kids, and the group of boys that stole the comfy chairs in Hearth every day. However, post-high school, our groups are not yet defined. While all of us may now know where we’re going to college or our plans for the next year, beyond that, our future is still uncertain. There is still plenty of time for us to choose our own paths, and who we’d like to be, and who we’d like to be surrounded by in the upcoming years. If you are like me, this moment felt like at times it would never get here and then it got here way too fast. It was like being in a traffic jam on the highway for hours, and then it opened up, and we were going 80 mph to an uncertain destination. I have been reflecting on that journey and the exit signs I saw along the highway…proud I took many, mad at myself for not taking others, and determined to pay more close attention to others on the next road trip. When I wasn’t strong enough, there was an exit sign leading me to work out. Not smart enough, exit here to study. Too confident, exit here for the best humble pie. Not tall enough…never found the exit sign for that one. For those of us who are uncertain about the future, myself included, I encourage you to keep driving with an open mind until the next best path, or exit sign, appears.

But for right now, let’s not worry about the future or what is left in the past. Let’s cherish the gift of today, as Master Oogway would have wanted us all to do. Thank you once again to all teachers, faculty, parents, and friends for making this day so special. And finally, thank you to my fellow classmates. It has been an honor to get to know each and every one of you. I am very thankful to celebrate with all of you this afternoon. So, for hopefully not the very last time, ROLL RAMS!