President Zaki, members of the College, and guests. Welcome.
My fellow students from the Class of 2026, take a moment to think back to your very first day at Bowdoin: what did you imagine this community would be, and how has that vision changed over the past four years? We have shared so many of the same beautiful moments: like sitting on the Quad together, watching that rare solar eclipse, and catching glimpses of the northern lights more than just once. Yet, within these shared spaces and memories, each of us has traveled a path entirely our own, shaped by your own different experiences, challenges, and connections.
Today, I would like to share the most important thing I’ve taken with me from my time here: a deep, deep sense of community. The Bowdoin community that supports us, and the everyday connections that we’ve built in small, often unexpected moments. And as I share my story, I hope it echoes, in some way, with your own journey at Bowdoin.
My time at Bowdoin did not unfold in the way that I had fully expected. Just three weeks into my first semester, I was found unconscious in my dorm room and later diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. For me and my family, it was an incredibly difficult moment. Yet throughout my entire treatment, I was never alone. And I was supported by people across the community here at Bowdoin
My freshman roommate, Mingi, who found me and called for help; my classmates Tony, Runqin, Daniel, and Edward, despite having known me for only a few weeks, came to visit me in the hospital with snacks from the Hong Kong Market in Portland. The dean’s office helped arrange my family’s travel from Japan, Professor Selinger came to the hospital and became an interpreter for my family. My radiation oncologist, Dr. Bristol, a Bowdoin alumnus from the Class of 1994, planned my treatment with care. And two professors, Professor Chuck Dorn and Professor Jeff Selinger, this time, took turns driving me to therapy every day for six weeks during the semester. And this list goes on and on.
In the lowest points of my life, Bowdoin people, whether they knew me or not, came alongside me and lifted me up. And it was this unexpected experience and moment that revealed to me the strength of our community. Over the past four years, I have seen that same strength, again and again. It has been there in moments of hardship, from the tragedy in Lewiston to the loss of our beloved classmates; it has also been there in everyday gestures, like a Bowdoin hello, to someone holding the door open for you.
Working at the past two alumni reunions as a student ambassador has been an immensely rewarding experience. There were shared lighthearted moments when alumni offered to sneak us drinks or asked us to drive the golf carts for fun (rest assured, for safety reasons, they didn’t get their way). But, what stood out the most to me, was alumni’s ongoing sense of community: the stories they shared about Bowdoin, the friendships they had built that had endured, this place they still deeply cherished. It was at the reunion that I got to know a lovely couple, Siri and Hugh, from the Class of 1965, back when the College was not co-ed. (TK) a Bowdoin family that later became my host family; it was also at the reunion that I came to fully understand that resilience is not something we carry alone; it grows from the strength of an ongoing community, creating a lasting cycle of care across generations.
Back to the present and some good news. After two brain surgeries and a radiation therapy, I have fully recovered from my tumor. By the end of my Bowdoin journey, I have lost nothing except my tumor, and I have gained so much more. This is a truly amazing community.
Fred Rogers, the famous television host for Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, once said, “We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It is easy to say, ‘It’s not my child, it’s not my community, it’s not my world, it’s not my problem.’ Then there are those who see the need and stand up. I consider those people my heroes.”
And all of YOU, my friends, are MY heroes—each of you with your very own Bowdoin story that will continue on into the future. More than ever, this world, even amid all the chaos, still deserves our love. What it needs is more of what we’ve found here at Bowdoin. As we look forward to Commencement tomorrow and to our lives beyond Bowdoin, I invite you to join me in reflecting on the wonderful community we have been part of over these past four years. Class of 2026, let’s carry this Bowdoin spirit into the places we go next, fostering a world that cares, that makes people know they belong, and that brings genuine joy. Our sense of community does not stop here; it is just the beginning of our big and complex lives.
Thank you my friends, and cheers.
