'Smile': Ridgefield High School Senior Class President's Speech

This was the speech delivered by Ridgefield High School 2023 Senior Class President, Jacob Sakdinan, as part of the commencement exercise on Wednesday:

Dr. Da Silva, members of the Board of Education, Dr. Greenwood, RHS faculty, families and my fellow classmates - welcome. I am Jacob Sakdinan, the Senior Class President. Especially to our families - Thank you for being here for us, today and every day.

One person I am thinking of at this moment is my grandfather - like all of my peers missing a loved one, I wish he could be in the stands today.

In December of 2021, when I was a junior, my grandfather suddenly became very ill. Our family was at his bedside, worried for his health. As my grandfather looked up seeing their sad faces, he uttered just one word: SMILE. He sadly passed away a few days later, but since then, my father has been playing the song “Smile,” written by Charlie Chaplin and sung by one of my grandfather’s favorite artists, Nat King Cole.

There’s a special lyric in the song that goes: “Smile, what’s the use of crying? You’ll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.”

Inspired by my grandfather, I would like to show how our class “smiled” throughout the brightest and toughest times during our time together in the past four years. On the first day of school, We SMILED as awkward freshmen. We were just scrawny little freshmen, who were trying to navigate the complex halls of the new “Ridgefield High School”. Despite our initial awkwardness, we exchanged shy smiles and began building new relationships with each other. We attended the freshmen dance, football games, plays, concerts and joined new clubs, and sports teams. We smiled during orientation and on stage in our performances. For some of us, we smiled as we built new friendships and during maybe our first relationship… And together we smiled through our fourth place finish at Spirit Week… So, we placed last, but grew closer and became more excited for all the things to come in the next few years for us. And then came something that surprised us and the whole world, a global pandemic. From this, We continued to SMILE from a distance.

While half of our freshmen and sophomore year were not normal, we became a cohesive, resilient group. Despite the challenges we faced, we remained positive and connected with each other through Fortnite, Tik Tok dances, socially distant hangouts, Snapchat, and even Among Us. Through the laughs and smiles we shared, we discovered that we had each other, and that things were going to be okay one day. So we stood up, dusted ourselves off, and soldiered onto the next year.

We continued to smile as we became upperclassmen. After making it through a somewhat different sophomore year, we saw brighter days in our new junior year. Smiling through masks, we enjoyed classes back at full capacity, basketball games, school plays, and even a normal spirit week, in which we came in first after an intense battle with the then senior class. We also enjoyed junior prom together. However, with the ups of junior year came the stress and angst of getting our drivers licenses, scoring high on the SATs, and the pressures of achieving high grades for our next adventures. But despite all of the all-nighters and last minute study sessions: WE. PULLED. THROUGH.

With senior year on the horizon, OUR SMILES BECAME A LOT BRIGHTER. On the first day of school, we enjoyed our first senior tailgate with green colors and cheerful pictures with our friends. We experienced back to back victories in spirit week and also beat our cross-town rivals Wilton for our annual homecoming football game. We also collectively endured the pain of college essays, or finding a parking space after coming back from a free. With all of these obstacles, we began to bond together as we understood and learned to support each other. After all of the hard months of standardized testing, stress of college decisions, here we stand. WE SMILED. WE DID IT. So today, I personally SMILE before you.

I’m smiling because we all have been fortunate to attend Ridgefield High School. A school with dedicated teachers, faculty, and the student body. How fortunate are we all to live in a beautiful and safe community as Ridgefield, Connecticut. So as we move forward, and continue on, my ask of you is this - make sure to SMILE. It’s a sign of kindness, gratitude, and what the world needs more these days. No matter the setbacks, approach every challenge with the hope and optimism that we cultivated as a class. There will always be times when things won’t go your way and that’s okay. So as we embark on life’s biggest adventures, during the challenging times, I encourage you all to summon that grit and confidence and head the lyrics I started with:

“Smile, what’s the use of crying? You’ll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.”

Thank you - and best of luck, Class of 2023.