Elected by their graduating classmates, the Commencement speaker is an eloquent student, visible in many different facets of the community. On June 6, 2025, Reese Roaman ’25 delivered a speech filled with humor about her journey from Lower School to graduation day. Her reflections touched upon being able to adapt to shifting circumstances, the loss of longtime community member and Health teacher Patti Tycenski, and how the diversity within our community lifts us, inspiring greater empathy toward one another. She spoke about having gratitude for all who were part of her school experience. Roaman reminds us of the foundations of the enduring friendships built at Poly as she and her classmates walk boldly into the next chapter of their lives. Enjoy Reese’s wonderful speech!

My name is Reese Roaman, and I have the honor of speaking today to celebrate the Class of 2025.

Today marks the end of my 12th year at Poly—2,160 school days, 96 different classes, and still, I remember my first day of second grade like it was yesterday. I stepped onto campus with my brand-new striped pencil case and white sneakers, ready to be the perfect new student. I was bright-eyed, well-behaved, and eager to shine. Safe to say, it was soon exposed that this persona was a giant facade. I wasn’t tricking anybody. I was a complete and utter menace in elementary school. 

I ended my Lower School years as a stat leader across all metrics: principal visits, calls home, oh, and I even lost our class hamster when I took it home for a weekend.

Parents, remember the roaring slime industry of 2016? Yes, I was the catalyst of its recession. I was truly running a monopoly; all grounds of Lower Poly were covered by me: recess slides, the dance room hallway, math class—my slime business was booming! I was dealing everywhere. That was until I was caught dealing a jar to Chris Howell outside the cafeteria. In other words: I am the reason slime was banned at Poly Prep. 

The point is, I hadn’t yet found my place within the Poly community. And as elementary students, we shouldn’t have known that yet. 

Middle School came, and the Class of 2025 spent it in the loudest, most chaotic way possible. Sometimes that involved hijacking the Dave and Buster’s slot machines to give us unlimited coins during our field trip, or other times it was rumors of peers taking swims in the Hudson River during our Camp Poly Boat trip. 

But, now I look at us—not as the disoriented bunch we once were, but as future directors, athletes, and scholars headed to top universities around the world.

Now, how did we go from troubled Middle Schoolers to who we are today: I would have to use one word, and it’s not just change, but rather adaptation. 

We didn’t grow because we followed a path laid out for us—we grew because that path kept shifting, and we had to adapt. The Class of 2025 figured things out as we went. We adjusted as our slogan went from mind, body, character, to diversity, excellence, and Brooklyn. We adjusted through new leadership, traditions, culture—and we shaped this place in the process. 

Our class didn’t inherit a high school experience; we created it.

For instance, in my freshman year, I told myself I’d be a D1 track star. So I joined Coach James’s 7:00 AM weight training sessions. There I was—barely lifting 20 pounds—training next to future D1 300-pound athletes. But Coach James didn’t care that I could barely lift a brick or that I ran like a duck—he showed up for me the same way he did for them.

At the end of the day, did I become a D1 track star? No, I definitely did not. But those early mornings taught me something better: that I was part of a community that cared more about effort than talent—a place where even at my weakest, people supported me to become the best version of myself.

When you bring together a group of vastly different kids, origins spanning from across all five boroughs, with different passions, interests, and beliefs, it’s almost perplexing to think of how we can form a community. But this campus has proven that its the frictional moments that propel us, the moments where we come together and prove that all our differences are what make us strongest in the times we need each other most. 

I witnessed this in the fall, when we lost Ms. Ty. Following 30 years of building connections on this campus, she was the heart of our community. When she passed, the sense of unity she created felt absent. However, at her memorial, students, alumni, and teachers, old and new, all came together as one. In that moment, I looked around and realized the power this community holds. When change (good or bad) happens at Poly, we come together. We mourn together, we laugh together, we cry together, and we grow together. 

The Class of 2025 even brought back Ms. Ty’s Health Interns program, allowing ourselves to serve as the senior leaders we once looked up to. I know Ms. Ty would be proud of us—cheering for every student walking across this stage today.

While there is no doubt we have experienced immeasurable growth, none of this is to say we aren’t still making mistakes. On our last day of senior year, as part of our senior prank, we planted 300 fake cockroaches around the halls. Was it funny for maybe half a second? Yes. Did our “joke” give several Middle Schoolers panic attacks? Also yes. And bam, just like that, Poly taught us our final lesson on this campus: don’t spread fake cockroaches around school. 

That’s how it’s always worked for us. We fall, we learn, we grow. And we do it together. 

Let this community—the Class of 2025—be the backbone we carry with us into the world. Because when I think about what lies ahead for all of us—whether it’s starring on Broadway, winning championships, performing surgeries, starting companies, or directing films—I know this class is going to leave an immeasurable impact on the world. However, wherever in the world we end up, we will always have a home in Dyker Heights.

It’s been my honor to serve as your class president this past year, and I’m forever grateful to every single one of you. This is not just a Grade, but a family. 

We made it to the end, and the road ahead is only going to get better. 

Thank you!