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The world needs scientists, but it also needs leaders who care, the Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School Class of 2025 was told at its graduation ceremony on June 5.
Speaking to the 34 graduates and their family and friends, Schiro Withanachchi, the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Rutgers University – Camden, said that empathy is what she considers one of the three building blocks to success.
“Empathy makes the world better,” she told the crowd gathered in Middlesex County College’s Performance Arts Center in Edison. “TEECS has taught you more than academics. This school has taught you to be a thoughtful, responsible citizen. So you be the one who listens, the one who leads with kindness, the one who uses science and reason to build community.”
“The future doesn’t really need more experts,” she said. “It needs more empathetic, thoughtful, and ethical leaders. Today, academics is on the line.”
“Yes, we need scientists, linguists, artists, plumbers, doctors, coders, and economists,” Withanachchi said. “But we also need people who care, people who will ask questions like, who is affected by this decision? Who might be left behind? We need leaders who see humility as a strength. I strongly believe that leadership is service.”
“When you are called to lead, you are called to serve,” she said. “The future must be shaped by those who can balance logic with empathy, innovation with ethics, and ambition with integrity. Those are actually the leaders who will build inclusive communities and advance meaningful change.”
The other two components to success, Withanachchi said, are curiosity and failure.
“Curiosity is your superpower,” she said. “Your education has prepared you to ask an important question: why? That simple question, the beginning of curiosity, is really the foundation behind every invention, every breakthrough, every solution the world needs.”
“None of this starts with a perfect plan,” she said. “It starts with people just like you who have the courage to ask better questions and the determination to seek smarter answers. As the trailblazing Shirley Chisholm reminded us, if they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair. So curiosity gives you the courage to pull up that chair, speak up, and offer new ideas.”
“You should be able to communicate your thoughts with clarity and confidence,” she said. “Travel, go abroad, learn about other cultures, join student clubs, play intramural sports, or find ways to serve your community. The world needs doers, not just individuals who have thoughts but don’t act on it.”
Failure, Withanachchi said, is part of that process.
“Whether you struggle with a math problem or face a disappointment in life, don’t give up,” she said. “Every mistake is a steppingstone.”
“Resilience will carry you further than your talent,” she said. “So it doesn’t matter whether you’re going to a four-year university, a two-year community college, a trade school, or into the workforce right away. Your worth isn’t measured by the name of a school or the number of degrees you earn. Your worth is measured by your character, your work ethic, your curiosity, and your courage to keep growing.”
Class Valedictorian Uma Patel told her fellow graduates that high school “is only the beginning of what is to come for us in the real world.”
“Over the past four years, we made lasting friendships inside and outside of the classroom, challenged teachers for better or worse, learned things about the world and each other, and discovered that sometimes the best lessons didn’t come from textbooks, but from hallway conversations, group projects almost got wrong, and those moments where we just had to figure it out,” she said.
“My point is, when you think of your high school experience, I’m sure you probably don’t immediately think of how you learned to write essays or solve a derivative,” Patel said. “That is because most of all, someway, somehow, high school taught each one of us how to play with the cards we were dumped, find meaning in the chaos of life that surrounds us. And yes, we’ve messed up.”
“There were times where I wished I said or did things differently, times where schedules weren’t met, I was writing a speech literally 30 minutes to the deadline, and moments where I let fear overcome me from taking just one step forward,” she said. “But over time, and with a lot of messing up and apologies and promising myself never again, only to do it again somewhere down the road, I realized the goal was never to be perfect, because no matter how many times we can practice something, practice does not make perfect, it only makes us slightly better.”
“All we can do is learn, be present, and show up for the people we care about in ourselves,” she said. “So as we all move on to whatever comes for us, remember that this is your life, and the beautiful thing about that is that no one knows your entire story or yet even writes it for you.”
“Keep messing up, but keep trying to learn from each time,” Patel said. “Just by standing here, we have all proven that we can see through the difficulties and challenges that were thrown at us.”
The Class Salutatorian, Aishani Patel, equated the high school years with a book.
“It’s a novel filled with study sessions, character development, random deep conversations, and moments of laughter that would fill entire chapters on their own,” she said. “And now, we’ve turned the last page. The story of these four years is complete.”
“Just like any great book, we’ve arrived at the acknowledgments,” Patel said. “This is the part where we pause to thank all the people who helped us write our stories. Our family, our friends, our teachers, our coaches, and even those unexpected characters who challenged us and made us grow. They’ve each left a line, a paragraph, sometimes even whole pages in the story of who we’ve become.”
“I know you all are ready to leave this chapter behind and dive into the next one filled with new goals, new places, and new people,” she said. “But before we rush ahead, I want to remind you to breathe. Take it all in. You will have so many people in your life giving you advice for the future, but for right now, let’s focus on the present.”
“We’ve achieved something truly significant, something that took years of late nights, early mornings, effort, failures, growth, and persistence,” she said. “It’s easy to get caught up in the momentum of what’s next, college, jobs, gap years, whatever comes after this. But don’t overlook the value of right now. This moment, this stage of life is something special. We’re so focused in our future that we forget that we are in the middle of what we once wished for.”
“So here’s to the next volume,” Patel said. “May it be bold, may it be unexpected, and may it be entirely your own. But for today, take a breath, smile, and know that this page was worth every word.”
The Class of 2025 had co-presidents, Deborah Alabi and Kris Chaudhary, who took the podium together.
“We are all leaders in our own right,” Chaudhary said. “We have all taken up challenges that the person next to us might not understand.”
“And it is not for them to understand,” Alabi said. “Nor are we expected to try to explain our complexities to everyone we meet.”
“The most important thing is that we understand ourselves,” Chaudhary said. “We must understand what we stand for and who we are.”
“We must understand that we are the children of parents who worked endlessly hard to get us to education,” Alabi said.
“We must understand that we are the students of teachers who have supported us at every failed assignment and late assignment,” Chaudhary said.
“We must understand that we are intelligent and no matter who has or will question us, as women, people of color, or just in general, we know our worth,” Alabi said.
“We must understand that we are a class of differences,” Chaudhary said. “And despite the arguments over the years, each person sitting here today has made an impact on our journey.”
“We must understand that we are a class of artists, scientists, and authors, and most of all procrastinators,” Alabi said.
“And we must understand that every … project, every … test, and every time we had to question whether or not all of us were actually mature enough to graduate, or even use a pair of scissors, was all worth it,” Chaudhary said.
“Through it all, we’ve been here together, hand in hand, for the last four years, in this small environment,” Alabi said. “And we have learned how to accept each other and ourselves while working together, which has helped all of us grow.”
The school’s Lead Person, Oguz Yildiz, told the graduates that they “have transformed from curious young learners into confident graduates, ready to make your mark on the world. To all graduates, your achievements are proof of your dedication and resilience. Many of you have gone above and beyond by completing community college courses while still in high school, showcasing an exceptional commitment to academic excellence.”
“Your hard work has set a high standard for future TEECS students,” he said. “Throughout your time here, you embraced our core values of energy efficiency, sustainability, and innovation. Whether participating in clubs, excelling in competitions, or supporting one another, you embodied the spirit of our school.”
“Your contributions have enriched our community and left a lasting impact,” he said.
“Remember the importance of curiosity, the power of innovation, and the value of community,” Yildiz said. “The world awaits your talent and patience.”
Here are some scenes from the event:
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