Graduation is often a very bittersweet time. Seniors finally feel like real adults, and many are moving on to their futures, whether moving on to higher education, entering the workforce or even joining the military. They still leave behind their friends at home. May 17th was the last day for seniors, and on that day, they said goodbye to some of their friends and teachers whom they have known for their entire academic lives.
Ivan Wu is one of these seniors who is going through this experience and he happens to be the Orator for the graduation ceremony, possessing the third highest grade point average in the class of 2024. Wu, looking back on his time at Malden High, thinks his favorite part was “all of the people” whom he has met through the years. Wu recognized that all of these people who he has met, whether they were people in grades above or below him or even simply teachers who have supported him “throughout the high school journey, in both academics and athletics” constantly pushed him to do his best.
“I attribute most of my academic success to my mother,” Wu mentioned proudly. Wu’s mother has “cared greatly” for his education since he was young even when he “didn’t particularly care for it.” Wu then remarked that as his mother’s “influence on education grew smaller over the years,” it was his friends who inspired him to “continue pursuing higher academic prowess.”
Brian Morrison, a Physics teacher at Malden High, remarked, “It was my good fortune that I got to teach Ivan two years in a row in AP Physics 1 and 2. He is incredibly smart, thoughtful, and a pleasure to teach. I have no doubt he is going to be incredibly successful in the future and make Malden proud. I wish him the very best.”
As if having an extremely high GPA was not already impressive enough, Wu also participated in cross country, swimming, track, and gymnastics throughout his years at Malden High. Wu affirmed that he “dipped his feet” into whatever he felt like he would enjoy. Wu enjoys “devoting time to help others who also enjoy math get better at it and compete,” as he is an officer with the school’s Math Team.
Wu offered a piece of advice for the incoming class of 2028: avoid procrastination. He emphasized that most people don’t learn this lesson “until they experience the consequences firsthand.” Wu noted that “some people are good at being productive while others aren’t” and recognized he, unfortunately, struggled with it during his time at Malden High but wished he followed the advice of avoiding procrastination.
Wu went on to explain that he has really learned the importance of having confidence. Wu professed, “Truly, you will succeed if you are confident in yourself and the work you do; this translates to your job, your academics, your athletics. If you’re not confident in yourself because you’ve been knocked down by life, I suggest doing what you enjoy because you’re bound to get better at it. Have confidence in that one thing at the very least. It all branches out from there as life goes on, and I promise everything works out in the end, so have confidence in the path you want to take as well.”
He explained that he will miss how close all of Malden High is and how much of a tight-knit community it is. Wu noted, “I feel like I’ve met so many like-minded people here at MHS as well, that it’ll be a shame to leave it all behind and start anew someplace else.”
However, if he could go back and do it all again, he would “be more diligent.” Wu affirmed, “I don’t regret anything now that I’m here. I think everything I’ve done in high school up until now has made me the person I am today.”
