Trisha Paytas? Barack Obama? Seniors’ Dream Graduation Speakers

Abby Rakotomavo ’26 Lead Features Editor

As seniors prepare to leave Hopkins behind and begin a new chapter, they face one final event: graduation. The ceremony often stirs a mix of emotions, much of which centers on the speakers chosen to lead the senior class into the future. This year, the Class of 2025 shared their dream graduation speakers.

Given how long and, at times, tedious commencement can be, some seniors prioritize the entertainment factor in their speaker choice. For Nora Brock ’25, the perfect celebrity for this role is “Trisha Paytas, because she’s iconic.” Wave Walters ’25 and Martina Ponce ’25 agree; according to Walters, “She really embodies our school spirit. I think she would flourish in this community.” Ponce thinks that, additionally, Paytas “would provide some really good life lessons.”

For many seniors, inviting an entertaining speaker would be a riveting way to “break up the monotony of graduation,” as Rosa Bilston ’25 puts it. Bilston’s choice of celebrity speaker would be “Humphrey Bogart, because I feel like he’d have a really fun little accent when he did it… He’d just be a really weird dude with a weird accent.”

Not everyone is drawn to a playful approach. Taking the question more seriously, Azikiwe Osakwe ’25 said he “would want it to be Barack Obama.” Osakwe explains that for him, a graduation speaker should be “Someone who isn’t trying to be hip with the kids in the traditional sense, but… imparts to us advice as we enter this new chapter.”

Like Osakwe, Sabrina Hu ’25 also values wisdom and storytelling in a speaker — in particular, she wishes that she could invite someone to speak at graduation from beyond the grave. She says, “I would like to see Pope Francis, even though he passed away, because I feel like he had a lot of noble influences. He was really concerned about a range of things, and he also had a strong sense of caring for everyone, and I feel like he would have a lot of powerful stories to share.” Hu adds that she would prefer to “hear about stories,” as many people tend to “focus on broad concepts.”

Eric Roberts ’25 believes that a speaker should not only “relate their own story to the seniors,” but also to “families sitting in the audience.” His and Karun Srihari ’25’s top choice is Roger Federer. According to Roberts, Federer is “a very calm and well-spoken person” who has “accomplished so much even after his tennis career, and it would be cool to hear more about his life and personal experiences.”

Kennedy Anastas ’25 sums up the essence of other seniors’ opinions regarding a suitable graduation speaker: “You either need to have someone very accomplished who has a lot of wisdom to share with the graduating class, or you have to have someone who’s really entertaining that’s going to get people excited, because grad ceremonies tend to take a long time.”

Whether it’s wisdom, entertainment, or a bit of both, seniors agree: the right speaker can turn a long ceremony into a memorable send-off.

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Trisha Paytas? Barack Obama? Seniors’ Dream Graduation Speakers