CEO’s Remarks to the Class of 2022

Pay It Forward

On May 21st, 2022, MMSF said good-bye to our Class of 2022! Our “virtual” graduation featured videos from our mentors to their mentees celebrating their journey and speeches by various leaders in the MMSF Community. What follows below is the text of CEO, Irene Shih’s, speech to the graduating senior mentees and mentors.

First, a huge “thank you” to our Senior Class Leads Stephanie Jacques and Kendall Jackson, and to our Community Engagement Leads and Senior Mentors Erin Nielsen and Curren Iyer. I know you’ve each put tremendous thought into preparing last week’s Senior Sendoff and today’s Senior Graduation, and that every step of the way, you were thinking about how to help our mentees and mentors celebrate this special moment and commemorate the 3-year journey they’ve had together at Minds Matter. Most of all - Steph, Kendall, Erin, Curren—you’ve been on this journey with the Class of 2022 (some of you for all 3 years). You’ve seen our mentees grow and support one another and demonstrate courage through years of tremendous adversity; and you’ve seen our amazing mentors do the same. So I know this day is really special for you, too.

I always start here: a graduation ceremony is not only a celebration of our mentees’ accomplishments. It is also a recognition of your journey—and your journey did not happen alone. It takes a village to offer care, give support, and help a young person dream. The heart of this village is your families—parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles—the people who loved our mentees into existence. Thank you to those family members who are able to celebrate with us today.

Of course, Minds Matter San Francisco is also built on the idea that a young person’s possibilities in life expand, when their village expands. For three years, the Class of 2022 came to Saturday sessions at Minds Matter every week. In one sense, you were here to receive support and guidance on your path to the college and career of your dreams. But in an even greater sense, you were here to meet people who will remain a lifelong part of your village. 

So, I want to take a moment—on behalf of the Class of 2022—to thank our volunteers. Thank you to our incredible Program team, led by Chief Program Officers Adam Farchone and Jeniece Howe. Our Class of 2022 would not be celebrating today, without the incredible guidance and mentorship that you - our pod leaders, our Class Leads, our CAFA team, our Personal Statement Workshop team, our Summer Learning Team, our instructors, and our mentors—have offered them, week after tireless week, in person and on Zoom, in classrooms and from our bedrooms. 

I have often heard our volunteers say, “I’m not sure if I helped. My mentee is a really amazing kid, and I think they were going to achieve great things with or without me.” But you know what I hear our mentees say? I hear them say, “My mentors were there for me through some of the hardest moments these past two years; they cared about me as a person, and they listened to me and understood me when others couldn’t. My instructors spent extra time with me when I didn’t understand a problem, and through working with them, I also learned how to better communicate with my teachers at school. My pod leaders and the other volunteers inspired me, because no matter how hard things were, they showed up every week and they did this all because they really wanted to be here for us.” 

I’ve always believed that some parts of education are simply intangible. Curriculum - the structure and sequence of what we learn - may be tangible and concrete. But community—the people who help to deliver that experience of learning—often what they bring is intangible and yet absolutely essential. The best teachers, the best managers, and the best mentors that I’ve ever had - when I remember them, what I remember most is not what they did for me, but instead how they made me feel, and what they inspired me to do for myself. So thank you to our volunteers - you have been cheerleaders and believers and the best teammates for the Class of 2022. The community you have formed around them has been an essential part of their education, and an essential catalyst for the kindnesses they will pay forward to others in life. Thank you, and never forget the impact you have made.

Now, to our mentees: I must admit that the Class of 2022 has a really special place in my heart. I joined MMSF in 2019, and you were the first class that I got to be a Pod Leader for. And so I remember being your Pod Leader a few years ago, and through the years, whenever I see your mentors or Stephanie, I’m always filled with feelings of such nostalgia and…jealousy?—because they’ve really been on this full journey with you, and have really been witness to so many of your stories and your moments of growth. What I do know is that looking at each of you today, I’m so struck by your confidence and compassion, and I really can’t wait to see what you will do for the world with all your considerable gifts.

My message to you today will be quite short. It will start with a quote from the late poet, writer, and activist, Maya Angelou. She said: “What humility does, is it reminds us that there are people before me. I have already been paid for. And what I need to do is prepare myself so that I can pay for someone else who has yet to come but who may be here and needs me.” Today, you graduate from Minds Matter San Francisco. In a few months, you’ll be on college campuses all over the country—learning from incredible minds and building relationships with amazing people—in some of the finest institutions in the world. Your journey ahead will still have its ups and downs. You will achieve success and you will experience setbacks. You may not meet all of your goals. But you are driven, and talented, and you have a whole village around you - should you ever need us. So, I have every faith that in the grand scheme of life, you will accomplish many, many things. 

But in your moments of accomplishment, I hope you will remember that there were people before you. That every one of us, our successes in life are in some way paid for by the people that came before us, invested in their time and compassion in us, and were there for us when we needed them. In your moments of accomplishment, what I wish for you is the humility to remember where you came from, and the commitment to being someone who will pay it forward to others who may need you. As every volunteer here will tell you, accomplishment alone is not enough to live a fulfilling life. Truly, it is what we pay forward—to other people—that brings us lasting joy and meaning.

Our community at Minds Matter San Francisco is made up of very special adults who said to themselves, “I have an opportunity to do more. I’d like to give just a little bit more.” Class of 2022: at some point in your life, you will find yourself thinking, “I have an opportunity to do more. I’d like to give just a little bit more.” And when you do, I hope you consider mentoring and being a part of another kid’s life the way our volunteers were here for you. Because the real value of your education - the real value of accomplishment—is not what you can do for yourself. It is instead, how you will take those resources and give to others as others have given to you. And so, today, we are not yet seeing the full power of MMSF’s community and of the education you’ve received here. That full power will slowly be revealed in your journey - and in how you pay it forward.