Niles West High School seniors shared very different experiences of the last months before graduation at their commencement ceremony Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston.
Yohanna Endashaw said that she worked so hard during her time at Niles West — efforts that got her accepted to Harvard University — that by the time the last two months of school rolled around, she was exhausted and got a bad case of “senioritis.”
“I was so focused on being ‘the best’ that I forgot to be present. I forgot to look around. And when I did, this final, special year, I saw you,” she told her fellow graduates.
“…I saw people helping each other through heartbreak, through grief, through confusion…I saw people laughing in the hallways, group project chaos, unspoken acts of kindness and inside jokes in three different languages. And I realized, this is what matters.”
“Niles West is more than just a school. It’s a mosaic.”
Fellow senior speaker Sumayyah Hussaini shared with her classmates that on March 27, she was in a broadside car collision that left her with a fractured pelvis and brain bleed, unable to walk or go to school. When she finally was able to return to Niles West, she gave her all during those last two months.
“The crash didn’t just leave me hospitalized,” she said. “It woke me up. So if there’s one thing I’d like to leave you all with, it’s this: be grateful for your education.
“Some students our age are navigating was zones, unsure if their classrooms will still stand tomorrow. The chance to live in safety to dream without fear — that’s a privilege we can’t afford to take for granted,” she said, before urging grads to also be grateful for their families.
Aymal Yousefzai, the third student speaker, reflected on how the path to success isn’t a straight line, but a series of setbacks, tweaks and trying again and again.
“Four years ago, some of us walked in here, terrified of public speaking, really bad at math, and bad at art and debates. But now we lead debates and discussions. We’re getting fives on our AP exams, and we’re winning awards for our art,” he said.
“Your story does not start and end as the nerd, the athlete, or the class clown. You shape your own story, so please sit up proudly and remember, you have years of writing new stories ahead of you.”
Niles West, located in Skokie, is part of Niles Township High School District 219. It educates students from Lincolnwood, Skokie, Niles and Morton Grove.