Mady Chung Lee ’27
Staff Writer
Welcome, Scripps College class of 2030! And welcome to the friends, family, and loved ones who came here today to help students move in; none of this would be possible without you all. My name is Mady Chung Lee, and I’m so happy to be here today on behalf of the student body, welcoming you on your first day of being a Scrippsie.
It’s so surreal to be standing on this stage today because I can still remember when I sat at that table right there, just 3 or so years ago, back to my first year. I was still reeling from taking my 70-pound check in suitcases up three flights of stairs – shoutout to those in triples in Frankel/Routt on the third floor – it does get easier. If my memory serves me right, I’m sure some of you guys are absolutely exhausted, nervous, and scared for what’s to come; I know I was. I hope these feelings are equally rivaled with your excitement, anticipation, and readiness for the life that awaits you here at Scripps.
My path to Scripps was not conventional; I committed to two different colleges before I committed to Scripps. I was initially waitlisted by Scripps, and wrote numerous emails and a terrible poem to my admissions officer to show why I should be let off the waitlist. By some miracle, I got off the waitlist, but I needed to convince my parents that Scripps was the place for me. I wrote a 10-page paper, outlining my research and plans: I would get a job at the student-run coffee shop, the Motley, that would give me real-life skills; I would take classes where I was challenged by the interdisciplinary and community-focused methods, and most importantly, I would be surrounded by a tight-knit community where I could actually rely on my peers. I can happily say that all of these things came true.
Needless to say, I won over my parents and the admissions officers, and I stand here today as proof of one thing: “Incipit vita nova.” “Incipit vita nova” is Latin for “Here begins a new life.” While you will hear this saying more times than you can count during your time at Scripps, I hope that it becomes a spell of sorts for you guys in the same way that it did for me.
Scripps has exposed me to the most driven, passionate, and intellectual people that I’ve ever met. Here, you are surrounded by future world-class artists, academics, activists, doctors, advocates, and changemakers. When I first entered college, I was given two pieces of advice: Surround yourself with people that you want to become like, and say yes to everything. I echo these pieces of advice to you all today. When you surround yourself with people that you aspire to become like, you open yourself to endless possibilities of self-growth and introspection. When you say yes to things you wouldn’t normally say yes to, you build lore, memories, and experiences you never could have imagined, saying yes has allowed me to live many lives here – whether it was my brief stint in a comedy acapella group, going to Washington D.C. and meeting AOC, or even something as simple as getting the most aggressive tan lines after a 5 hours at the pool, you have the world at your fingertips here at Scripps. There truly is no other place like Scripps – you leave your dorm, and see friends picking oranges to make fresh orange juice, talented musicians singing on the lawn, and on any given day, there’s an amazing teach-in or speaker event about the densest and hardest-to-talk-about topics laid out for you to learn easily.
One of the greatest privileges that I’ve had thanks to saying yes and surrounding myself with people I hope to be like is joining student government. Here at Scripps, we have the Scripps Associated Students, A.K.A. SAS, a governing board of 20 strong. Throughout your time here at Scripps, I encourage you guys to use us as a resource and entrust us with your ideas to make this campus better – our work spans from advocating to make transit options into LA affordable, hosting nightlife events and parties, working alongside other student governments to ensure that the 5Cs run on fully green energy, to providing support to our vulnerable students in light of new federal policies and laws.
While you are at Scripps, I implore you to challenge your predisposed beliefs and understandings about the world we navigate, and especially do this alongside your peers. We live in unprecedented times of difficulty and uncertainty. But Scripps connections will last a lifetime, and will find you in the most random of places as you navigate this uncertainty. Most recently, I spent my summer interning in New York, and I was lost walking down the street when I ran into three Scripps alumni, some familiar, and some not so familiar, but it blossomed into a 10-minute-long conversation with plans for a meal all together. Scripps teaches you how to seek familiarity in the unfamiliarity, and vice versa.
Foster the connections with the people you meet here, and challenge yourself. Take the new life that begins here and grab it by the reins. Your next four years here will feel both like a lifetime and a blink of the eye at the same time, but utilize what you learn to make this world better, and lead, Scripps strong.
I promise, the steps you take to lead here will transfer in insurmountable ways when you enter the real world. So utilize Scripps as a launching pad. Host events with friends, start a new club, take a class in a discipline you’ve never heard of before, and become comfortable in navigating the uncomfortable.
This is a special year in Scripps history: 100 years of Scripps, the centennial. As you guys become a part of this history, remember, “Incipit vita nova.” Your new life begins here, and it begins now. I cannot wait to see the lives that you guys build alongside one another.
Thank you.
