See the Full Transcript of Scipio Han's Valedictorian Speech Below OR WATCH On YouTube
As Valedictorian of the Class of 2025, Scipio Han spoke at Montville Township High School’s 54th Annual Commencement Ceremony. Han’s speech drew cheers, laughter, and choreographed movements from his fellow graduates, particularly when Han counted, “One, two, three,” before leading all 280 members of the Class of 2025 in a Dab dance move.
Han explained that the group Dab would serve as a symbol for the class to continue to embrace self-growth and discovery, form new connections, develop even stronger mindsets, and “bring greatness into this world.”
In the fall, Han will attend Dartmouth College. The Class of 2025 MTHS Valedictorian, who began his Montville Township Public Schools career at Valley View Elementary School, plans to major in Mathematics.
Han, speaks several languages including Spanish, Chinese, and English. In addition, Han has an extensive list of interests, a few of which include playing the piano, researching the history of Chinese culture and traditions, and finding the fun in overcoming the challenges of learning complicated concepts.
“It’s the power of synthesis in learning,” Han explained. “It’s easy to know a random fact, but what truly makes learning satisfying is, ironically, the pain of being confused. Knowledge becomes valuable with solid time and thought put behind understanding it, often requiring the learner to plough long and hard to find a hidden light bulb. It’s an experience I’ve come to appreciate in many classes.”
When asked how MTHS has influenced his thinking and success, Han noted, “The biggest lesson I'll take with me from MTHS, is to always take every possible action to make a desire happen, no matter how many steps there may end up being. And, following that, to be present in the moment when those dreams and days come true.”
Those in the audience who heard Han’s presentation to the MTHS Class of 2025, will likely agree that Han was 100% “present in the moment” when he addressed his peers from the podium during the 2025 MTHS Commencement Ceremony.
Due to the weather, the MTHS 54th Annual Commencement was held in the MTHS Main Gymnasium on June 19, 2025. The decision to move the ceremony inside was made only a few short hours before this speech was presented. Han referenced the weather by noting, “Through thick and thin, rain and shine, solid, liquid, or gas, we’ve made it: the day that seemed like it would never come, but it’s really here.”
Han’s speech can be viewed on the Montville Township Public Schools YouTube Channel. A transcript of the speech is available below:
Good evening Class of 2025 (aka the 54th MTHS graduating class, reverse those digits and you get class of 45 squared), faculty and staff, parents, and guests,
Through thick and thin, rain and shine, solid, liquid, or gas, we’ve made it: the day that seemed like it would never come, but it’s really here. On the surface, each next day just seemed like another, nothing out of the ordinary despite the oddities here and there. In all fairness, 24 hours is much less than 1000+ days. But something strikes: reflecting on the complete combination of experiences over the past four years, you might think to yourself: “how did I do all of that?!” “How did we all get through all of these things?! This seems irreplicable.” It seems like a lot now, but it all came together bit by bit. Think about the first day of homeroom freshman year, how that classroom environment felt back then versus how it felt just last week. You can do this for any recurring environment or experience, whether performing in a concert, playing for a sports team, or all the late nights of cramming for tests, and you’ll realize that each individual interaction, no matter how big or small, has built to something much greater in how you understand yourself and the surrounding world.
It’s the power of synthesis in learning. It’s easy to know a random fact, but what truly makes learning satisfying is, ironically, the pain of being confused. Knowledge becomes valuable with solid time and thought put behind understanding it, often requiring the learner to plough long and hard to find a hidden light bulb. It’s an experience I’ve come to appreciate in many classes, whether thanks to U.S. I Honors with Mr. Riotto, where 2-page limits made me a more concise and effective writer, 4 years of Spanish in Sra. Przetak’s class, where lightning-fast audios filled with subjunctive conjugation variants trained me to authentically perceive the Spanish language, or Mr. Farro’s Linear Algebra Independent Study, where taking good time to read and take notes on the textbook enabled me to unwrap even the most dense notation. Now all of that might’ve just seemed like a study tip, but being able to put things together goes beyond just the book - it really applies to any learning experience. It could be as silly as learning to enjoy each moment of fun sarcasm in Ms. Conroy’s Science Design and Research class, or as informative as learning about modern sides of music (like Wonderwall and how digital pianos work) through each orchestra class and PIT rehearsal with Mr. Havington.
On top of just knowledge, though, synthesis also comes into play in building bonds with each other. When we all come together as a class, the best thing we can do is pave a strong legacy - in particular, through something I like to call the [quote] “mentor chain effect” [unquote]. From freshman to senior year, we’ve learned much from our upperclassmen, teachers, and advisors about the nuances of high school. At the same time, whether directly or indirectly, we’ve reciprocated a domino effect: setting an example for each incoming class. In all the sports and clubs we’re a part of, we also create this chain effect. Think about the first general membership meetings you went to or your first attempts at leadership roles, and then trace back to the end-of-year club parties over the last few weeks, seeing all the change that’s happened. I’m thankful that I got to learn about this transformation with friends and advisors in clubs like Science Olympiad with our many advisors over the years: Mrs. Schilling, Dr. Glanville, Ms. Slezak, and of course, Mrs. Reinknecht who has been with us all of the past four years, student council, another honor for which I am able to sit on this stage alongside our officers and class advisors Ms. Sakacs and Mrs. Majorczak, the Teen Advisory Board at the library, and of course, the Mandarin program, for which despite I was never in the class nor officially in the honor society for, Mrs. Huang has always gone out of her way to help support my ambitions for sharing Chinese culture since freshman year. Whichever organizations you’ve made and will make an impact in, a domino-effect legacy is what will ultimately support long-term success.
On a more personal note, just like how each class supports each other, the all-around support in my family has also allowed me to be where I am today. Whether it’s the daily “turtle-shell” pats my mom gives me, all the funny proverbs my dad tells me, the warm pots of soup my grandmother makes, a simple “I love you all” can merely describe a fraction of the gratitude for the support I have. As we all head home tonight, let’s take a moment to appreciate the foundation that family has laid for each of us.
To close off my message, I want to allude to a fun dance that originally trended in 2017. Yep, you guessed it, the dab. [do a dab] Despite its apparent silliness, there’s many lessons one can take from the simple arm movement, one being that sometimes, we don’t need words, but just a simple expression to mark a happy moment, whether that is the dab, a fist bump, or just an unmistakable smile. Of course, another lesson from that is the importance of reading the context: for example, it’s not quite appropriate to dab on stage while dressed in concert black or while presenting a scientific poster.
But the bigger message I want to share here ties to identity. People may know me for the dab at MTHS, but not many outside will. We all have things that our friends and teachers here know us for because of the nuances in how the Montville community has shaped us. Shout out to all my awesome friends in the lunchtime band room squad and the cereal box filled with “recreational” math papers in Mr. Carey’s room. But once we get to a new community, such as college, many of these aspects of identity that we’ve built outward return back into our inner-selves. Similar to the pain of being confused in learning, we now confront the confusion of a new environment. It’s then up to us how we want to build a new identity in a new community. While seemingly a loss, a valuable opportunity arises: one of a fresh start; one of self-growth and discovery; and ultimately, one of new ever-lasting connections. It’s just like how we all built our mark here, at MTHS, but now we’re off to do even greater things with our stronger mindsets.
So to symbolize this step, on the count of three, I’d like to lead us to do a dab together, as a class, to represent a moment of unitement as we each venture to continue building identities that will all bring greatness into this world. One, two, three . . . [dab] -
Best wishes, and thank you class of 2025 for a wonderful Montville journey!