On April 17, Roxbury Latin celebrated in Hall the 12 members of Class I whose efforts and accomplishments have earned them membership in the Cum Laude Society. Each spring, the all-school Cum Laude ceremony honors the life of the mind—affirming that at the heart of a good school is scholarly engagement.
“This special event is intended principally to do two things,” began Head of School Sam Schaffer. “The first is to recognize the most distinguished scholars of the First Class. In their efforts and in their accomplishments, they have put to good use the gifts they have been given… The second purpose of this annual ceremony is in many ways the more consequential, for it involves everyone else in this room. In honoring these 12 boys, we are honoring the life of the mind; we are honoring trying hard and doing well; we are affirming that at the heart of a good school is scholarly engagement. I admonish you to take to heart the example of the inductees… All of you boys have the capacity to strive, to grow, to change, and to know the satisfaction of ideas unearthed and potential realized.”
Delivering the morning’s Cum Laude address was Dr. Saurabh Saha, CEO of Centessa Pharmaceuticals, a company aiming to discover and develop medicines that are transformative for patients.
In his Cum Laude address, he urged the boys to “find their North Star,” and he went on to describe what that prevailing principle looked like for him in his career—a path that was neither straight nor simple, but which was always guided by his own North Star:
“Years ago, as I sat in a hall much like this one—at an all-boys Jesuit high school just outside of Chicago—a speaker asked: What does your future hold? Do you want to be an astronaut? The president? Cure cancer?
“At that point, I had no clue. Maybe some scattered dreams, some vague hopes—but cure cancer? I didn’t even really know what it was. I only knew the sadness and pain the word seemed to carry. At that moment it sounded far-fetched, but in hindsight, I realized it was the flicker of a larger calling—the first glimmer of my North Star.
“Over time, that initial spark evolved into something more deliberate, more encompassing: a North Star defined by a desire to help alleviate human suffering from disease. Steve Jobs once said, ‘You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.’
“It’s true—you never see with perfect clarity where life’s events will lead. You can’t predict how an internship, a random conversation, or an unexpected obstacle might become pivotal in shaping the storyline of your life.
While he was correct—you can’t connect the dots looking forward—you do have the power to set your sights on a North Star, to progress toward an ideal, to pursue a long-term vision that resonates deeply within you, and to give shape and direction to those yet-to-be-connected dots.
Personally, the path guided by my North Star—to alleviate suffering from disease, perhaps by discovering new medicines—led me through college, graduate school, and medical school.
It’s easy to assume that when someone says, ‘I want to cure cancer,’ the road must be perfectly mapped out: Step A, then Step B, then Step C. But in reality, it’s never that easy—and it’s never a straight line. Often, competing interests emerge.”
Dr. Saha described in detail many specific moments throughout the course of his career—forks in the road, difficult decisions to be made, fortuitous interactions with individuals who made positive and life-altering differences in his own life and decisions. Ultimately, he implored the students to “expect setbacks. Stay resilient. Surround yourself with exceptionally driven and talented people. The path may not be straight, but the outcomes can be glorious.”
Read the entirety of Dr. Saha’s remarks.
Congratulations to the following seniors were inducted into the Cum Laude Society this year:
Miles Baumal-Bardy
Lucas Connors
Isaac Frehywot
Alex Giordano
Bruno Kim
Krish Muniappan
Omar Rahman
Brendan Reichard
Raj Saha
Daniel Stepanyan
Christo Velikin
Nathan Zhang
