The Questions You Carry with You

Good afternoon, everyone.

To the Class of 2030, and to all new students, welcome to Bennington. And to our returning students, welcome back.

My name is Maryam Saeedi. I’m a fifth-term junior, and I’m honored to be serving as the Student Educational Policies Committee President.

When I think about welcoming new students to Bennington, I think about what it felt like to be welcomed here myself.

I came to Bennington after leaving Afghanistan, my beautiful home country, during my second year of medical school to continue my education. I knew I wanted to stay connected to my passion for health and explore it from every possible angle. I just didn’t know what those angles would be.

I remember enrolling in a mathematics class during my first term. On the first day, I looked around and thought, “Okay, we’re all here to learn mathematics.”

I quickly realized that wasn’t quite the case.

As I got to know my classmates, I learned that each of us had come to the class for a different reason. One person was interested in neuroscience, another in environmental protection, and my close friend Shadan wanted to understand how mathematical patterns could help her learn piano.

We were learning the same mathematics, but it was becoming something different for each of us.

That was one of my first glimpses of what the open curriculum means at Bennington.

You’re not just choosing what to study; you’re discovering how it connects to the questions you already carry with you. 

For me, mathematics became another way of thinking about health and opened a path toward data science. Bennington gave me room to follow that interest before I knew exactly where it would lead.

And that exploration doesn’t only happen in classrooms.

Some of my favorite conversations have happened at the End of the World, sitting with other students as the sun goes down. We talk about our lives, our futures, our ideas, or sometimes absolutely nothing.

Those moments aren’t on a syllabus, but they’ve become part of my education too.

There’s freedom here, but there’s also responsibility. You have the freedom to choose your direction, and the responsibility to discover what that direction means to you.

There is no single algorithm for finding your path.

And I know that can sometimes feel exciting, and sometimes a little overwhelming. I arrived at Bennington not knowing what my own path would look like either. 

But that’s also where the fun begins.

Take a class because you’re curious about it. Sit next to someone you don’t know. Go to coffee hour. Go watch the sunset. 

You may discover an interest you never expected, just as I did.

A professor might say, “Try this.” A classmate might introduce you to an idea you’ve never considered. And sometimes, without even realizing it, you become that person for someone else.

We don’t simply inherit this community. We create it for one another. 

So, to the Class of 2030, and to all students who are new to Bennington, welcome.

Thank you.