‘We Were Determined to Leave a Legacy’

By Tess Uihlein

The following talk was given by Senior Class President Tess Uihlein during the Lake Forest High School graduation this month.

When telling people I was given the opportunity to write a graduation speech, I was typically met with wide eyes, quickly followed by unsolicited advice. My oldest brother Mac said, “As long as you don’t talk about the definition of a Scout.”  The senior class president of 1988, Vince Vaughn, told me to make people laugh, but quickly followed up with the fact that he only became class president because that meant the school had to let him graduate.

"When I reflect on my time in high school, I think about all of the things that our senior class did in efforts to be remembered," said Tess Uihlein.

I was given hundreds of suggestions, tips, “can you shout me out,” “make sure to keep it short…” But the only response that truly resonated with me came from my friend Eliza. In an attempt to calm my nerves, she told me, “People will barely remember what you say anyway.” At first, I was a little offended, but honestly, she is right. 

When I reflect on my time in high school, I think about all of the things that our senior class did in efforts to be remembered. We, the class of 2026, were determined to leave a legacy. Whether it was something simple like having Left Bank at lunch, or school-wide like starting the Winter Pep Rally and hosting a movie night on the turf, we were excited to leave our mark. But while I reflected on what truly matters about the Class of 2026, these new traditions are not what came to mind. 

Our class legacy has nothing to do with movie nights or pep rallies, but rather the moments in which we tried something new. I want you to think of a time in the last four years when you took a risk, recited Shakespeare in front of a class, lit something on fire in physics, took a verbal exam in AP Calculus, sat with someone new at lunch, dissected something gross in biology, or simply showed up to school at 8:15 on a Monday morning in the middle of February.

These quiet, bold moments have laid the foundation for our class's legacy. Not because of the acts themselves, but because we were afraid of something, and we did it anyway.

In our next chapter, there is so much pressure to build something new, to create extravagant moments, to speak perfectly, and to be remembered. We will be told what not to do, what to do, and to do it perfectly, but the most important thing is that we just do it  — even if we’re scared — because this is how we continue our legacy. Eliza was right, by the time you cross this stage you might not remember the words I have just said, but I was given the opportunity to do something that scared me and I did it -- and so have all of you.