An Inspiring Address from Parkside Alumna Rebecca Sidi ’17
Class of 2017 graduate returns as 2025 Commencement Speaker
At The Parkside School’s Graduation and Achievement Ceremony on June 17, 2025, we were honored to welcome back Rebecca Sidi, a proud member of the Class of 2017, as this year’s alumni speaker. Now a chemistry major at Barnard College of Columbia University, Rebecca delivered a powerful and heartfelt speech that reflected on her Parkside journey and reminded our graduating students of the incredible possibilities ahead.
With warmth, honesty, and insight, Rebecca spoke about what it means to grow up learning differently—and how Parkside helped her find her voice, her confidence, and her direction. Her words resonated deeply with students, families, and faculty alike.
We are proud to share the full transcript of Rebecca’s speech below.
Rebecca Sidi ’17
“High school, maybe. College, one can dream.” These are not my words. These are the words of a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with attention deficit disorder (ADD), also recognized as inattentive ADHD, when I was around three years old. At the time, it felt like a future with possibility was out of reach. But here I am, and here you are, the Parkside graduating Class of 2025, wearing your red caps and gowns at your graduation ceremony, surrounded by teachers, family, and friends.
I was in your shoes eight years ago, and I remember being filled with a mixture of excitement and nerves, with all sorts of dreams and eagerness to explore them. Looking at your bright, smiling faces, it makes me wonder what you might be dreaming of right now. Please give another round of applause for the Parkside Class of 2025, because whether you know me or not, I hope you can feel how excited I am for you.
My name is Rebecca Sidi, and I’m here because I want you to know what’s possible. I want you to know not just that you can reach, but that you will flourish. Receiving support from Parkside changed my life because it gave me something I know it gave you: a direction and a foundational belief that who you are is more than enough.
Prior to coming to Parkside, the world felt distant from me. I was a little girl with frizzy curls lost in my own thoughts, and I felt like a spectator. My parents hoped I’d grow up bilingual, but I struggled to speak and express myself in either language. I often needed things repeated to me over and over, and I struggled to follow directions. I had trouble understanding what people said from what people meant, and always seemed to take things in a very literal way.
I still remember a moment from over 12 years ago at Union Square. My mom was telling me to cross the street when the white walking signal appeared, but instead, I decided to follow an old man in a white shirt going the opposite direction. This made perfect sense to me at the time – my brain just worked differently.
Maybe some of you know what it’s like – to feel out of sync with what’s expected, and to live in your own world because the one around you just doesn’t make sense. In fact, maybe you feel that the world is off-beat compared to your rhythm – and that it is okay. I want to reiterate something Parkside’s overwhelming support showed you: your brain is wired for something unique, and understanding how it works is just the beginning.
Entering through the iconic red doors on my first day of Kindergarten, like all of you six years ago, marked the moment Parkside took my hand and told me that I was not disconnected. For you all, this was the beginning of your journey to learning what the world was, learning who your friends were, and beginning to learn who you are.
Through speech therapy, many of us learned how to have a conversation and how to listen to one. Through OT and Gym, we learned how to manage our bodies and our movement. Through Yoga, we learned how to calm down and feel through meditation and relaxation. Through music and drama, we learned how to develop a sense of humor and how to project our voices to our hearts’ content. Through Art, we learned how to collaborate and channel our inner creativity, which personally strongly remains with me today. Through counseling, we learned how to regulate our emotions, express ourselves, and respect ourselves and others.
In brief, Parkside was where we were able to fully embrace being neurodivergent, and truly felt like the safest place on Earth. You all bloomed into confident, funny, curious, and kind ten- and eleven-year-olds by the end, and now I, your teachers, families, and friends know you’re all more than ready for what comes next.
Parkside helped you all learn who you are now, Class of 2025 graduates, but what I’ve personally learned since being in your shoes was that Parkside opened a vessel for me to find out about who I was becoming.
Parkside made me aware that each of you have your own powerful paths waiting for you to walk them. You all have passions, hobbies, and interests just waiting for you to discover and invest in them. You have so many friends waiting for your company and your friendly, sociable, and awesome energy. You have so many things to try – things to find out you love and things to find out you dislike – that’ll gradually construct your intricate and beautiful personalities.
After six years of hard work, you all have sought so much potential within you, and I want you to know that it can only go up from here. Your greatest dreams are so much more in your reach than you think. I’m currently pursuing a chemistry degree at Barnard College of Columbia University, and my greatest dream is to become a scientist that can help change the world. But what Parkside gave me wasn’t just academic preparation, it gave me the confidence to walk into rooms knowing I belonged where I otherwise would’ve felt disconnected and invisible.
In the end, as someone who once stood where the Parkside Class of 2025 is standing today, I know how big this day feels. Your teachers, families, and friends are beyond proud of you, and I want you to know that I am beyond proud of you too. Whether you’re quiet, loud, full of energy, full of questions, creative, organized, disorganized, what I can tell you is that your way of thinking and being is not a detour – it’s a direction. You’re learning, growing, and becoming, and I want to reiterate what Parkside taught you and what they taught me – you are capable, you are cared for, and you’re never alone.
So, what will your direction look like? How will you carry what you’ve learned from Parkside into what’s next? How will you grow into your dreams?
Congratulations to the Class of 2025, please always show up exactly as you are. Thank you!
The Class of 2025
Leslie Thorne, Rebecca Sidi ’17, Albina Miller, and MingYi Lin