High-Ranking Students Honored in Sarah and James Bowdoin Day Ceremony

Yeo, who is Ukrainian and uses they/them pronouns, delivered an address titled "On Excellence, Impact, War, and Gold Stars," which dealt with their physical and personal journey from Ukraine to Bowdoin and back to Ukraine.

The talk explored Yeo's thoughts on where college students direct their energy, and Yeo's reflections on the notion of success. Several memories were shared by Yeo in their talk, including the moment they received the invitation from Bowdoin to speak at this occasion. At that time, Yeo was in a middle school building in war-torn Ukraine, working for an educational nonprofit. Yeo recalled the moment they came under Russian attack:

"It was the first day of the summer school I was helping organize as part of my internship, and we barely managed to get the first day going when the air raid alert went off, meaning all 130 middle schoolers and their teachers had to go down to the dark and dusty basement for shelter," they said.

In this context, said Yeo, news of this award from Bowdoin did not spark unadulterated joy. "Instead, it was an indicator-telling me I spent hundreds of hours keeping up my reputation of being a model student by figuring out what exactly each professor wanted: that is, being adaptable and compliant."

However, added Yeo, the fact that they were not "completely happy" to receive the award is a testament to the quality of the education they're receiving. "Sitting in that basement, listening to the overstimulating chatter of middle schoolers, made me feel at the right place more than I'd ever felt while doing schoolwork," said Yeo.

Neverthess, they said, academic achievement is something to be celebrated, and Yeo urged their fellow students never to stop striving for excellence and holding themselves to high standards: "These things make you great. Doing all of this while facing all the pain, anger, and confusion that the world bestows you with makes you extraordinary humans." Read Bondar's address.