When Roslyn High School Salutatorian Kristi Lam explored the woods of Long Island alongside a researcher, she said she was able to witness the diversity of nature working together in harmony.

In May, as she hiked through Yosemite National Park and looked around the forest, she was reminded of the interconnectedness of all things as she witnessed a vibrancy and blending of colors, shapes and sizes.

This reminded her of the four years at Roslyn High School, forming unique connections and dependency upon classmates, teachers and staff. Roslyn High School is their forest, Lam said, as it is comprised of a diverse student population who all bring an important contribution to the school.

“As today marks the end of our high school journey, we will each venture out into the world in different directions,” Lam said. “Let us take a moment to cherish and nurture our relationships, old and new, and recognize the importance of this loving connection.”

About 270 Roslyn High School students sat on the Tilles Center stage at Long Island University Friday afternoon to embark on the last journey in their high school years: graduation.

The graduation commencement featured a performance of Jason Mraz’s song “Have It All” by the Roslyn High School Senior Chorus.

The ceremony honored class of 2023 valedictorian Jake Konigsberg and salutatorian Lam.

Student Council President Lindsay Cohen shared a collection of memories the class of 2023 experienced from their days on the Heights School playground to the moment they walk across the stage to graduate.

“We were too young to understand it then, but these would be the first interactions with those we would spend the next 13 years with,” Cohen said.

Cohen reflected on the days of elementary school, with events such as Commerce Plaza where students were assigned pretend jobs to simulate a work day.

Cohen, who was assigned to be a lawyer, will now be attending Vanderbilt University to study pre-law.

“All these small moments and tips may have seemed insignificant, but they built us up to be the people that we are aiming to become,” Cohen said.

She also took a moment to honor Todd Rosbash, a fellow classmate who would have been graduating with them but died of cancer in 2018 at the age of 12.

“We will always remember and love you, Todd, and we will make you proud of us in the future,” Cohen said.

All students donned pins in honor of Ethan Falkowitz and Drew Hassenbein, the two middle school boys killed when an alleged drunk driver crashed his truck into the car they were traveling in May 3 after their tennis victory. Both teens played on the high school’s varsity boys’ tennis team.

“It is our tradition and our culture that even in the moments of our greatest joy, we are to remember loss,” Board of Education President Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy said. “We are after all only human.”

Ben-Levy said that one of the biggest contemporary challenges that professionals face today is the introduction of artificial intelligence and its competition with work done by humans.

To illustrate this struggle, Ben-Levy drafted a commencement speech with ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence software that provides detailed responses based on prompts.

She said that while it touched on all the expected talking points of a graduation speech, it lacked something: humanity.

Her advice to the graduating class was not to avoid artificial intelligence, but rather to use it, not be used by it.

“Do not discount the impact of your humanity, your sensibilities, your kind, compassionate thoughts and ways as you go forward in a technological world,” Ben-Levy said.