May 19, 2025
from Tim Koerner ’03
If you are reading this, you have your own, distinct memories of what it was like to graduate from MPA and your senior year. The auditorium, the proud friends and family, receiving your diploma, and taking pictures on the campus lawn in your cap and gown…
While the classic elements of an MPA graduation have remained the same for more than four decades, a new, poignant element was introduced to the graduation season in 2017—the Senior Walk.
MPA’s director of college counseling, Lisa Pederson, describes the event:
“The Senior Walk debuted in 2017, bringing the whole school community together to honor the graduating class. Seniors process through campus in their graduation gowns, stopping for quick hugs and high-fives from cheering teachers, parents, and friends from other grades. Led by Dr. Hudson, the parade emerges from the Lower School entrance—where some seniors started their MPA education—and follows the sidewalk west to finish at Door 4, near the Black Box. It’s become a fun and beloved tradition for the MPA community, while as a teacher and parent of recent MPA alums, I’ve found it to be a poignant moment as well.”
This year’s Senior Walk will take place on Friday, May 23, at 1 PM, and you can catch last year’s Senior Walk for the Class of 2024 here.
Watching the Senior Walk is often a culmination of sorts for younger Panther classes, who interact with and are exposed to the Seniors and their college selection process throughout the year.
“Every year, younger Panthers have fun looking at the college pennants displayed on the Lower School bulletin board, usually around the decision deadline of May 1. Sometimes they recognize a college name or the picture of a senior buddy, which can make it exciting and more personal. At other times of year, though, seniors just focus on being in the moment with younger students during events like pairing and CHAMP assemblies, STEM Ed club, or reading buddies. In this way, I suppose they model what it is to be kind “big kids” who care about others, and who ultimately leave MPA to “dream big and do right” beyond our school boundaries.”
You may have graduated with the inaugural Class of 1982, or perhaps you drove off campus less than a year ago, diploma in hand, as a member of the MPA Class of 2024. Whether your graduation took place in the ‘old gym’ or the Nicholson Center, it included a Senior Walk or simply a walk from the dressing room to graduation line, what unites us as 44 graduating classes of Panthers are our shared values and ambitions to “dream big and do right” wherever we find ourselves in life and the world.
Graduation season is here, and another class of Panthers is set to embark upon the world!
