Poojan Patel of Hampton Graduates from Pomfret School as Diplomas and Awards are Presented at 121st Commencement

2015 Jun 1

With faculty, students, family and friends looking on, the 111 members of the class of 2015 were honored on Sunday, May 24, at Pomfret School's 121st Commencement. Marna Parke Borgstrom, president and CEO of Yale-New Haven Hospital and New Haven Health Systems, gave the Commencement address, urging students to remain "authentic."

Poojan Patel of Hampton was among the 111 seniors who received their diplomas from Head of School Tim Richards and Board Chair Charles Wilmerding. Poojan was also among the twelve seniors inducted into Pomfret's Cum Laude Society, which counts not only high academic standing but also students who demonstrate "character, honor and integrity in all aspects of school life."

Borgstrom, who received her BS from Stanford University in 1976 and her Master's in Public Health from Yale in 1979, gave the 111 graduates her own recipe for success: authenticity. Go out into the world and be yourself, she said. Embrace "the people who live their values, and who are who they are because of their many different experiences. They are the people who have your back. They are the 'authentics,' " Borgstrom added, "who will probably be a part of your life forever."