thank you for that wonderful round of applause good afternoon Boston High School students i have the incredible honor of introducing two incredible people who are here to talk with us this afternoon
the first is the mayor of our green city dressed in a Latin purple today who as you all know has represented our city uh throughout the country over these last couple weeks in a way that we can all be proud of we're thrilled to have you here David and the second
person is a uh person who sat in your chair not that long ago a graduate of Boston Latin School 2013 classmates of Miss Kelly with Miss Kelly and uh just one of the most
incredible stars right now in the world Miss Ile [Applause] and hear some speech i'm going to have to take a seat in the microphone and get started this year one more [Music]
[Applause] time on Hi everyone thanks for coming okay so just a sense of who's in the room how many are about to graduate soon
[Applause] all right juniors okay 10th graders any [Applause] freshman you know that cat has here i am
so incredibly excited for this moment and so honored to be here with IO um I am told that this is Io's first time back since walking out the doors of the school so how does it feel can you tell us just a little bit of you know we have
a sense of who you are now emmy award-winning Golden Globe award-winning actress comedian writer producer how would you have described yourself when you were sitting in this auditorium what did you think where would you where did you think you'd be a decade from
then i my 60y year had a rolling backpack so right okay so that's a lot's changed um it gets better um yeah this is very very
surreal i sort of envy you guys getting out of class for this um yeah i I was very I don't know i also like I have teachers here and there's somebody I went to school with who might be here i don't know but so I'm like
they might be a better judge but I I was I had a rolling backpack here and I can't help but ask um did you get the speech when you were a Stacey here look to the left look to the right yes
yes i was there i was there in the pink i was there yeah I was there but the Oh no actually yeah it did come true actually it might become true but but
um it was it's very surreal to be in here yeah i've done a lot of winter concerts a lot of random show things how would you say that Latin school
shaped who you've become since then what are kind of the most um impactful things that you spent your time on while you were here oh man um I will say that the people who I consider my closest friends um I went to Aladdin with like and are
still in my life and I hope will be in my life forever um it's such a specific experience going to this school all the seniors are sort of nodding their heads um and I feel
like the like there's a there's like a rigor that I have I think and um a a level of care that I think that I have that would not be possible without
having gone to this school i think it really shapes you and molds you and there's so many people also who were completely different walks of life than where I was from um I'm from Chester and
House um yeah I'm from Dorchester and I also grew up my parents were both immigrants my mom's from Barbados my dad's Nigeria so like while there was multiculturalism in my house and my background it also
was you know in many ways very insular and coming into your school I just I I was like oh I didn't have friends from any other you know neighborhoods of Boston and have friends of different religious backgrounds and different not that many different ethnic backgrounds
um you know and so on and so forth and so I feel like I also by the time I was ready to go to college I felt like ready to meet the world in a way that when then I was having class with people who maybe they had been to very fancy big
name prep schools their whole life and that was the only world that they knew i felt like in a way like I had more of an advantage than them um and sometimes I still I still feel that way yeah I love it you can clap
i'm like there's like other parts of your question I didn't even answer um I did improv here like from like 8th grade till Yeah Miss Bell earlier what's up um and that all like also some of my best
friends still are I met doing improv here and um that like changed my life i think 60 year rolling backpack aside I was really shy i was really uh not the most confident public speaker things
like even though they are a struggle like declamation I'm sorry it like that's doing declaration for Miss McDonald um I did uh everyone's going to get called out now that's that changed
my life for real uh that I remember specifically that declamation i did uh a section of uh Mark Anthony speech from Julius Caesar or pardon me but I'm me and gentle with these
butchers i still remember it uh guys I'm almost clarity and I still remember it um but I remember that performance specifically like I was so nervous I was shaking and I remember like I just had to look into Miss McDonald's eyes cuz I
was like if I don't I might pass out but then I did it i made it to the end and then she was like "That was really good." Um and I was like "Oh huh maybe something maybe something's here." So like I think also this school taught me
to face challenges and face things that might seem really difficult and really daunting um I was really bad at math i chose a job that I don't have to do math
at um but then I had teachers one is here who would sit with me after school until I learned a problem and uh I don't do much math these days but I think there are a lot of things that you know I sit with until I understand them um
and I try to I don't know look at a whole challenge a whole problem a whole situation that's facing me i think that's definitely something that's benefited me in my work life but also in my personal life too I think
so I know um there are questions from the honest I I have two more quick ones um and then I want to make sure we are you just asking me questions i'm not usually I get asked questions so I'm happy I get like I'm like you're the mayor um
kind of a big deal this woman changing the country for better so what does it mean to you to be a product of the Boston public schools and what should we who are thinking about how to keep growing that experience of
what it means to define what BPS represents to young people today like how do you think we should be thinking about that i mean that's Oh I I don't know i definitely am incredibly proud to be a product of public schools and to be
a product of public services that work um point blank period and I think I try to shout that out i I I think often like some or not often but I just I did an interview where she was like "And you're
like also like a suburban prep school girly." And I was like "No no no i'm from public schools." like pre um and I think I'm also from from a system that was funded like that that works you public services work when when
you put into them you get good output and I think yeah I have accolades and this and that and the other but also it's like I have friends who are teachers friends who are are teachers who give back um there's classmates who
give back to this school because it you know it made us who we are um and I try to I don't know shout that as much as possible um and I think no pressure to you guys like I just vividly remember
sitting in these seats and you see all these names and all these pictures of beautiful dead and white people and And it felt so far away you know it felt
kind of like impossible and now my life might be in a place where I have certain accolades and influence and reach but I really do believe like no matter what pocket of the world you're in no matter
what you do like how you interact with people how you show care how you show the that you've learned things you've influenced like that have influenced you rather like it really matters you know like you you're going to you're going to
better the world big or small just by being yourself trying to share the things that you've learned the good that's been put into you just try to do that for other people like even if it's something as small as like lending somebody a pencil even though they're annoying you you know what I mean
the Oh I saw somebody look at somebody to their right but but but do it you know um so I don't know if that's the most eloquent answer to your question but it's it's the one that I have thank you okay last question for me you know
the world is in a little bit of a moment right now and there's a lot of need and hope I think for communities to step up and be an example of what is still possible even when everything feels like it's pressing down so hard uh what is
being from Boston mean to you right now and um you know there's I see little references the Bear is very much a Chicago show etc etc but there's little references to Boston here and there and how do you uh show your Boston pride
these days these days I mean I have felt very proud to be for Boston when I've seen you speak to be completely honest um that's where I felt the most pride and where I've also just seen people
showing up for each other um and being really loud about that i think in moments of maybe stress is the word I'll use um
um or chaos or confusion or whatever it can feel like the easier thing to be quiet and it can feel like the easier thing to maybe go with the flow um but I also just like what are all these like
you know these moments of history learn about history learning about the humanities learning about the past not now um and you guys have maybe slightly more pressing issues just even as far as like what is happening with a
cystic pimple on your forehead but um I think like just having each other's you know and like caring about I don't know i don't look to the left of you and look to the right you're probably retired yeah but do you guys know what
that is yeah so I feel like you know like look to the left look to the right of you but like look behind you look in front of you and make sure your circle is covered make sure you have people's backs um and make sure you just like care about the people around you because
that's really all that matters um yeah let's take some questions from the audience [Applause] all right I know there's lots of
questions for everyone beside behind Rowan please have a seat sorry guys we're going to have time for questions we got them all lined up sorry guys okay wait hold on the mic's not working so we might have to reject so okay um you were talking a lot in
your answers about the importance of public service and specifically how like you feel about the importance of public service in public schools and I was just wondering how you think that intersects with your art or if there's anything you want to do with public service and your art intersecting like the fair show very much about food service stuff like that
if you seek that out projects or you want to make a project about that yeah I my my I feel like I'm always trying to walk the line this is like my real answer i'm trying to walk the line between being a public figure and like
being a I don't know somebody in that sense because I do think like I'm like I'm not an activist or I'm not like [Music] um I know what I know i I have I have a bachelor's in fine arts um but like I do
think it's important when you have any sort of influence or reach even if it's just shine a light at people who I think might be saying something worthwhile definitely more eloquently and intelligently and um even if it means
like I'm going to share one of Mary's speeches on my Instagram stories like um I don't know if that's public I don't think that's public service but I mean but that I can share a light to people who are but I
think when I'm thinking of stuff that I want to do and continue to I think like the thread for me is just like humanity that feels like an interesting human story maybe that's something more I don't know
intimate like it feels like it's everyday maybe it's something like crazy like the bear you know but that also when we were making it especially it felt very specific and we weren't sure if anybody was going to understand it and the fact that people did watch it and were like "Oh maybe I should be
kinder to my servers was um was pretty was a pretty cool uh side effect." Um so I think yeah I think I think about it because I'm somebody who's often thinking about these sorts of things
just because that's how I am but first and foremost it's just like does does the story make me excited and if it does and it interests me and keep going from there [Music]
um as somebody involved in the arts at BLS uh and hope going to a career in it what would you say the transferable skill from our arts department into your career as an artist has been oh man i
think I for me I was like when I did I mean I did improv and football band i was in regular band i was like I was saying I was in fest so I felt like I
had you know those like Tik Toks that are like come and watch my five my five to9 my 9 to5 that's how I felt at school um I was like all in um and so I think that in a weird way like that word epic
I think has served me very well and um I don't know if you are familiar with like the movie I did Bottoms and my friend Rachel Sen rachel is somebody who me and her I
remember were like "Oh we're the Oh we're crazy." Because we're going to meet each other immediately after class go to open mics go to improv we'll hit four or five open mics a night we'll go back to her dorm and we'll talk about
our sets like I think even just at this school like there's a sense of um you can't do anything halfway you know like you can't you teachers will know probably because half of them have been here already and they did it
halfway um and so like you have to do things all out um but sometimes that's the best way you know um but also I will say a transferable skill there are some declamations that I have crammed the night before there are some there are
some tests I have studied for as the papers are being put down on the desk and I also feel like that aspect too there's like there's kind of a slickness you have to have about you to survive the school and
that I think has served me very well in a number every day probably it serves me right now as I'm answering this question so thank you So that I was curious what do you think would be your biggest piece of advice for someone looking to join the
entertainment industry and what do you think was the biggest adjustment for you going from school and college performance expectations to professional um okay biggest piece of advice is something I'm going to appropriate from a teacher at NYU
um who told me that being in the entertainment industry is a game of attrition it's not a game of luck or chance or skill even sometimes it's really a matter of attrition um and
being able to stick it out because it can can be a very unpredictable volatile industry um and being able to just set be steadfast [Music]
and be able to stick it out is I think one of the most valuable things you can do and then another thing I'll say is like when you find things that make you excited or that you love just like remember them
and like enjoy them um and don't worry about I don't know other people's taste like they don't have your taste that's what sets you apart um so stick by that and then you asked another question that was what was your biggest
adjustment my biggest adjustment I think was maybe you know I will say that actually a perk of NYU for me personally was that it's a school that's very much in the
city and like we didn't have a campus very much you know there's like buildings that are sort of centralized but you're pretty in and of the city and I realized pretty quickly that people who were
succeeding in whatever however you want to um you know gauge that but they were getting jobs and internships at like like they I don't know how to say they weren't they were just like going for it while we were in school basically um
and I I think that might have been my big adjustment maybe that I had sort of realized that my college experience wasn't going to my college experience wasn't going to be necessarily um what I had imagined it to be it was going to be different and I was going to
have to adapt and I think that once I realized that I was really excited by that and I was really excited to get to try to figure it out with my friends thank you thank you
[Applause] [Music] i have a question after you answer my first question but what was one theater centered event that you felt like was
the thing that pushed you to go into depression that was like the Yeah this is what I'm going to pursue for the rest of my life honestly I I sort of fell into acting a bit later
i think I I wanted to be a writer i mean I am a writer but like that's really what I wanted to do um and when I was working professionally in my TV jobs um if there
there was like one specific job where there was an actor who had a lot of scheduling conflicts and that couldn't make it and I think because of how I was in the room and the fact that I was a performer um I got to basically fill in
for that and then there were casting directors basically who were like "What's your deal why are you why are you doing this um who are you?" Um and so that's actually kind of how that happened um so that's that's my that's my answer
um but I mean like I did improv we did shows all the time and I we were always doing like long form improv and um I I I felt like we were really good like we felt that way um one of my good friends
too is a cook after he writes on like Family Guy so we we've yeah we've all sort of kept at it at different ways some people are writers some people are teachers so I feel like we're all still creating them in different different which is cool but yeah I don't know if there's like one central event as much
as like a weird accumulation of things that have been happening sorry if that's not the issue you wanted i saw you sorry sorry my second question is me just kind of shooting your shot like me and my
other question ask pictures because I do have the LA friends and friends we'll get we'll get you mass i feel I feel it will happen i feel it will happen but taking the mic from you i'm very sorry
okay so to make time for um all those I want to just do a quick wrap up so um I don't know if anyone had part of my job every year oh actually sorry is a thing about to happen wait
first I want to shout out something councelor Sharon Durkin who's also here who represents this district thank you i want to thank so so so much for Galler all the educators here all the administrators everyone who makes this um one of the biggest responsibilities
that I have every year is to give a state of the city speech it's probably our biggest event all year and it's I have to stand for 30 minutes straight talking about all the things we accomplished and all the things we're going to do and basically like a report card back to like declamation on
steroids report card back to the entire community about how Boston is doing and who we are and as part of my state of the city uh which happened a few weeks ago in bragging around things that were happening uh that were meaningful to Boston about who we are I mentioned that
one of our very own um has now added even more accolades so I I gave it Iowa shout out in that and I never very strong and I never could have dreamed that we'd be sitting here now um a little bit later to welcome you back home and to welcome you back home to the
school community it means so much that while you're home just supposed to be relaxing with your family you're taking the time to come here well well you've never relaxed with family so it's good but I also am deeply deeply honored to be here i really think you're doing such
powerful important work and as I know also you've worked for people who I've admired so much but never in my life could I have imagined like a a mayor who's a woman of color like it's just so so beautiful it's really exciting thank you
so we wanted to um mark this special day your first time back to the BLS home with an official proclamation from the city of Boston which goes through your extensive bio and accomplishments lots of pride in IO being a Dorchester native
born and raised in the city of Boston shaped by Boston public schools including the esteemed Boston Latin School the oldest public school in America got to got to have that fun [Applause]
has risen to national and international acclaim as an actor writer comedian voice artist producer and her standout performances most notably Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning role on The Bear and impactful writing and voice work on the groundbreaking series Big
Mouth have earned prestigious honors and widespread recognition across the entertainment industry so uh therefore I Michelle Wu mayor of the city of Boston do hereby proclaim April 10th 2025 to be
IO and every day in the city of Boston [Applause] that's cool oh man stay where you are maybe I can stand somewhere
oh my go You guys go right there and I'll see what No it's right here