A Commitment to Excellence: Students Inducted into Cum Laude Society

KO welcomed 20 students into the Cum Laude Society, an honor that represents not only academic excellence but sustained dedication, intellectual curiosity, and perseverance.

Induction into Cum Laude is among the highest academic distinctions a student can achieve. It is not the result of a single test or moment, but the culmination of years of disciplined effort, late nights, challenging courses, thoughtful discussions, and a consistent choice to show up and do the work. As keynote speaker, senior software engineer at Google, and former Cum Laude inductee, Keenan Line ’14 said, “Reaching this level is not an accident. It was a choice made over and over again.”

Line’s journey since graduating reflects both the spirit of KO and the evolving paths of today’s graduates. A standout student during her time on campus, balancing advanced coursework with athletics and leadership, Line returned to speak candidly about her experiences beyond KO. Her message was both reassuring and inspiring. Success, she explained, is rarely a straight line.“Your degree is a starting point, not a life sentence,” she told students, encouraging them to embrace change and remain open to unexpected opportunities.

Line shared how her own path, from biomedical engineering to software engineering and artificial intelligence, was shaped not by a rigid plan, but by curiosity, adaptability, and the willingness to pivot. “My path involved a fair amount of trial and error and a few realizations,” she said, I didn’t see coming when I was. 18…Lesson one, expect to pivot.

Along the way, she emphasized a lesson that resonated deeply with the audience: the importance of communication. She shared that while she was at Google, a brilliant engineer colleague gave a presentation that left the room blank, with no outcome or decision made. “That experience changed how I think about my job,” she said. “I realized being the person who could translate, who could stand between the technical world and the human world, was not a soft skill. It was the skill. See communication as the bridge that allows your hard skills to actually reach people.” 

She also addressed the rapidly changing landscape students are entering, particularly with the rise of artificial intelligence. Rather than fearing it, she urged students to engage with it thoughtfully, using it as a tool to deepen their thinking rather than replace it.

Perhaps most memorable was her reflection on something many high-achieving students know well: the constant drive toward the next goal. She challenged inductees to pause. “Celebrate this moment,” she said. “This is a mountain you just climbed. Stay on the peak for a minute before you start looking for the next one.” It was a fitting reminder on a night dedicated not just to achievement, but to appreciation.

She shared that behind every Cum Laude inductee is a network of teachers who push, guide, and inspire. “Teachers at KO are a different breed,” she said, “They aren’t just here to deliver a curriculum; they’re here to build humans. The ones who taught you to be multidimensional, not just test takers, but problem solvers.”

Academic achievement is not an endpoint; it is part of a larger journey. And for these 20 students, that journey is just beginning.

Below are this year’s inductees:

Ishaan Bafna

Hannah Bateson

Avan Bonsignore

Jordan Cipriano

Dorian Ciscel

Ronan Culligan

Miles Gruber

Leo Kollen

Charles Levin

Corey Nguyen

William Parkhouse

Alexandre Picard

Gabrielle Post

Rishab Premish

Kathleen Reale

Teague Shamleffer

Arthur Tittmann

Samit Virmani

Yuhan “Helen” Wang

Xinyuan “Carmel” Zhang