A Senior Reflects on CA Friendships

“Today I want to talk about something that seems simple, but can change a lot: talking to each other.”

That’s how Colorado Academy Senior Adam Marwan kicked off his 2025 Senior Speech—an unassuming setup for a story that would resonate deeply for many of the nearly 500 Upper School students and teachers gathered in the Leach Center for the Performing Arts on October 23 for their Town Hall.

Marwan continued, “Each person carries with them an entire story, dreams, and moments that we’ve never seen. I learned this on the bus ride back from the Junior Retreat last year.”

He went on to recount the journey that sparked a surprising friendship with a classmate, Layne Ballenger, someone he’d barely spoken to in all their years together at CA. The two happened to be sitting near each other as they returned from an overnight at Rocky Mountain National Park, where every year CA Juniors spend time bonding in the outdoors.

All their friends were checking their phones as the bus headed back to CA—scrolling the texts and updates they’d missed while away—but Marwan and Ballenger both discovered their phones had died. Naturally, they struck up a conversation.

“We were practically the only people on the bus who were talking to each other at first,” recalls Ballenger. “But as they overheard bits and pieces of our conversation, others started to chime in.”

In his Senior Speech, Marwan explained, “I’d gone to school with Layne for five years. And yet, on that two-hour bus ride, I learned more about her than I had in all that time—her family, her hobbies, the weirdest things about her, what makes her laugh, and all the random stuff that makes her the person she is.”

One fun fact about Ballenger, he says: “Layne has a Ninth Grade sister whom I texted once by mistake.”

Adds Ballenger: “I learned that Adam actually wrote a book.”

“By the end of the bus ride,” Marwan went on to tell his audience, “we weren’t just classmates anymore. We were friends, and we continue to talk to this day. That two-hour long conversation stretched beyond the Junior Retreat and continued throughout the rest of high school. It changed how I saw people.”

“There are stories to be shared in every one of us,” he recounted, “so I decided to talk to someone new every day if I could. And what I’ve discovered since then is incredible: Some students in this theater are getting their research published in science journals. Some are fluent in languages I’ve never heard of. Some have lived in places that I’ve never been to, and others probably haven’t either. Some are incredible artists, engineers, musicians; some even run their own non-profit businesses, making a real impact on the world.”

Marwan continued, “And here’s what’s magical: The world changes when we start to listen. You start seeing talents, quirks, and passions that otherwise you would have missed. You see the effort behind the success, the story behind the smile, and the heart behind the achievements. Every small conversation is a chance to connect and understand and grow.”

Now in their Senior year, Ballenger and Marwan have continued to expand their circle of friendships. 

“Especially because it’s Senior year,” says Ballenger, “I am trying to connect with as many people as I can. I think there’s a little anxiety that everyone feels when they realize it’s their last year and they still haven’t met everyone in their class. So I’m trying to rectify that.”

Adds Marwan, “I’m part of a lot of things already, but I’ve really enjoyed getting to know people outside of those groups just by asking random questions.”

Ballenger explains, “I love how small CA is—sometimes I feel like I could name everybody in my grade and a fun fact about them, too.”

“We’re able to get to know the people around us and actually know them,” Marwan says.

At the end of his Senior Speech, he issued a challenge to his fellow Upper Schoolers: “Talk to each other. Stop relying on screens to connect. Ask questions, share stories, laugh, maybe even disagree—because every conversation has the power to surprise you, challenge you, and sometimes change your life. Who knows? Your next conversation might be the one that turns a stranger into a friend, or a fleeting moment into a memory. So put down your phones just for a moment, open your ears, open your minds, and open your hearts. You never know what world is waiting for you in the person sitting right next to you.”

“Honestly,” Marwan concluded, “that’s the kind of magic we’ve been surrounded by here, and we’ve barely scratched the surface. In the end, we’re all stories waiting to be told.”