# Pallas Chou ’23 gives 2023 Senior English Address at Commencement May 21, 2023 - [ News ](/news-categories/news) By Samantha Laine Perfas, via [Harvard Gazette](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/05/class-of-2023-orators-selected-in-campus-wide-competition/) Pallas Chou understands that for some, science can be boring. But in pursuing a concentration in chemical and physical biology, she was struck time and time again by how much science impacts our lives, and how beautiful it can be. She hopes to capture those insights in her oration. “My speech revolves around the idea of enzymes and how they parallel the Harvard experience,” said Chou, who works with the tiny biological catalysts in a University lab. “I just want people to be able to see science in a different lens and find the beauty of it in everyday life.” As a high schooler, the California native began working with enzymes at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, where she genetically engineered fungi to make enzymes that could help produce biofuels. She was struck by how these “small but mighty” macromolecules, which act as catalysts to trigger all kinds of biochemical reactions, affect nearly every aspect of life and are ubiquitous in the human body. They are incredibly diverse, she said, yet they work in harmony with each other. In many ways, enzymes can help us reflect on our own interconnectedness. “At Harvard, we like to accomplish things,” she said. “I want people to have the idea that they’re individually incredible and can accomplish great things … but at the same time, they are fundamentally shaped by the people around them.” Chou credits her professors and classmates with helping her get to graduation day. But she also believes that her family, especially her younger brother, informed her academic career and trajectory in big ways. The high schooler’s passion for robotics prompted Chou to take an engineering course. His explanation of various concepts gave her a new perspective that allowed her to integrate her passion for science with engineering. After graduation, she’ll return to sunny California to pursue a Ph.D. in chemical and systems biology at Stanford University. But even as she prepares to leave Cambridge — and its unpredictable weather — she knows she won’t really be leaving everything behind. “I’m really grateful for the relationships I was able to build,” she said. “I’ve grown so much and have had wonderful people that have been in my life. And I really just hope to continue to be connected with them as I leave Harvard.” *Senior English Address* I love enzymes. Tiny molecular machines, too small to be seen by the naked eye, they’re in each of our cells, performing important life functions like helping us breathe and allowing us to eat and digest yummy foods, like the warm Taiwanese beef noodle soup my mother makes, *niuroumian*, and the creamy New England Chowder my friends and I savor on Friday nights in the d-hall. Enzymes perform these functions by bringing together different molecules in the cell, causing these molecules to interact with each other. As a chemical and physical biology student, I spend a lot of time working with enzymes in the lab. There are so many different types of enzymes, each one with a different shape, color, and size and all serving different purposes that allow our bodies to function. When I first walked into Harvard Yard, I could never have imagined all the amazing people I would meet, hailing from Greece to Rwanda to Yemen to my hometown in California. Together, we would have late-night conversations and play “truth or truth,” learning about each other’s aspirations and grilling each other about romantic interests. My perspectives on different issues in the world have widened because of these incredible people from all over the world. When you zoom into an enzyme, you’ll see that it has a unique structure that allows it to perform its function. The different creases and folds of an enzyme allow it to do what it does. For instance, a gap in the enzyme might be where a molecule fits and an extending branch of the enzyme might be where it grabs a molecule. Each crease, each fold, each loop, each bump, makes an enzyme perform really fascinating functions. The structure of the enzyme is partly determined by the DNA that encodes it. Similarly, our individual characteristics are partly determined by the families we come from. My family, my DNA, has indeed shaped my upbringing. From teaching me that nothing is too small for me to be passionate about and that the library cards are the key to life, my family has formed a solid foundation of who I am. However, an enzyme’s structure is not only determined by the DNA that encodes it. Other enzymes in the cell, as well as the surrounding environment, help shape the enzyme. From our first year to now, we have been together through ups and downs, shaping each other. We’ve scrambled for boxes, toilet paper, and mute buttons as the world was shutting down in 2020. We’ve lived through a pandemic that has reconstructed our perception of what education can be. We’ve comforted each other as we grieved the loss of loved ones. We’ve met inspiring professors who help us grow and classmates who are musicians, magicians, and mountaineers who never fail to encourage us. For many of us, it was a long journey to get here, to be sitting here today in the theater. And, today, we will celebrate. Enzymes, although small, make reactions that are impossible, possible. By making possible the challenging intricacies of life, enzymes teach us that the boundaries of our abilities are limitless when we are shaped by those who care for us. Do not underestimate what we can collectively accomplish. Just as enzymes bring molecules together to catalyze chemical reactions, I have seen so many of you bring people together to catalyze change. As we leave Harvard, we will continue to shape and be shaped by the world around us, serving as enzymes of Veritas. 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