Meet Willowbrook’s class of 2026 graduation speaker

Can’t make it in person to Willowbrook's 67th commencement ceremony on May 17? No problem! The graduation will be streamed live at 1 p.m. (CST) online at www.dupage88.net/wbgrad. 

On May 17, Willowbrook senior Salman Siddiqi (pictured above) will address his classmates (more than 420 students) as the student graduation speaker during Willowbrook’s 67th commencement ceremony.

Siddiqi was selected to represent the class of 2026 based on his academic accomplishments.

To read more about Siddiqi – including an inside look into his commencement speech – see the write-up below.

  1. Title of your speech: “Still in Motion”

  2. Summary of your speech: Navigating through high school and trying to do it all, while learning that balance is not a goal - it is a process – and how I learned this through my own struggles and mistakes.

  3. Lessons/advice you hope to share with your peers through your speech: Dream big, fail a lot and don't be scared to try and go out of the norm. Make sure you give yourself leeway to fail, and learn from these failures; knowing that within all of us, there is a light and a spark that is waiting to be ignited.

  4. What does it mean to you to be a speaker during the commencement ceremony and to represent your class? I think it means to inspire my class, but also be the face of a generation that is entering a new world, so that everyone – family, peers and teachers – can go from feeling anxious to confident in their abilities to succeed.

  5. Involvement at Willowbrook: I currently am the President for MEDline (which focuses on helping students explore the medical field) and DECA (which prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management). I also play on the Boys Tennis Team and competed on the Science Olympiad and Math teams at Willowbrook.

  6. How Willowbrook has supported you: Willowbrook provided me with amazing mentors, especially science teacher Sara Phillips, and they’ve been my supporters from day one. I’ve been able to get amazing letters of recommendation from them, and I believe their encouragement and ability to inspire is the only reason I’ve come this far. The classes here are all taught wonderfully, and I’m proud to walk in these halls knowing I’m surrounded by such wonderful peers and educators alike.

  7. Your future plans: I plan to pursue a degree in Computational Biology at Stanford University.

Siddiqi also was named as Willowbrook’s August 2025 recipient of 88’s Best recognition for his outstanding academic accomplishments. See that presentation at https://www.dupage88.net/site/page/16993.