BEVERLY HILLS – On June 8, 2026, I had the privilege of returning to my alma mater, Los Angeles High School, as the keynote speaker for its graduation ceremony at the historic Saban Theatre on Wilshire Boulevard. As I stood before the graduating Class of 2026, I found myself reflecting on a journey that began many years ago in the classrooms of Los Angeles High School and eventually led me to UCLA, USC, Harvard Medical School for postdoctoral training, and later to Bahrain as a Fulbright Fellow at Arabian Gulf University, School of Medicine. Today, as a professor of family medicine and public health, I have had the opportunity to teach, conduct research, and work with students and colleagues around the world. Yet on that evening, standing before those graduates, I was reminded that some of life’s most important lessons are learned long before we enter a university or begin a professional career.

As I looked out at the graduates, my thoughts returned to the young student I once was. Every morning, I boarded Metro Bus 217 at Hollywood Boulevard and traveled across the city to attend Los Angeles High School. Looking back, I realize that the bus ride itself was an education. Students from different cultures, religions, languages, and family histories came together each day carrying stories of sacrifice, migration, hardship, and hope. Every student occupied a seat, but each seat contained an entire world. Long before I understood concepts such as diversity, inclusion, or multiculturalism, I witnessed them firsthand in the hallways and classrooms of LA High. It was there that I learned one of the most enduring lessons of my life: the world becomes one when people are willing to learn from one another.

Los Angeles High School was not simply a school. It was humanity gathered in one place. It was a living example of the American dream, where students from vastly different backgrounds shared the same classrooms, studied the same books, and imagined futures that stretched far beyond the limits of their immediate circumstances. Sitting among those students, I dreamed of higher education, of traveling the world, and of making a difference in people’s lives. What I did not realize at the time was that the neighborhood surrounding my school was teaching its own lessons. As a student, I was equally inspired by seeing Jewish families entering synagogues, Muslims gathering at mosques, and Christians attending churches. Watching people devote time to worship and community taught me an important lesson:........

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