Comedian Hannibal Burress has expressed interest in coming back to Steinmetz to be a speaker at the 2016 graduation ceremony, an idea conceived by this reporter and senior Ashley Komperda.

After Ashley emailed Mr. Burress on his official email account, he responded on Sept. 10.

“Hey, that’s awesome,” he said. “Thanks for thinking of me. I’m interested in doing it. Keep in touch.”

If all goes well, the commencement speech for the 2016 class of Steinmetz should be very, very funny.

Comedian and Steinmetz alumnus Hannibal Buress responded favorably to seniors’ request that he speak at graduation. “Hey, that’s awesome,” he said. “Thanks for thinking of me. I’m interested in doing it. Keep in touch.”

Who is Hannibal Burress?

He might possibly be the hottest rising star in comedy, and one of Steinmetz’ most famous alumni.

He started his career as a writer on “Saturday Night Live” in the late 2000’s. He is currently the host of his own show on Comedy Central called “Why? With Hannibal Buress,” an observational comedy show mixed up with sketches in the same vein as “The Chappelle Show.”

What put Mr. Buress on the map was his supporting role on the show Broad City, which also airs on Comedy Central, and he had a small, but hilarious role as an oblivious police officer in the hit comedy Neighbors. He has several stand-up specials underneath his belt, and he regularly appears as a guest on late night shows such the Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Conan and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Mr. Buress is 32. He grew up in the Austin neighborhood. After Steinmetz he went to Southern Illinois University.

Chicago Magazine featured Mr. Buress in April 2014 in the story “Is Hannibal Buress the Funniest Man Alive?” 

In the article, Mr. Burress is quoted talking about his school experiences:

 “In grade school, I had a funny group of friends,” he recalls. “In seventh grade, I went to [the Chicago magnet school] Whitney Young. And that’s when I started cutting up. Then I went to high school at Steinmetz [a public school on the Northwest Side].”

Which prompts Buress to ponder this somewhat backward-moving chapter of his life. “My group of friends at Steinmetz were real f___ups. They were real f___ups. They were cutting class, smoking weed, stealing, flipping the desk—a lot of crazy stuff. My last year of high school, I was on the debate team. Even while being a f___up and doing goofy s___, I was still somewhat focused on going to college. I graduated with a 1.9 GPA.”

He pauses. “I think it’s also because I have ADD [attention deficit disorder] that was undiagnosed then. I think that’s all it was.”

“I liked the way she talked about her job and passions discovered throughout her years of high school,” senior  Patrycja Jarzabek said.

Her career in journalism that began with the Star continues today. She works as the Manager of Community Media for Illinois State Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.

Ms. Potasiak told students how she pursued jobs in journalism even as a teenager, eventually working for the Chicago Tribune for many years, mostly in photography.

She encouraged the students in their writing and photography.

“I thought it was awesome how she learned to take pictures,” senior Zuleyma Martinez said. “Her pictures are great.”

Ms. Potasiak urged the students to make a commitment to excellence.

“We can get far, we just have to start here,” junior Shay Sanders said. “She told us to do it now because we can.”

Teresa Potasiak, class of 1978 and Manager of Community Media for Illinois State Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka (with journalism teacher Sharon Schmidt), shared her enthusiasm for Steinmetz, journalism, and creative expression in an upbeat, inspiring presentation.