By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
It’s the journey, not the destination, that matters most — and Thursday morning, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South’s Class of 2015 took the next step on the journey toward adulthood as they picked up their diplomas.
The late morning ceremony at the Sun Bank Arena in Trenton got under way as school district officials and school board members entered the arena to the march from the opera “Aida.” They quickly walked up to the stage.
Meanwhile, the seniors — boys in green caps and gowns, and girls in gold ones — waited impatiently for their turn to take their seats on the main floor. Some of the students looked for friends and family seated in the arena.
Once they had settled down, class speaker Namankita Rana reminded her classmates that while “it’s the journey, not the destination” that matters, it’s much easier said than done. Although life sometimes seems to be nothing but a series of destinations — applications for this and forms to fill out for that — “don’t wait to be happy,” she said.
Looking back on the past four years, said class valedictorian Yan (Bill) Huang, “it feels like everything’s gone past so quickly. I expected high school to be this monumental journey that we began as children and finish as adults, but frankly, it doesn’t feel like we’ve become radically new people. It doesn’t feel like we have matured into adults.”
The class valedictorian also told his classmates that while it is “scary” to think that they will be out of high school and taking control of their own lives, they should not forget the friends and memories they made in high school.
“As long as we continue to support one another, we will all find success,” he said.
Success, school board President Anthony Fleres advised the graduating seniors, is something they have to define for themselves. Success is the accomplishment of one’s goals, “but only you can set those goals,” he said. And when the successes come, take the time to enjoy them, he said.
Then, it was time for the moment the seniors had waited for — that walk across the stage to pick up their diplomas. One by one, they walked up the steps, picked up their diploma and walked down another set of steps back to their seats.
When the last senior stepped down onto the main floor after collecting the diploma, a sea of green and gold mortarboard caps filled the air. And West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South’s Class of 2015 was history.
