By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Childhood’s end came on a warm summer evening for the Montgomery High School Class of 2017, as the seniors came together as a class one last time Wednesday night.
The school district administration, led by Superintendent of Schools Nancy Gartenberg, filed into the high school gym, followed by the faculty.
The seniors followed in quick succession, two by two, as the flashes from cameras and smartphones fired off in lightning bug-like fashion.
Clad in green gowns, some students searched the bleachers for signs of family or friends, and waved their hands wildly when they found someone.
Once the seniors were seated in the rows of folding chairs in the middle of the gym, senior class president Emily Ren welcomed them.
In preparing her classmates for what comes next, Emily agreed with them that they are graduating – but what they were graduating into is a period of uncertainty.
While high school is linear – students progress from 9th grade to 10th grade to 11th grade and finally to 12th grade – the real world does not operate so neatly, Emily said. They can take everything they have learned thus far and throw it up in the air.
There are some things they will have to figure out for themselves, starting with the knowledge that everyone has to fight their own battles and find their place in the world, she said.
Sometimes, they may feel that they have no singular purpose in life, Emily said. But the flipside is that they get to decide and create their own meaning of life.
Risk is necessary, she said. Her classmates must accept that in every choice, there is a degree of uncertainty.
That uncertainty was something that class salutatorian Injee Hong felt when her family moved to Montgomery from Louisiana four years ago. Injee said she was not accustomed to being the new kid in school, but she made new friends.
There is one important lesson – everyone is going to be venturing out into the unknown, Injee said. No one knows what to expect, she said, and it can be scary.
Taking the podium for a few minutes, Montgomery High School Principal Paul Popadiuk told the seniors that they had left their mark on the school. He said he enjoyed watching them grow and achieve, but he could not resist offering some advice, too.
Be brave, Popadiuk said. Eliminate self-doubt, because “it is one of the most destructive forces known to man,” he said.
Live in the moment and forget about other things. Put the smartphone down – the scenery never changes if you are only looking down at the screen, Popadiuk said.
And make someone’s day – whether it is offering up a smile, comforting someone when they are hurt, or “being there” when someone wants to talk, he said.
“When you ride the roller coaster of life, remember to be present and to make someone’s day,” Popadiuk said.
Then, one by one, the seniors walked up to the podium and received a handshake and a diploma from school board President Richard Cavalli and Vice President Amy Miller.
After the last senior received a diploma, it was time to turn the tassel on their mortarboards – and to turn the tassel on life as they joined the long line of Montgomery High School alumni.
