MEDORA — Although she didn’t join the class until her senior year, there were still plenty of memories to be made this past year.
“And these are the memories we need to hold onto,” Valedictorian Savannah Brewer said Friday night during the school’s 126th commencement in the gymnasium.
“One of my favorites is when our class took our senior pictures,” she said. “At the end of our photo shoot, we were given blue powder to throw in the air. As you can imagine, we made a huge mess. Everyone was covered from head to toe.”
The class then went out to eat at a local restaurant and received all kinds of looks, said Brewer, who transferred to Medora from Brownstown Central a year ago.
“But nobody cared,” Brewer said. “We all had a lot of fun that day. It is the memories like this that are important. The memories we made in high school together will last a lifetime.”
On a more serious note, Brewer said when they were young, everybody knew what they wanted to be when they grew up.
“We responded with teachers, nurses or firefighters,” she said. “Now being asked this question as we are about to graduate, I’m not sure. Standing up here, I want you guys to know it’s OK if you don’t know what you want to do next. Life doesn’t have to be done in a certain order. We have made it through this chapter.”
Brewer reminded them of an F. Scott Fitzgerald quote: “For what it’s worth … it’s never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit. Start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you’ve never felt before. I hope you meet people who have a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start over again.”
She said it’s now time to take the memories and the lessons her classmates learned in school and use them in their lives to do amazing things.
During her address, Salutatorian Alyssa Caudill said one quote in particular has impacted her life, and she is sure many can relate to it.
That quote reads “I never dreamed for success. I worked for it.”
“No matter how big your dream may be, the more effort, work and perseverance you put into something, you will be able to have what you like out of it,” Caudill said.
She reminded her classmates they have conquered many different rough paths in their journey to graduation.
“But this day will be the most special day, and we will be able to say we were able to walk for our diploma and cherish this moment,” she said. “No matter what happens when you leave here with your diploma today, I hope you will remember this class will always have a special kind of love for each other and every one of you. But after today, high school will officially be a memory we will reminisce about with a smile.”
Shortly before handing out the diplomas to the class, which also includes Brice Albertson, Jarey Babcock, Michael Russell, Victoria Murphin, Zara Carroll and Abigail Johnson, school board President Joe Campbell spoke briefly.
“We have a good school,” he said. “We have a real good staff of teachers. I want to congratulate the teachers on a job well done. I’ll put this school up against any school that’s going around as far education. You, the public and the people of Carr Township, make this possible, and we need to continue to do that.”
Superintendent Roger Bane then accepted the class from Principal Austin Skutnik before the distribution of the diplomas and turning of the tassel ceremony led by Caudill.