Edison High School Commencement 2021

back is [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] one two two two check one two one two what's up [Music] is one two three literally when you do it um mr brown is it possible after all this to go into the choir room because i left like some stuff in there thank you um feels like oh [Music] my so [Music] so [Music] [Applause] you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hmm [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hmm [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hmm [Music] [Applause] [Music] good evening everyone welcome to the 62nd commencement of edison high school the mighty mighty class of 2021 [Applause] [Music] at this time any of the chamber singers could report to the mr brown at the front any of the chamber singers that are going to be singing quickly report to mr brown if everyone could also please rise [Music] now zarya fogle official announcer of ehs will lead us in the pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all for the last time class of 2021 the skies limit fly high eagles [Applause] please remain standing for our national anthem [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] in was still there [Applause] oh [Applause] [Music] home thank you please be seated thank you everyone for joining us thank you everyone for joining us on this occasion i'd like to give special thanks take two i'd like to give special thanks to the band for performing our processional and recessional today and uh before i begin to give some more thanks i'd like us all to just have a moment of silence for all those that we've lost this year and those that are still suffering from sickness and violence thank you i need to give thanks to mr dr bragan our superintendent coming back to the place where he graduated on this very field approximately 15 years ago dr bragan am i about right everybody knows mr sandel can give me the correct number i'd like to thank miss polikowski our director of secondary education chief academic officer i'd like to thank the members of the board of education i'd like to thank miss cindy defaro for coming tonight thank you so much my custodians and grounds the setup crew mr jaworski and montez productions with the sounds my administrative team the number one team in new jersey my faculty mr piccolo the senior advisor all of the parents for trusting us with their most valuable assets and for all of you students for believing in what we do here at edison high school you know everybody wants a happy ending but it doesn't always roll that way maybe this time i thought it was perfect that our graduation got postponed a day not because we had to wait but because there was rain and downpour and it was cloudy and overcast and we said no hold on better things are coming just wait a little bit if we keep our heads together and we keep focused on the prize better things will come and today has to be one of the most beautiful days of the year and not just because we're spending it with you guys i hope when you guys play this graduation live stream back it's in celebration i hope all of our families we can stay united we can keep joining together in these celebrations something like a normal version of the planet can be restored if there ever was such a thing what a class graduates now if you guys told me four years ago that almost half your career would be a remote or hybrid that we'd be quarantined to this extent would mask six feet three feet of social distance but yet still the mighty mighty class of 21 would rise and have a senior year to remember a senior sunset championships that never happened before a digital best in the nest and an outdoor prom that our eagles would always find ways to have their student voice heard over all of these digital platforms i mean i wouldn't have been surprised but there's epic forces that play here and for better or worse this reality is the eagles you guys are going to find a way to continue growing up in so i figure i'd give this speech pretty quick just to make sure that the weather holds off and speeches are usually very good brief this is the future that you guys are going to put together and i'm not even scared at all about the feasibility of this because making miracles happen is the eagle gig that's what you guys do and part of this journey is the end but your next journey's just begun everything is going to work out exactly the way it's supposed to just like it did today because you will make it so thank you for being what's great about edison high i love you 2021. at this time it gives me great pride to introduce the valedictorian for the class of 2021 mr evan keaton who is going to rutgers to study mathematics and dance [Applause] to my parents my friends my teachers and the administration and especially to sacath abigail and mrs frey who helped me write this speech thank you for being here today and for all that you've done leading up to today i am deeply grateful to everyone who has helped me become the person that i am today but my gratitude does not end there for our lives are full of gifts from simple gifts like food friendship and family to larger blessings like terrific teachers an excellent education and the marked maturity we've nurtured over the past four years to the greatest graces of all our lives our health and our happiness we have much for which we owe our gratitude among these many gifts one that particularly deserves recognition is the gift of art like my stem peers i have gained invaluable experience in topics ranging from differential calculus to world history to basic relativity but today i'd like to recognize the under-appreciated importance of our school's thriving arts community the field that ties these disparate areas together too often this community fades into the background at edison high school for instance until the pandemic hit i failed to fully appreciate the murals that decorate our walls i saw them every day so they too soon faded into anonymity however during recent visits to the school they've practically leapt off the walls of me their hollow absence having illuminated their remarkable presence their body of ideas captures a broad spectrum among the vast hallways you will find works ranging from a forest at sunset to a portrait of loneliness to avengers fan art to a decaying statue of liberty championing the value of freedom and countless others too varied to name here they are the voices of eagles past and present who have now taken flight in the adult world but from the chaos of these disparate voices emerge as a unanimous society a rainbow of culture reflected in these works we are all in a way artists even if we do not produce fine arts by definition for we are contributors to this rainbow of culture no one sees this artistry more than teachers who dedicate their lives to the most challenging art of all shaping a willful bundle of energy and passion into the perfectly balanced yet ever-evolving mixture of ideas and emotions and values and beliefs that is an individual human being each of us is unique our identities are individual notes clashing and harmonizing with each other in waves of tension and resolution expectation and release together we form a symphony future parents future teachers future singers and dancers future writers future mathematicians future accountants and politicians and bankers future cooks future lawyers future people all coming together to make this raging storm that we call society the symphony grows within me one quote arises to summarize it all taken from the novel all the light we cannot see this quote commemorates those who died in the second world war with the following lines we rise again in the grass in the flowers in songs it is a reminder that like the contents of this quote we are beautiful simply because we exist art exists for the sake of beauty so why should we be any different i believe that our purpose in life is to live for who we are [Music] this philosophy life for the sake of living is the basis of human greatness when we come alive we have the wisdom to understand ourselves the knowledge to implement this understanding the courage to use that knowledge and the dedication to turn this courage into a rewarding life's work living with dedication courage knowledge and understanding leads to the discovery of the best versions of oneself one's magnum opus over which they toil until their dying day and for this fact i offer my gratitude knowing that the art in my life enables me to live in harmony with this ideal i implore you all to do the same for it is time to soar thank you [Applause] it is now my pleasure to introduce the salutatorian for the class of 2021 aaron marielle go erin is going to rutgers to study nursing good evening to the class of 2021 and everyone who has helped us on our journey of challenges and growth thank you to our teachers counselors coaches and administrators for this gift of an education and your unwavering faith in us throughout this 12 year journey thank you to our friends for the stomach clenching laughs and the teary eyed late night face time calls thank you to our families for dealing with our sleepless nights and cranky mornings and the last minute runs to target or hobby lobby for our school projects i'd also like to personally thank my siblings lal and g for being my rock and my favorite therapist and my parents for sacrificing home and comfort to take the world and hold it within reach so that my siblings and i may someday hold it in our hands twelve years ago in my six-year-old mind fresh off the plane in wonder of the world and reading picture books while i envied my classmates who were reading chapter books on the classroom rug i would have never dreamt that i'd be standing on the stage before you tonight holding this honor looking back at our elementary selves school selves who i don't know about you but i only ever looked forward to club penguin after school and fun and field days at the end of the year and had big dreams of being a singer a spy a horse even i would say that our six-year-old selves are proud of us and how far we've come especially these past four years i remember my first time in the auditorium it was the fall athletes meeting i sat stick straight terrified of the booming voice that commended that the commanded the attention of the room reciting the four r's he had told us that these four years would go by quickly i didn't believe him holding back tears at the end of my senior night for soccer i looked back on my four years the awkward freshman year the depressing sophomore year the interesting junior year the unreal senior year or at least what had been the start of it i wondered where the time went despite how short our high school experience feels now we've undergone lasting growth that has transformed us as people for instance when i'm riding shotgun i've made a habit of scouting the best places to u-turn because i've learned that following the gps is apparently not easy for some people i end my calls with i love you and say i'm proud of you often because i've learned that it never hurts to offer these reminders to others i've learned that the balance on my card drops quickly i've learned that driving diagonally through four lanes of traffic to get free krispy kreme is one of the scariest but also the most memorable things you could ever do throughout these four years we've learned not only in the content in our online textbooks but also memories and habits and lessons that will hold on to us and in the future when we dig down to the roots we will find the people that have anchored us to the ground and nurtured these pieces of us but as we take the world into our hands we'll find that there will always be obstacles even though you think we finally had our fair share of this past year we'll find that life will continue to be far from rainbows and butterflies we'll face setbacks we'll face people who will question the positions in which we stand it's inevitable but we shouldn't cave into these doubts no begin questioning ourselves as a result we have all faced our own individual and unique challenges to get to this accomplishment and no one else accepts you truly knows the sleepless nights the breakdowns the ugly that you've endured to stand in the position that you do tonight for you to grow not only in your education but as a person ready to face the world and the whole other set of challenges setbacks and people who will question and doubt you i commend and honor you all for your perseverance and urge you to continue to endure class of 2021 the world is within reach we now all have the opportunity to hold it in our hands and do some good but no matter how far you go nor how high you reach i ask that you continue loving and being kind to yourself i ask that you never forget the people who've made you smile and gasp for air as you laugh and how they've made you feel i hope that high school is not the best time of your life despite the many claims of our parents and teachers that you are happier day by day and find more and more people that just make you light up when you see them or think of them that you stop often and take a moment to look around at the present that you find all the bright places that encourage your growth and all the right places that you're looking for i hope that when you look back five ten fifty years from now you wonder where the time has gone you have found nothing that you would ever change because all these pieces of you nurtured and anchored to the ground have grown to be the successful fulfilled adult that your six-year-old self and now high school self would be proud of congratulations to the class of 2021 edison high's best and strongest class i'm so proud of each and every one of you on this turf tonight and i know you will go far celebrate and i wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors thank you thank you at this time uh chamber singers so that we can have our musical selection the words of which are on the back of your program but chamber singers if you can report to mr brown so [Music] hello [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] so [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] the stars [Music] the stars [Music] [Applause] thank you now this year we've had a number of very experienced and fantastic educators decide to move on to the next journey in their lives kathleen emery a teacher's aide anthony barry a science teacher linda ryan mathematics tom cant leonard special ed but one of the most beloved figures in edison high school someone that i met the first day that i got appointed 11 years ago someone who has touched lives as a teacher for 10 years in brooklyn before he came here is mr kenneth brown he's retiring and leaving us and i think we all need to give him a round of applause worthy of the love that he has shown us [Applause] thank you mr brown and now our superintendent dr bregan [Applause] thank you mr ross first and foremost i want to congratulate our graduates today you have endured something unprecedented in recent memory and yet still you sit before us today about to graduate from this great high school this school year was bereft of many of the traditional activities associated with one senior year and despite this our graduates were actually provided with something something else something different something actually quite extraordinary that's been absent from previous graduating senior classes in order to be seated here today you are 2021 graduating senior class seniors needed to demonstrate an unparalleled degree of resiliency and had to overcome an abrupt end to your traditional junior year when the district went totally remote last march you then needed to learn how to complete all of your coursework to the highest level of academic rigor expected of the edison public schools but now totally remote via a computer screen and you did this successfully thinking it was only going to be temporary and come september you'd have a traditional start of your senior year yet that did not happen either you had a senior year unlike any other in recent history you participated online in person and or some derivation of that throughout this entire year through all of this you persevered you adapted you adjusted you overcame each change and successfully navigated these obstacles to be sitting here today you are to be commended for this and i would be remiss if i did not mention that the requisite resilience and perseverance to success to successfully navigate the coven 19 pandemic and the impact it had on your academic career did not indeed provide you perhaps your most valuable lesson thus far as our town's famous namesake thomas edison is credited with saying genius is one percent inspiration and 99 perspiration remember this and use it as a mantra moving forward work hard don't be afraid to fail take chances accept challenging opportunities especially those which have an unclear outcome i encourage you to do this because it will lead you to a more prosperous life and because you've already demonstrated the resiliency to overcome any obstacle despite all other things resiliency is a skill and a mindset that will never let you down i'm reminded of a story sometime some years ago when i was teaching my then six-year-old daughter how to ice skate as she looked up to me with her scratched face after falling a half dozen times she said to me dad it's not how many times you fall it's how many times you get up right we all fall but we derive our strength from getting up in summation congratulations to all of you never forget the training and the world-class education you received from our district you are ready for whatever awaits you continue to make us proud continue on your path to excellent excellence and always continue to shine bright edison thank you [Applause] at this time mr mohammed battelle our board of education vice president and other members of the board of education i duly certified to you that the class of 2021 has completed all of the local and state requirements to receive the distinction of being graduates of this fine institution ladies and gentlemen the edison high school class of 2021 [Music] [Music] sebastian abreu [Applause] regina acharya gunjin abya william offlervac sophia [Applause] adiola ajiboro [Applause] nicholas almonte amman jeffrey amponza elias ananyatis [Applause] justine anderson [Music] natasha anderson zion andrews arleigh and tiona sohan apollo bakula [Applause] gabriella aravalo zachary argebond pre-aurora madison arudda a rouge arshad wania awesome tamor author alejandro avalon shirley avila brianna ayala david ayacha renee ayers alandis ayupov banger desmond bengura [Applause] kelly barco marthula bascarin lucio bautista sheila basilar selena beckles alexander bellum juan potences maldonado [Applause] [Music] trinity jack henry bills [Applause] david bishop alfred samuel bispo brian m blanchette alexander bochenko nana nevaeh boyd gavin j broder raymond j brown joshua m bullen randy burbank andrew s cabachu giovanna cabreja trinity a caldwell hassan imada kamba stephen carney jacqueline carrillo torres evan cataldo aaron sender [Applause] suman chaudhry [Applause] eileen chen [Music] joanne chen [Applause] emily chung jessica ciarella [Applause] sia chokchi niyoma choudry talia sisson jason klunis haley collins leonardo f cortez morgan catrell garrett crotty amaya lee cruz cameron j cruz [Music] hassan mohammed [Music] hussein muhammad anthony j delasandro tyler dalton sonali dawadi trevor j demansky samantha t damon trinity s daniels joey s dada janaya davis tyree davis jose j de la barrera [Applause] rachel de furia tatiana de paula [Music] emilio r d pasquel [Applause] janesh p nikhil dhoni poota zane m donahue deshna doshi thomas eagle braquette ehime [Applause] cameron l maroof salmon e eld vijay a ilango [Applause] alexis m elias julissa encarnacion rebecca l enghome matthew estrella natalie s fejo patricia feinberg justin fernandez paul m fernandez diseni fernando jalen perot gina fitz adios antonio bliss gabriella francois jamar rashaan woods frazier jr camilla freyr shane yemen [Music] and d garcia catherine gardner dejon ronaldo brian gown daniel gazifi christopher daniel giselle [Music] hans jiva michael e gibbs mark garges erica n gonzalez kayla jaleen gonzalez santiano gonzalez lopez padme gopalam natalia abigail gordon [Music] eric i gunbee matthew warren constantina matas evan g matter daniel t morath [Music] michael j maben barrington a mccain kayla d mcginnis leah a maguire aiden c mckenna archer s meta tiffany may [Music] tyler j mellinger reddit m marquette matteo masa faith f makowski mandy l miller penny m modi ayaad w mohammed dominic j montalto gianni a moore bryce j morsiglio aisha a more shed samantha a moxie [Applause] muhammad [Music] gina murphy neha murthy eugene mitz [Applause] [Music] foreign zechariah nasser velika nayak shauna marie celeste negron nicholas nahila [Music] [Applause] jenny nugen [Music] kathy nugent [Music] anthony luis nieves ryan michael nieves arush nijawan brian nolasko sean nugent thomas o'connor marissa odala javion oglesby joshua ortega christina osales miguel osorio harley owens emma padulo sudesh palambretti [Applause] parmar abi patel drew patel duwani patel monish patel ne patel [Music] nieti patel ria patel [Applause] ria s patel [Applause] sachi patel farage patel kenneth patrick giac payumo kiara appeared rajanae perez nevada pigeon holly angel palerin bina prajapati joelle pratz maha qureshi miranda reagan rami ramen vikas rama [Music] ramber daniel v ramirez sergio ramirez guerrero [Applause] rishi rana [Music] corey randall jr segocia et rao aditya raya durgum [Applause] kristen raye [Music] faith a riddick cameron riggins christina rivera justin rivera marquitas q roach angelina roberts james cenia s roberts corey robinson jamal n robinson leanne j rodriguez mackenzie k rowe [Applause] quintin k rose josalin rosa samantha a rosenthal hope a sabic [Music] rohan [Applause] melanie salgado nicholas sandor chris j sang sean sang mark grayson daniel k guan [Applause] lakshmi shravani gunter lisa guo [Music] juan manuel gutierrez perez kelvin guzman baez samantha m higgins ashley haynes ryan haynes mckenna m hempstead [Music] shamir hanif sharais hanif matthew s hazy morrissey l hearn taylor l hearn emily j heller gerald a herrera kane jello rivera davey r hildago meyer higgins griffith [Applause] demoni l wholeness jason wong jin yang huang [Applause] [Music] julio c enfante paul a ionescu [Applause] riza islam claire r jacket saeeda joffrey saves jagamohin [Music] [Applause] luthi jamal muhammad brandon jaramillo ryan jimenez [Music] vanessa joao chris l johnson nia t johnson [Applause] devin jones jalen ray jones joanne a jones kassan jordan matthew george abirud kandala kashan karavati [Music] [Applause] mara karim [Music] um jenna marie kipnis yuri carmelo milo leyla kose n kratchik nicholas v lamarca dominic m la pelosa jordan k laroche ashley a lawton [Music] annabelle lee christopher j light sofia liam [Music] tony liao irvina s lim daniel lobo [Music] eduardo a lopez melanie a lopez nico j lopez jordan love it [Music] kevin luna [Music] antoine lunique katie lee [Applause] james lynch ayanna lyons kimberly lyons alexander maseda marshall machi ariana maciel treasure mcgree shantae mafud salma mahmood omar carlos maya giarujo jeremiah major pervy machejani massour brandon martin hannah martin jocelyn martinez valencia mata prasad nicholas a santiago [Applause] ethan d santoni alan i cerabia gianna n sarnie skylar a satchel [Music] elijah d saunders william m schwarz jeremy sebby jacqueline s seda eden s sellers michelle serrano mendez ahmed shah mikhail m shah puja p shah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] el shamur garage nicole i shapiro tanya sharma [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] xavier l short sing alison slocum jamie smith belez [Music] jen holm smythe dixon so bianca solis [Music] i swear so the lingam taraya spears [Applause] spears hope stansberry colin a stapleton oscar stephen axel sterling alexia basie stewart alyssa stoddard christopher strachey [Music] kenny suarez [Music] roddy subramanian [Music] robert sudoc casper sula moyes syed [Music] emily [Music] [Applause] moody tapia juliana antoinette taverny ricardo t tenorio neha s taco makai a thompson sophiel p thompson [Music] [Applause] yahir angelo r tolentino yasmin i torres trayvon trap [Applause] geno a trail om trevetti [Applause] [Music] james r tuttalo emily r urban ravi teja vidali puja vidual [Music] anthony f vargas kashish varshney shrieker vidullah francisco r velazquez medashree veljuthi [Applause] leslie velasquez carla daniela vera travis capistrano villafranca oscar a villar brianna villegas nicholas velagis everyone varula [Applause] yashika vodela brian h ward [Music] brandon noble warren [Applause] kayla kristen wayson [Applause] melody rose wheeler [Music] [Applause] nya a whitaker [Music] amir d williams [Music] [Applause] austin n williams [Music] [Applause] celeste t williams [Applause] malik williams nathaniel ryan witkowski nicole yasko ryan yay juwon you davaya marie young walker zampella [Applause] shay zhang jennifer zoo nicole zoo [Music] [Applause] that's good i would now like dr reagan will hand the diploma to aaron mario go our salutatorian our valedictorian mr evan keaton first mr p wrong just step to the side miss hendricks bring up the stem academy i would like to i would like to present the graduates of our stem academy ashrita akam [Applause] aditi desmuke karthik kangaretti rajul jane mr rudra joshi [Applause] [Music] [Applause] prabhat nalabhutu vincent gwen [Music] durga [Applause] nandana vinod and kathleen zhao our senior class advisor mr piccolo we'll have some last words for the seniors before we call the officers mr piccola thank you mr ross good evening class of 2021 [Music] [Applause] to say that the past 16 months have been challenging is definitely an understatement it is these challenges which make life interesting but is overcoming them which makes life meaningful i am so proud and honored to have served as your class advisor and mostly proud of how you met the challenges and pushed forward to be sitting here tonight a special thank you to your class officers abigail [Applause] this team of leaders always work together with only one goal in mind to provide you with the best senior year possible under the conditions we were forced to accept in each class i teach i always tell my students it's not how much money you make or how successful you may become it is about how much joy and passion you experience in whatever you choose to do i know i have found my passion and is my greatest wish each of you follow your passions and reach hard to pursue your dreams thank you class of 2021 [Applause] now presenting to the officers starting off with our daily announcer miss zaria fogle [Applause] national honor society secretary olivia tiarello [Applause] senior class secretary neil patel [Applause] student council treasurer kelly chang senior class treasurer ayush jaznani national honor society vice president colleen tonra [Applause] student council vice president christie lee [Applause] senior class co-vice president and national honor society treasurer mr richard guerra [Applause] senior class co-vice president daniel arab [Applause] our national honor society president cassandra scott [Applause] our student council president miss crystal ramnery [Applause] and our senior class president for the class of 2021 miss abigail alvarez [Applause] i now call on abigail the president of your senior class to address the class one last time howdy everybody perfect thousands of memories hundreds of photos one high school girl for me life exists in the lens of my canon rebel t6 camera i capture moments in time preserving these beautiful bits of the universe in a photograph forever with each click snap and flash i watch as the world pauses for a fraction of a second and rests in the stillness on my screen for every game-winning goal late night concert and high energy dance i'm there with the camera in hand wherever whatever and whenever at the event throughout my time serving as the president of the ehs class of 2021 student council and for film club i've had the privilege of watching our class develop from naive freshmen to sophisticated seniors all through a series of snapshots these wonderful yet ephemeral glances into the individual lives of our student body depict our extraordinary activities aspirations and achievements over the past four years nearly 500 of us have gathered here today and for each face i see a photograph i see a sweaty soccer player running to their teammates to embrace them after a game-winning goal i see a determined drum major dividing their marching band through the halftime performance i see an animated actor belting the heart out before the curtains close after capturing the most meaningful moments of our vibrant and diverse community i realized that the triumphs of high school have prepared us for the tribulations of the future because if you look beyond the frame of each photograph you'll find more than just simple snapshots you'll discover captivating qualities determination courage strength enthusiasm resilience truly the class of 2021 is a photo gallery of perseverance as much as we would love to crop out the last year and a half this time of our lives will forever have an impact on our identity we did not get the picture perfect high school experience each day blurred into the next life moved out of focus and memories faded from our minds yet photographs of our past high school experiences remind us of the possibility of prospering again reminiscing upon these better days restores our spirits with this hope we could strive to capture more of these picturesque pieces of time despite the adversity we have endured optimism must remain at the forefront of our thoughts photograph by photograph our perspective will shift as we move forward we must remember to reflect back on our memories photographs possess power the power to unite the power to encourage the power to inspire we can relive our favorite moments again and again like the fall prep rally the crisp october era mixing with pure adolescence and energy as each sports team dressed up in their red and gold uniforms lines up along the track to the sound of the marching band or the diwali party the cafeteria alive with a multitude of bright lights and colors all swirling together as hundreds of kids dance around to their favorite bollywood songs or the winter orchestra concert the stage lights cascading over a group of eager musicians all fiddling around with their violins violas cellos and carol debell sheet music to prepare for the instant when those velvet curtains open we are all curators curators in our own museum of memories at this moment in time the focal point of our lives is beginning to center on new endeavors day by day the aperture is widening the exposure is brightening the shutter speed is quickening life is jumping outside of the lens and into our very hands go ahead reach out and capture it congratulations class of 2021 you made it [Applause] [Music] hello and good evening friends family faculty and fellow graduates thank you all for being here today each of you in the audience has had a profound impact on the development of the talented graduates seated on the field tonight i would also like to thank the administration for putting together this beautiful in-person ceremony for us i think i can speak on behalf of the entire class and expressing our gratitude for the opportunity to experience this milestone following a year of uncertainties in spite of these uncertainties and the numerous obstacles we face on our journey to the stage to receive our diploma today we persevered with our heads held high to the class of 2021 congratulations we did it we finally made it today is our day [Music] the past four years were certainly no high school musical but the unique experiences we've shared showed us that we really are all in this together i don't know about you but over the last few weeks i started to feel particularly nostalgic so of course i did the most logical thing anyone with this type of feeling would do i scavenged through disney plus to watch the graduation scene of every single show and movie i could think of although these shows were a staple of our childhood make no mistake that they taught us valuable lessons which we carry with us today when these characters move their tassel from right to left and the final moments of the last scene we felt a rush of emotion similar to those we are feeling today however while the graduation of our favorite characters signaled the end of their on-screen journey our graduation is just the beginning a celebration of the start of a new chapter of our lives today is not our series finale but rather our coming of age moment our rite of passage into adulthood i am confident that each of you will continue to grow and prosper as we take on the world as i look out into the crowd i see a bunch of faces i've only seen over a zoom call for the past 15 months but more importantly i see the leaders of tomorrow i see intelligence talent resilience and ambition beyond compare these attributes have allowed us to accomplish some incredible feats during our time in high school from our boys volleyball team winning the gmc white division and being the first team ever to hang a banner in the gym to our marching band being grand national champions the variety of sports clubs and academic programs offered at edison high have paved the way for us to soar out into a world full of limitless opportunities i challenge you not to shy away from these opportunities but instead embrace them living each day to its fullest potential every day is the beginning of a new episode of your life one that you get to cultivate a script for direct in the way you see fit and star center stage in if there is one thing that i hope you take away from my speech tonight it is that you must always believe in yourself never let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do never let any obstacle no matter how big or how small deter you from your dreams because every single one of you is more than capable of leaving your mark on the world so as long as that you believe that you can of course with a little bit of faith trust and pixie dust if you want to be the first person to step foot on mars or a starting line quarterback in the nfl i say go for it be the individual who you truly want to be be unapologetically you in fact my childhood idol hannah montana said it best here we are now everything's about to change after tonight we will all diverge on our separate paths and venture out into the unknown yet exciting world that awaits us but remember we will always be connected by our time at the nest our class is truly leaving behind a legacy like no other i mean how many people can say they never went to school their entire senior year well in person anyways congratulations to the class of 2021 we truly are a force to be reckoned with as far as your next journey takes you don't forget the lessons you've learned the accomplishments you have made and the memories you've created here during these past four years as the credits roll on this episode of our high school series i want to leave you with the phrase we first heard at our freshman orientation once an eagle always an eagle thank you class please rise please join in in the turning of the tassels to signify that you are now [Music] graduates one last cheer for the class of 2021 [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] foreign so [Music] [Music] uh [Music] them [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] wow you

Channel: EdisonBOE

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Id: mTu2i-dM3TM

Length: 153min 45sec (9225 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 23 2021