GLAD GRADS: Senior students say goodbye to high school

MAT-SU — As another school year comes to a close and students around the state prepare for the summer months, seniors are looking forward to — or in apprehension of — a new life chapter.

“It’s a little scary,” said Colony High School graduate Nathanial Crockett after his school’s Wednesday night commencement ceremony at the Menard Center.

But to all the students crossing stages in their caps and gowns this week, one thing seems clear: the pomp and circumstance is worth the wait.

“Technically I graduated last semester but it didn’t really feel real until I got here,” said Alaska Middle College School graduate Allison Ackles after her school’s ceremony at Wasilla Bible Church on Tuesday.

By the end of this week, nearly 1,200 seniors will have formally graduated from 14 different Mat-Su Borough schools, with thousands of family members and friends celebrating beside them.

For some students, like Alaska Middle College (AMCS) graduate Shawn Reed, that celebration will be remembered for years to come.

“This is definitely a feeling I’m gonna remember,” Reed said, moments after a joyfully tearful embrace with his uncle after the ceremony.

Reed’s mother, Ethel, said she was “overwhelmed with joy” at seeing her youngest child graduate from AMCS with college credits — in addition to his high school diploma — which he can transfer to the University of Alaska Anchorage this fall.

“I just really believe this school is a great asset to young people who wanna get ahead,” Ethel Reed said.

But few — if any — students succeed without the help of a teacher.

Words of Wisdom

During the various graduation ceremonies held over the past week, many students recognized the great influence of their educators by choosing staff speakers to inspire, advise and entertain them as they prepared to enter the adult world.

“Class of 2016, please take a moment to think of an influential person who helped get you through the last year or two. … For me, as well as many of you, that person is Mr. John Robertson,” said AMCS graduate Jordyn Block, introducing her high school English and social studies teacher.

Block praised Robertson for being both funny and supportive before he took the stage, where he cautioned students to keep in mind that they chose him — “someone who repeated the fourth grade,” he said — to give them advice on what to do the rest of their life.

From academic to personal achievement, Robertson urged students to be focused, but light-hearted.

“Learn the rules, master the rules, break the rules — in that order,” Robertson said. “And if you go into financial accounting — or passenger aircraft maintenance or nuclear power plant operations — just forget that last part about breaking the rules, at least at work.”

At Colony’s ceremony, special education teacher, Army veteran and occasional theater director Christine Duffy encouraged students to not be afraid to fly by the seat of their pants.

“Please don’t feel like you must know everything and have a plan for the next 10, or even 5 years. Do what I do: hold on tight and pretend there’s a plan,” Duffy said, quoting the famed “doctor” in a December 2011 episode of “Doctor Who.”

As with many graduation ceremony speeches, Duffy’s was rife with references to her favorite films and TV shows (and that of her students), as well as encouragement for students to maintain the positive relationships they’ve already forged.

“No matter how far you travel, remember: you’re not alone,” she said.

That advice likely hit home for seniors like Sydney Zuyus, who left Colony for a year and a half of home school, thinking that would ease her heartache and depression.

It didn’t.

“You forget that you need that personal interaction,” she said. “It made me realize how much I love the people at Colony — even the people I don’t love.”

Zuyus said it’s her relationships that she’s most proud of, looking back on her high school career. She encouraged the upcoming seniors to be honest in their friendships and stick it out through the hard times on the way to graduation.

“You’ll make it and it’s worth it. It’s all to find your ‘great perhaps,’” Zuyus said, quoting French writer Francois Rabelais, as described in John Green’s “Looking for Alaska.”

The future

While the “Great Perhaps” is different for everyone, graduating seniors and send-off staff seemed to agree that embrace some level of uncertainty is necessary for progress.

And what it takes to change the world, they say, is passion.

“Remember Dr. Seuss’s words,” challenged AMCS valedictorian Kimber Harnar. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better — it’s not.”

Colony valedictorian Monica Heintzman said the time has never been more ripe for young people to make the world a better place.

“We are part of an amazing, influential generation. Never has there been one more open minded or accepting. We have not seen world wars, we have seen laws change for equality,” she said. “We are changing how people think.”

For a complete list of Mat-Su Borough School District graduates, see page B3 of the Friday, May 13 edition of the Frontiersman.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.