Mat-Su Middle College graduates celebrate diplomas, college credit, and 6 life lessons during 2024 commencement

Unlike most high school graduations, some of the seniors graduating from the Mat-Su Middle College School (MSMCS) on May 14, 2024 are not only walking away with a high school diploma, but also walking away with an Associate of Arts Degree. All are walking away with some college credits, and every senior at MSMCS graduated, giving the school a 100% graduation rate.

“So far, Mat-Su Middle College seniors have earned 3,942 college credits, equivalent to $1,349,820 in tuition and fees. This brings the total amount of tuition earned by this class of students to $4,830, 624.00. Well done!” said MSMCS Principal Greg Giauque.

Valedictorian Rosalia Hennemann told the graduates to go back to where it all began-kindergarten, referencing Dr. Seuss:

“You’re off to great places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.”

Hennemann likened the experiences of high school to summiting a mountain.

“The climb to the top is exhausting, and for the difficult parts, you may not want to be there. But when you reach the summit, graduation, it is an amazing accomplishment,” she said, adding, “While the summit is breathtaking, the little moments on the way to the top are what make the hike worthwhile.”

MSMCS Guest speaker for the ceremony was John Robertson, who teaches Alaska government, history, and civics, and helped set up the MSMCS program.

“Each of you is right here, right now as part of a graduating class with a 100% graduation rate,” he told the audience before quickly dispelling any notion of the numbers being inflated or other trick. “You really are graduating because you actually did the work necessary to graduate…what is possibly the most intellectually challenging academic path for high school students in the state of Alaska.”

The MSMCS is a collaboration between Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, University of Alaska and the Mat-Su College Campus. MSMCS is a high school for juniors and seniors interested in taking college level academic courses and learning college readiness skills.

Robertson went on to applaud the students who, at age 16 or 17, chose to accept the challenge of beginning to accept the responsibility for their own freedom.

“The greatest freedom that our school allows you is the freedom to manage your own time.”

He told the graduates that the ability to manage time is akin to managing one’s own self, something that can only be done after first being recognized as a free person.

“Free to make your own decisions, and thus, free to make your own mistakes.”

“I hope you appreciate the amount of courage and trust that it took for your parents and even the school district, and the college to let you make your own mistakes.”

He told the class that the vagueness of some college assignments is intentional “The vagueness is there so you can experience and learn to harness the terror of intellectual freedom.”

Then Robertson moved to the “life-advice” portion of his speech, as he called it, and imparted the 6 most important life lessons he has learned “since I took fourth grade the second time.”

He told the students to not avoid studying philosophy or literature because knowledge and reasoned gleaned from these subjects are never useless. “I do not know if reading literature will make you a better pilot, but I do know that it will make your experience of flying more sublime,” he said, not mention a better parent, partner, and friend. “These subjects are to your brain what a sharpening stone is to a knife.”

He then reminded the students that the people they know and remember will not be literary characters saying a lot of words requiring analysis, but from parents who may have said a lot of words but like good jazz musicians, they have been improvising most of it. “If you were still holding on to a bit of anger over something someone might have said a few times, consider cutting them some slack. You will feel a lot better.”

The third piece of advice Robertson offered was to forgive themselves. “You’ve all made mistakes…whatever happened, face your errors honestly, recognize what you did wrong, and go forward as a better person.”

Rule four, he said, is to learn the rules of their chosen craft, realizing that all systems of knowledge are built upon and bounded by rules. “Do not think that learning these rules is just some tedious tasks for the unimaginative,” he told the audience, “Because behind all the rules lies the ethical framework that promotes transparency and accountability. Believe me, you want to internalize these rules that will be the foundation of your professional integrity.”

This lead to rule five, which is to master the rules of their chosen craft, because mastery of the craft, aside from being hard work, well help alleviate inner fears and self-doubt, though Robertson admitted to the graduates those feelings never truly dissipate.

However, when Robertson landed on his sixth and final rule, he told the graduates to break the rules of their craft. “For better or worse, our entire modern way of life is sustainable only as long as we keep coming up with new solutions to potentially catastrophic problems that we also keep creating.”

He then imparted one final piece of advice to the graduates:

“In ten years or so, none of the people here today want you to spend your life confined within the limits we have set for you. Use your freedom to surprise, astonish, and surpass us.”