CENTER – Center Consolidated School District hosted its 2024 Graduation Ceremony on Saturday, May 24, for Center High School. Twenty-nine graduates received diplomas at the Center High School Gymnasium.
Class Officer Nicole Neufeld gave the introduction and announced the Class Salutatorian Cheyenne Martinez.
“This year has really been an eye-opener not only for me, but for my classmates as well,” Martinez said. “Growing up together and creating such a strong bond with people we have known our whole lives is one thing we are all so blessed with. Continuing to this next chapter in our lives, nothing is going to be how it was. Waking up at 6:30 to be at school by 7:30, seeing all your friends and fellow classmates, eating lunch together, playing sports together, laughing and talking, then going home and going to sleep to repeat it all over again, is now just a memory.”
Martinez said that with their new lives there would be many obstacles that they would have to face.
“Before we know it, we will be working in our dream careers, buying a home and creating a family of our own,” she said.
Martinez thanked her family, teachers, and classmates for helping her along the way and getting her where she is today. Martinez also thanked her sister, for pushing her past her limits and helping her go above and beyond.
Martinez said, “Everything we have been through and done has led up to this moment right here, so congratulations Class of 2024 and good luck.”
Martinez then announced the Valedictorian Arazeliz Garcia.
“Thank you for joining us for one of our life’s biggest accomplishments.”
Garcia thanked her family, friends, and her teachers for being there for her throughout her high school journey.
“To my fellow classmates, can you believe we actually did it. We are sitting here about to receive our diplomas and become high school graduates. It’s so crazy to think of how far we have come, and how much we have accomplished,” she said.
Garcia said that looking back at high school she had so many memories that stuck out.
“I think of basketball games and laughing with my friends until my stomach hurts, and senior trips,” she said. “These are the moments that really made high school special. Sometimes we become so fixated on the future, we fail to appreciate the present. The future is not guaranteed, the only moments that are truly controllable are these right now.”
Garcia said that while it’s important to learn from past mistakes, it is still important to live in the moment.
“Your future is a blank slate that is full of endless possibilities, if you want something, you need to go out and do it, because like a wise man once said, ‘The world meets nobody halfway’,” she said.
Garcia then shared a poem called “Oh How Quick It Went,” that spoke about how quickly the time flew between entering school, to now being ready to graduate.
She then thanked everyone and announced the commencement speaker Anna Bishop. Bishop gave a heartfelt account of the children when they first entered school, to how they probably felt now that they were graduating. She ended her speech by stating, “Congratulations Class of 2024, I cannot wait to see what you choose for your future.”
Bishop then stepped down and the presentation of diplomas began. One by one each student was called up and received their diplomas.
There was a presentation of hugs and flowers shortly after, for friends and family members who attended, on behalf of the graduates.
