"Today is your day. You're off to great places. You're off and away!"
San Benito High School Senior Class President Morgan Taylor may have borrowed the words from Dr. Seuss, but the sentiment was all her own.
Along with nearly 600 of her classmates, Taylor accepted a diploma that validated four years of hard work, four years of fighting through hordes of "human traffic jams" to make it to class on time, four years of making memories that will last far beyond last Friday's commencement ceremony.
The SBHS Class of 2008 celebrated loudly and with abandon as soon as Matthew Zuniga's name was called, the last in a long line of graduates who made their way up to the stage to collect their diplomas. A cloud of caps and flowers filled the air over the graduates' heads and they proceeded down the aisle. But before they said good-bye to high school, a string of speakers wished them well and offered words of wisdom to guide them in their future endeavors.
While the speakers took their places at the podium, the graduates shot silly string into the air and batted beach balls around. The speeches were punctuated by the occasional blare of an air horn.
"One simple rule: Remember where you came from," advised Kirk Ward, alumnus, comedian and keynote speaker. "Hollister isn't just a slogan on a cheap T-shirt. We're the 'Balers!"
Along with that advice, Ward urged the graduates to avoid procrastinating, while noting he just barely managed to put together some semblance of a commencement address on the back of a soggy cocktail napkin on the airplane. And even though he claimed to have lived in a garage and in the back of a car, he eventually found success. He reminded the graduates to ask themselves one quick question every day: "Am I making my dream come true?"
Perseverance was the morning's theme, and words inspired by Dr. Seuss' "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" peppered the speakers' addresses.
District Superintendent Stanley Rose delivered a speech about two seemingly unrelated men, a notorious lawyer who went by the name of Easy Eddie and World War II hero Butch O'Hare, for whom Chicago's O'Hare International Airport is named. While O'Hare led a noble life and was recognized with one of the nation's highest military honors, Easy Eddie led a life of crime as Al Capone's counsel. But Eddie had a son and wished to provide his boy with a good life, but couldn't pass along a decent name or a sterling example of how to live.
When Eddie tried to change his ways by testifying against the Mafia, he was gunned down on a lonely Chicago street. He was Butch O'Hare's father. Even though Easy Eddie was unable to turn his own life around, he created "a ripple of hope that creates a tidal wave of change around the world," Rose said.
SBHS Principal Krystal Lomanto pointed out that her students worked hard to incite change every day they attended school here. Of the 600 graduates, nearly a third received grade-point averages of 3.0 or higher. Twelve earned GPAs over 4.0 - statistics Lomanto recited with "indescribable pride."
"This is my last chance to talk to you and I want my words to count," she said. "Who knew principals could feel separation anxiety?"
In a matter of minutes, she managed to cover an extensive list of pointers from facing disappointments with grace to embracing future obstacles with vigor.
"Each day, take one step toward your dream," she concluded.
For a video of students receiving their diplomas, click here. (Please note that due to a camera malfunction, not all students were captured on this video.)
Sara Suddes Sara Suddes covers Gilroy for South Valley Newspapers. You can email her or call (408) 847-7158.
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'We're the 'Balers!'
