NEWARK — The 122nd commencement of Utica High School seniors unfolded on Sunday afternoon for an overflow crowd of 129 graduates and their friends and families. The event was held at the Career & Technology Education Center of Licking County in Newark.
After the young women, clad in red gowns and wearing red mortarboards, and the young men, in their white caps and gowns, entered the hall and the invocation was given and the Pledge of Allegiance recited, Salutatorian Mary Slebodnik addressed the crowd.
“I know that even though the future may seem glittering ... obstacles have a way of popping up where we least expect them,” Slebodnik said. “There’s really nothing I can tell you about winning the game of life that you haven’t heard before. What matters is the way we play the game.”
She advised her fellow seniors to play fair, think of others and not trample on anyone’s dreams.
Megan Daubenmire, salutatorian, joked, “What does graduation really mean? It means I can finally call my teachers by their first names and not get into trouble.”
She thanked her advisors and teachers by their first, and last, names, and told the students, “We have accomplished one of the most important steps in our lives, and we should be proud of where we are today.”
Daubenmire spoke about the graduates’ new independence and freedom.
“Stepping out of our comfort zone ... is a bit scary,” she said. “But Abraham Lincoln said, ‘The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time. That’s comforting.”
Valedictorian Ashley Claprood gave credit to teachers, family and friends.
“All of us have taken different paths through life to get to this day. But we didn’t do it alone,” she said, reminding the graduates to thank the people who helped direct their paths.
Senior Tiffany Painter told the audience that the class of 2008 had presented a directional sign and maps to UHS for its class gift.
Mary Ann Short, a professor and educator at Franklin University and a 1981 graduate of UHS, gave the commencement address.
“The possibilities are endless,” she said. “The point is, you have a choice ... the only thing that stands in your way is you.”
Short noted that the class would be entering a workforce populated by four generations, that they would work with colleagues their grandparents’ age, their parents’ age and their older siblings age as well as their own peers.
“There will be interesting challenges, opportunities and possibilities. Some of the labels that have been used to describe your generation can be unflattering ... but they also say you have endless energy, innovation and drive,” she said. “You have more information in your heads and at your fingertips than any other generation.”
Short encouraged the graduates to find their passions, build relationships, do the right thing, be present in the moment and wield their power of choice.
Jeannette Baker received the Aileen Hiltner Scholarship and Tyler Hunkins received the Morgan Grange Agriculture Scholarship, presented by Aileen and Ron Hiltner.
Commencement proceeded with the official presentation of the class to the applauding audience and the presentation of diplomas, and ended with the singing of the UHS Alma Mater.
