MOUNT VERNON — Chelsey Lupher offered up the tale of her uncle’s perseverance through tragedy as a source of inspiration for the members of her graduating class.
Lupher, valedictorian of the 2008 class, said she wanted to draw from real life in her commencement speech. She said her uncle lost two spouses and, at the age of 50, was diagnosed with lung cancer.
“After 2 1/2 years of painful chemo treatments, he hasn’t given up,” she said.
Lupher said there have been many times she’s wanted to throw in the towel but her uncle’s story inspires her to keep going and to remember that there is hope in every situaion, however bleak.
“Over the past four years, we have matured into young men and women with a passion for our future,” she said. “We are young adults ready to take on the world. We are driven, passionate, determined individuals and accomplished graduates. So, class, the fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match and each one of us is a fuse.”
Chelsea Clark, salutatorian, urged her graduating classmates to find and follow their individual passions. She said many people are fixated on appearance, the car they drive, recognition or a relationship, things that are often presented as being important but things that often pass away in time.
“The irony is that no man can define success for another,” Clark said.
She said it is a person’s choices that help shape the person they become, adding that God has a plan for all individuals, despite their flaws. Clark told her classmates to find that passion that will drive them to make the sacrifices that lead to contentment and success.
“No one ever achieves greatness by settling for the comfortable or mediocrity,” she said.
Clark said the passion she speaks of is the passion artists put into their paintings, the passion athletes bring to their sport. She added that, though their goals might seem insignificant, it is those goals that will influence and define their children, their grandchildren and the nation.
Principal Ryan Gallwitz said the 84 students in the 2008 class are closing a chapter in their lives as they receive their diplomas, but they will always remain part of the East Knox family.
“Once a Bulldog, you are always a Bulldog,” he said. “Before you tonight are future mechanics, doctors, teachers, farmers, artists and entrepreneurs. Each one has their own road ahead of them. Many will attend college. Several will enter the work force and a few are headed to the military: each following their own dream, their own plan, their own path.”
Gallwitz also honored the top 10 percent of the class: Lupher, Clark, Robby Au, Megan Hadley, Nicole Montoya, Brittany Cherkes, Laura Zirkler and Laura Mickley.
The graduates received their diplomas toward the end of the commencement and flung their caps high, before moving on to the greet family and friends.
