SAUGUS — For Saugus High School’s Class of 2018, it’s about the climb.
“People say that high school is the best four years of your life,” said Salutatorian Rachel Virgin. “But now that I have lived those four years myself, I can safely say those people, whoever they may be, are mistaken.”
That’s not to say that they’re terrible, or even bad, said Virgin, who wants to be an English teacher.
“The problem with saying these past four years were the greatest years that life has to offer is a little sad, isn’t it?” said Virgin. “Our lives have only just begun and we’re supposed to believe that because we’ve sat in a classroom for six hours a day for four years that we’ve already experienced the best part?”
Throughout most of high school, students are children being told to act like adults while still being treated as children, she said.
“Now is our time to forge our own paths and decide what we want the future to look like,” she said. “It is up to each of us to make sure that these last four years were not the best of our lives.”
The school’s chorus serenading the sea of red caps and gowns with Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb” set the tone for the evening at Stackpole Field on Friday.
The song’s lyrics, “Always gonna be an uphill battle/Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose/Ain’t about how fast I get there/Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side/It’s the climb,” seemed to inspire most of the speakers while writing their speeches.
School Committee chairwoman Jeannie Meredith said her best advice to the graduates was for them to go out into the world with their eyes wide open and experience life to the fullest.
“Don’t be afraid of failure or disappointments,” she said. “Learn lessons from everything you do in life and never give up. Remember, it’s all about the climb.”
Valedictorian Hannah Spilman, who will attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology next fall, pointed it out that they were all just figuring this out as they went along.
“As Michael Scott said, ‘sometimes I start a sentence, and I don’t even know where it’s going. I just hope I find it along the way,” said Spilman. “This not only represents this speech, but it also perfectly sums up the class of 2018.”
She said the class succeeded in school challenges against other grades like color day and the championship day of powderpuff.
“One of our most noteworthy accomplishments consisted of who we became as a group of people, not just as students,” she said.
Principal Michael Hashem left his students with words of wisdom he said he learned from his father.
“Always be on time and work hard — that shows dedication,” he said. “Never argue with a fool. It is a waste of your time. Lastly, don’t sweat the small things, and remember, they’re usually all small things.”
