LYNN — The 201 students who graduated from Lynn Vocational Technical Institute on Thursday were encouraged to build on the skills they’ve learned throughout their time at the school, take chances and learn from potential failure.
Principal Robert Buontempo Jr., who is retiring after 31 years at Lynn Tech, said it was important for the graduates to embrace change, which presents challenges that will enable them to grow.
“It’s essential that you step out of your comfort zone when opportunity presents itself if you are to reach your full potential,” Buontempo said. “Whatever it is, have the confidence to take a chance. The struggle will make your life all the richer for the experience, regardless of the outcome.”
Buontempo said it was also important for the graduates to “bloom where they are planted.”
“As my favorite spiritual leader put it, be that single flower that’s blossoming in a field of weeds that you can’t help but notice,” he said. “Be the best you can be at every stage of your career no matter where you are at any given time and good fortune will always follow you.”
Valedictorian Sara Melara said with graduation, “we Tigers are finally being released from our cages.” Some of them, she said, will attend college in the fall, serve in the military or continue their trades.
“No matter what path we are taking, we will come across failure,” Melara said. “But believe it or not, it’s within failure that we find the strength to become a better person.”
Salutatorian Noelani Garcia said the graduates are now confronted with the daunting task of thinking about their futures, which may stir up feelings of fear.
“The future is not scary because of the unknown it holds — what is scary about the future is the sheer magnitude of possibilities that we can do with it,” Garcia said. “Like Christopher Robin once told Winnie the Pooh, ‘you’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.”
Superintendent Dr. Catherine C. Latham, who is retiring at the end of the school year, spoke about the importance of forming relationships, unplugging from social media once in a while, and not losing the ability to socialize in person and face-to-face.
“Make yourself the one everyone remembers,” Latham said. “And of course, be kind to one another. Kindness leaves a lasting good feeling with you and the person you are kind to. A simple act of kindness can change a life.”
Commencement speaker Dennis Barton, a retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent and Lynn Tech graduate, said the graduates learned important skills at Lynn Tech, including how to troubleshoot, plan, build, renovate and most importantly to think.
“This was all by design and is what the curriculum, the faculty and the school sets out to do,” Barton said. “Everyone of you has become a do-er — someone who steps out front, takes action and does what needs to be done.”
“You don’t wait for someone else to do the job or solve the problem. You do it. In the coming years, you will come to know just how important that attribute will be in your lives.”
Mayor Thomas M. McGee spoke about being in the seventh grade 50 years ago when Robert F. Kennedy, who he said inspired many people in this country with his campaign’s message of unity and hope, announced that he would be running for president.
“Robert F. Kennedy believed that our youth would be instrumental in changing the future of this country. This is as true now as it was 50 years ago,” McGee said. “You are the young men and women who will be the catalyst for change and have the ability to change the world we live in.”
