LYNN — The most emphatic words spoken at St. Mary’s commencement ceremony Thursday were spoken by Head of School Dr. John Dolan, who told the graduates “you deserve this.”
“You deserve this,” he said, “and you earned this.”
Dolan explained to the 85 graduates that he heard one of their classmates speak at the baccalaureate Mass Wednesday. Colin Martin reflected on the beginnings of the coronavirus pandemic, which occurred his sophomore year, and how all the attention seemed to be devoted to the juniors and seniors.
“I will admit,” Dolan said, “that we didn’t talk about the sophomores much. We may not have talked about them at all.”
Dolan reflected that he was the middle child of a large family and that he knew what it was like to be an afterthought.
“You do what you have to do to get along,” he said.
And so did the sophomores, he said. He watched them develop into a boisterous, fun-loving class that distinguished itself by the spirit it showed at sporting events and other social gatherings.
During the ceremony, the school’s 141st, special presentations were made to Golden Jubilarian Maryanne Rooney-Hegan, one of the members of the Class of ’72, who will mark off their 50th reunion later this year. She accepted a Golden Jubilee pin on behalf of her class.
Also honored was Thomas L. Demakes, CEO and owner of Old Neighborhood Foods, who received an honorary diploma. Demakes is one of the city’s principal benefactors, whose charity has extended to St. Mary’s as well as the new YMCA across the street.
Demakes spoke of his family’s origins in Lynn and the lessons he learned finding himself.
“Those who work the hardest go furthest,” he said. “And the only thing that counts more than hard work is integrity.” That sentiment was echoed by Lawrence Doherty, an English teacher chosen by the students to be the faculty speaker.
“Character counts,” he said. “I’ll repeat it again, as teachers often do. Character counts. Your good name is your most important possession. Once it’s lost, it’s difficult to win back.”
Also on the stage were William S. Mosakowski, board chair; Brianna Skory, salutatorian; Gabriela Mogavero, valedictorian; Heath Whelan, English teacher, who presented faculty recognition awards to Doherty and Frances White; Senior Dean Michael Jalbert, Principal David J. Angeramo and Assistant Principal James Ridley; Rev. Brian J Flynn, pastor of St. Mary’s parish; and Vivian Iannotti, a trustee.
Skory said that one of the most valuable lessons she learned at St. Mary’s was that high school was a time of important self-discovery.
“None of us are the same as we were when we came staggering in here as freshmen,” she said. “I know my freshman self would have been terrified at the idea of speaking at graduation. I am not that girl anymore.”
Skory said she was afraid to share her thoughts with others and was basically a quiet person who sat in the corner.
“We all have our own stories to share,” she said, “and that’s one of the beautiful components of high school. So tonight, we celebrate cracking that shell and finding out who we are. This is just the beginning.”
Mogavero said that ever since she was in kindergarten, she was told that she could change the world.
“Now,” she said, “that almost seems like a cliché. But I totally believe that we can.”
Of course, she said, much of that depends on how you define “the world.”
“For many people, the world is our community … St. Mary’s was our world for four years, and it was a small world.”
Whatever her classmates chose to do, she said, they had the power to change that part of the world, whether it was medicine, business, entertainment, or something else.
One other thing she said she learned was that “high school is authentic and real. And authenticity trumps superficiality every time.
“We will touch life wherever life takes us,” she said.
