The 129 members of Windsor Central High School’s Class of 2024 graduated Friday night during the school’s 140th commencement.
Class president Sydney Angelo took her fellow students on a trip down memory lane during her speech, recalling who they were in elementary and middle school before becoming the graduates they are now.
“The difference that I see in all of you today just goes to show that the person you are sitting here now, will not be the same person that will be sitting at our 10 year reunion. As you get older and experience more, you change as a person and that is not always a bad thing. So I challenge you, the class of 2024 to go out and don’t be afraid to change,” said Angelo.
Class valedictorian Aubrey Dixon talked about struggling to find the inspiration for her speech before reading, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. In it, Plath sees her life laid out before her like a fig tree with each branch representing another possibility.
“The allegory is that we are all sitting at the base of our own fig tree, looking up at a limitless number of choices that we can make, of things that we can be. But what I realized is that the choices we make now are less important than the fact that we chose at all. The lesson as I came to understand it, is to go confidently into the future, to be decisive, to be bold, to act. Because there is no wrong choice…except one. The only wrong choice is to do nothing,” said Dixon.
Class salutatorian Nicholas Pisano listed the individual and group accomplishments of the Class of 2024, whether in the classroom or athletic field, as he looked ahead.
“The things we have experienced and accomplished prepared us for the future better than anyone else. We, as a class, are ready for the future. We are ready for the next big adventure outside of Windsor’s doors. And that process of creation and destruction, the beginning of something new and something beautiful, has already begun, it’s currently happening as I speak. And as I look up from this podium onto the people I have known for the past however many years, I couldn’t be more excited to see what great adventure we go on next,” said Pisano.
WCHS principal Toby Youngs titled his speech, “If I Knew.” He shared four lessons he learned since leaving high school: cherish moments with friends, understand that hard work pays off and that life doesn’t hand things to you, know that you’ll make mistakes, and remember to celebrate successes.
“Class of 2024, now is your time to create your future. Go out there, chase your dreams, and make it happen. The future belongs to you. Go and seize it,” said Youngs.