Cherry Hill High School West held its commencement for 304 seniors on Thursday, June 20.
When The Sun arrived on campus fewer than 24 hours before graduation exercises, the mood among six students, practicing their speeches to come at the commencement ceremony, was subdued but hopeful.
Amal Essa, Jessica Rapposelli, Sonia Kangaju, Justen Joffe, Kai Simon and Charlie Williams were hard at work, under the supervision of English teacher and township council member Carole Roskoph.
A common theme among the six was that it was a strange feeling to be caught in the middle between finishing classes and not yet having graduated.
“The way I’m feeling is, it’s strange being in that intermediary phase. But I’m so strongly connected to so many people in this community who supported me, that it doesn’t really feel I’m ever going to leave them. I’ll be back to return the favor,” said Harvard-bound Sonia Kangaju, West’s board of education student representative, who will provide the closing address.
Added Justen Joffe, president of the school’s National Honor Society, “I see this now as a necessity. I think it’s an odd period that needs to happen. I think it provides us an opportunity to be nostalgic, to reflect, to look back with friends over previous memories and to talk with teachers about shortcomings and successes. I look around and I see this is the last time the community will gather. And yet, I’m so excited for the next chapter, to close the yearbook.”
Amid the reflection was a positive outlook for the freedom of the road ahead in terms of plans and goals.
“What I’m looking forward to the most is the progress I’m going to make and learning about all the things I’m interested in. I’m excited to study in college and to grow, and to make mistakes. I’m excited to be the person that I want to be and not who anybody else has tried to make me, and I’m excited to make my own path,” said mistress of ceremonies Amal Essa, who will study at Rutgers’ University’s main campus in New Brunswick.
Kai Simon, representing student government and also Rutgers-bound, added, “I’m definitely excited for being on my own schedule. Being in class at 7:30 a.m. really never worked out well for me. Pretty hyped to have those 1 p.m. classes. Besides that, I’m excited to live with more independence. I’m looking forward to living without that idea that we’re not old enough to be responsible for ourselves. I’m excited to shed that, because it gets old by the time you’re 18.”
Class valedictorian Robert Young spoke to The Sun by phone later in the day. Young will matriculate at the University of Maryland and plans to study physics. He was to have the spotlight to himself, as Roskoph revealed the class of 2019 would mark the first time in recent memory there would be a single valedictorian at West.
“At first it was a little daunting to think about what I wanted to say. I had to think about who got me to where I am today, and I had to thank those at first who pushed me to be the valedictorian,” Young said of the thought process behind his remarks.
“From there, I had to look at the past four years, and the moments and memories that made high school what it is. There’s more substance than grades or what’s on paper. How we grew and developed over the course of four years, and how important the accomplishment of graduating is,” Young explained as the rationale behind his farewell address.
Though reflective like his classmates, Young is clearly ready to begin the next chapter of his life in a new locale.
“One thing in particular I’m looking forward to, over the next four years, is expanding who I am. As a freshman, I was really a shy, quiet kid and focused on school, not the most sociable person. But I just want to meet people on my own terms. High school was a guiding experience in that respect. After tomorrow, I’ll have my own independence to make my own choices, the freedom to go in my own direction.”
