Shawnee High School’s Class of 2024 showed off its “renegrade grit” during high school. So graduate Benjamin Barclay urged his 389 classmates to continue that perseverance and passion in the next phase of their lives.
Barclay was one of the student speakers at the June 17 commencement.
“Today’s word of the day is ‘OVER,'” he said, explaining “O” for opportunity, “V” for victory, “E” for exploring, and “R” for remembering. “High school may be over today, (but) that means opportunity, victory, exploration and remembrance.”
The ceremony began with the Senior Shawnee Singers performing the national anthem, followed by Principal Matthew Campbell’s welcome. Barclay was joined by fellow grad Elizabeth Hoover, who admitted she started driving at 14, making short circles around random parking lots with her mom during COVID.
“These drives were the highlight of my days,” Hoover recalled. “Driving with my mom was and is an escape for me. It became a form of therapy for me as I ran to her and cried to her through challenges that were being thrown at me that day.”
Fast forward to graduation day, when Hoover told her fellow classmates they’re the “drivers continuing along our road in life.”
“We spent the past 18 years with our permit getting comfortable with Medford and Medford Lakes, encountering roadblocks and making mistakes,” she recounted. “We had our parents in the passenger seats as we learned how to navigate life.
“This phase has prepared us to venture out of our comfort zone, out of Medford, to wherever our dreams may take us.”
Those roads may lead to mistakes, and that’s okay, Hoover added.
“You can always shift into reverse or reroute your navigation,” she told her classmates. “Go out and explore, try new things, appreciate the moment you are in and remember to make mistakes … but nothing that will linger in the news.”
Class president Meredith Bandomer spoke of how the past month and a half has left her feeling “beyond words,” saying it’s not easy to just throw up the cap, take the next step and say goodbye.
“I’m not entirely sure how to navigate the next step in our lives,” she acknowledged. “But I do know we have been given the tools to get there.”
After diplomas were awarded, Bandomer led her classmates in the tradition of turning their tassels from right to left.
