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YOKOSUKA, Japan - Family and friends attended the graduating ceremony of the 2013 class for Nile C. Kinnick High in the Fleet Activities, Yokosuka Fleet Theater, June 12.
In all, a total of 77 students earned their diplomas. The ceremony began with a welcoming address, presented by Tanner Rowell in English, then followed by Maiko Copeland in Japanese, Axcel Amante in Tagalog, Khaimook Grosshuesch in Thai, Egor Romanenkov in Russian, Ramon Batista in Spanish and Sheila Rojo in Chinese.
“Each of us has chosen to create lasting memories of experiences throughout the past four years, most of them completely unrelated to school,” said senior class president Neil Pothula. “We replay them in our minds, like videos saved on a disk. But the brain works in mysterious ways. Some memories are forgotten. Visions of years past of the happiest moments in our lives begin to fade. First, they loose detail then we think of them less frequently. And until, finally, it’s just a blur. A memory however, is not just a recollection of events. It’s accompanied by feelings.”
The ceremony was scheduled to be held aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73), but, was re-scheduled to be aboard USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), due to scheduling conflicts. Once inclement weather took over, the ceremony was moved to the theater. Despite this, the students’ spirits were not dampened.
“It’s a good thing that memories work in tandems because as memories begin to fade, emotions stand strong,” said Pothula. “I regret that I have cluttered my mind with countless days of fun and games. They have already begun to emerge but I still remember how I felt during those times. When I look at this class, I am reminded of how I felt when I was with them. It is joy that I have experienced. My classmates – I get the best feelings when I think about the journey we have made together and I can only hope that you agree with me. This is the last chance we have to make a memory together, so open a spot in your hearts for each other because you’ve all earned one in mine.”
Pothula concluded his speech by thanking the senior class council with providing support of him and the school though out the course of the year.
Graduation day is generally conducted in a similar manor for American high school seniors throughout the U.S. But for Nile C. Kinnick students, the opportunity to graduate while living on a base located in the land of the rising sun was unique and challenging.
“We’ve learned that we could take advantage of all that Yokosuka has to offer, and if we don’t like it, how to come together and hop on a train to the beach or a night out in Tokyo,” said Gabrielle San Pedro, one of the two salutatorian addresses. “Above all, we’ve learned to discover and to love Japan, and as a result were lucky enough to graduate in a beautiful nation many others can only dream of visiting.”
San Pedro then added one final message to the underclassmen of Nile C. Kinnick who continue to work to find their way.
“So be flexible. Be adaptive. Be adventurous and have fun because change is a good thing if we let it be.”
Commander, Task Force Seven Zero/Commander, Carrier Strike Group 5, Rear Adm. Mark C. Montgomery served as the honored guest speaker. Montgomery, himself a former student of The Sullivan’s Elementary during the Vietnam era, said that there were four reasons for what he termed as a great environment in Yokosuka; the educators, teachers and administrators, the parents, the Yokosuka community itself and lastly, the students themselves.
“You are such a unique class for a DoD school, or really any school in America – 21 of you - or 25 percent of the class – have been together since kindergarten,” said Montgomery. “This includes the class valedictorian Joshua Dimalanta. And 47 of you, or 50 percent of the class, have been together since at least ninth grade. It is so wonderful to see such a class so rich in diversity that is also so closely knit and bonded together.”
Upon the conclusion of Montgomery’s speech, the time came for the distribution of each students’ high school diploma, signifying they had all successfully completed their high school requirements to move on to the next stage of their lives.
“For my friends and family, I thank them for supporting me,” said Keenan Hadorn. “My high school memories are priceless and for the junior classmen I would like to say remember life’s symbol; you make choices and don’t look back. Define yourself and not others and just be yourself.”
For others, graduation could not have come sooner.
“It’s over, finally it’s over,” said Quinton Holden as he departed the theater. Holden’s next stop is onto college in the junior reserve officers training corps, where he hopes to become a U.S. Army officer. “All I can say is that I would just like to thank my parents for pushing me throughout high school,” said Holden. “It’s been a great four years and I just want to say that I plan to continue to strive for excellence in my future.”
| Date Taken: | 06.12.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 07.10.2013 04:04 |
| Story ID: | 109952 |
| Location: | YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 123 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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