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Prior to this exciting moment, music teachers Jeff Wilner and David Brigham led the Symphonic Band to kick off the commencement ceremony with performances of “Grand March from Aida,” “Excellentia Overture,” “Fanfare Britannica” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In accordance with tradition, the band’s rendition of Edward Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” accompanied the seniors as they walked up to the stage, girls clad in white and boys in green gowns.
Principal Jacqueline McEvoy presented the graduating class of 2010, followed by wild applause from the crowd and a short welcome from senior class president Charlie Lin.
Before the senior speeches, seniors Hannah Crown and Madeleine Sykes sang “Some Things Are Meant to Be,” adapted from the musical, Little Women, based on Louisa May Alcott’s late 19th-century novel of the same name.
Next, in her speech titled “The Importance of Seatbelts,” senior Olivia Diamond reflected on her high school experience by connecting it to driving a car. She said that her friends, for example, were like seatbelts: even if she didn’t need them, she still had them, so she “might as well use them anyway.”
“Even if you’re just going down the street, you still use your seatbelt,” Diamond said. Similarly, she said, her friends were there for both the little ordinary moments and the epochal celebrations.
Junior Andrew Hedge and seniors Shawn Barry, Jenner Fox and Julian Pitt, from the well-known Paly band Furious George, graced the stage with their rendition of “Kids” by MGMT.
Senior Sam Herzog then delivered a speech titled “Kipling’s Advice,” which featured British writer Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If.” She read excerpts from the three-part poem aloud and connected it with Paly experiences.
“If you can hold your own in an argument with [history teacher] Mr. [Jack] Bungarden, then you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too,” Herzog said.
Following Herzog’s speech, the Heartbreakers, a quartet composed of sophomore Elias Berezin and seniors Evan Gitterman, Nathan Wilen and Axel Mansoor, performed a Stevie Wonder medley arranged by Gitterman.
Lin concluded the student performances with the Commencement Address, a verbal toast to his graduating peers for their hard work through the years.
“We’ve dominated CCS [Central Coast Section], smashing records along the way,” Lin said. “We’ve annihilated competition to gain national recognition for our accomplishments in mathematics, science, language, performing arts, journalism and robotics. We sit at the top of the academic food chain, yet we have time to load on community service projects, internships and jobs.”
“If TIME Magazine does not nominate every single person to my right for their annual 100 most influential people award, I will be angry,” Lin added.
He further encouraged his peers with three simple pieces of advice: persevere through the bad days, take risks and grab hold of their futures.
“Those days that aren’t so happy–they’re going to come, whether you like it or not,” Lin said. “But here’s the deal: whenever you think you’re ready to give up, I promise you: the day will come when you give up–when you relinquish your efforts and call it quits–but today is not that day.”
“You, yourself and you alone are in charge of how you play your game,” Lin emphasized. “There is only one person on the face of this earth that is in complete control of your future: you.”
In preparation for the presentation of diplomas to each senior, McEvoy shared her thoughts about the graduating class’s achievements and future plans. School Board Member Dana Tom, School Board Vice President Melissa Baten Caswell, Chief Business Official Robert Golton, Assistant Superintendent Virginia Davis and Assistant Superintendent Linda Common took turns presenting diplomas to seniors, who then shook hands with School Board President Barbara Klausner.
After the ceremony, seniors walked down the stage and greeted their friends and family in the audience for pictures, hugs and refreshments. They then piled on buses to Alameda to board the World War II-era aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet for their graduation party.
Seniors said they particularly enjoyed the chocolate fondue fountain, inflatable jumping houses, flight simulator, casino games and delicious food.
“I couldn’t ask for a better night,” senior Helen Zhu said.
Congratulations to graduating senior members of The Paly Voice: Patricia Ho, Evan Hahn, Abby LaPier, Leslie Shen, Regina Wang, Grace Donzelli, Maya Shemtov, Helena Raffel, Shannon Lee, and Ruhi Sikri. Your hard work on the publication for the past year has been much appreciated. Good luck to all of your future endeavors, and visit us often! (Especially when the new media building is completed.)
Editor’s Note: News Editor Cee-Ning Wong contributed reporting to this story.
Editor’s Note: This story originally stated that Furious George played “Mykonos,” but the song actually was “Kids” by MGMT. The current version of the story reflects this change.