Medomak Valley High School graduates leave the ceremony as alumni Wednesday, June 12. (Molly Rains photo)
One by one, 125 members of the Medomak Valley High School class of 2024 crossed the graduation stage on the evening of Wednesday, June 12, celebrating the completion of their high school education as the sun set over Waldoboro.
Hundreds of family members, friends, staff members, and district administrators crowded into the school’s side parking lot to celebrate the graduates and their academic achievements, some bringing folding chairs or watching from tailgates as the seniors received their diplomas.
In addresses to the graduating class, student representatives spoke of the exciting, but overwhelming, moment the class had arrived at and encouraged one another to have courage.
“Our life, up until now, has been planned out for us,” class President Kaylee Kurr, of Warren, told peers in her greeting address. “Now, we step into the unknown.”
In her salutatory address, Micaela Lorentzen said that taking that step would not be simple for the graduates as they leave high school and pursue their own path, but encouraged her classmates to be themselves and work hard.
“Life is complicated,” Lorentzen said, but added that she had learned a lot about how to approach its challenges through her MVHS classmates.
“I’ve found, by watching the varied accomplishments of this incredible senior class, that the best way to find yourself where you want to be is to just be yourself,” she said.
Valedictorian Anna Weber noted there would be some “chaos” in each graduate’s future, especially in their young adulthood, and encouraged them to embrace it moving forward.
“It may be tempting to try finding solace in an ideal, but I encourage you to look instead for the joy you can find when things are a little bumpy,” Weber said.
Samantha Mills, a government teacher at MVHS who delivered the keynote address, also spoke of joy.
“Your parents gave you life. The end of high school gives you liberty, because according to some of you, this place is a prison,” Mills joked. “Your next task is the pursuit of happiness.”
Mills counseled the graduates to think seriously about what success really means to them, rather than simply accepting a standardized idea of what it means to do well.
“Be proud of who you are,” Mills said. “Be unapologetically you. Awkward and embarrassing only exist in your mind.”
The diversity of the class of 2024 is evident in the varied paths to receive their diplomas and congratulatory hugs from RSU 40 Superintendent Steve Nolan, MVHS Principal Linda Pease, Mills, and other staff.
The graduates made clear that they would continue to work hard and put effort towards making the best futures they could, even while recognizing the work they had already done to cross the high school finish line.
“Today we are teetering on the edge of a cliff,” Lorentzen said. “It is up to you whether you plummet or soar.”
