 staff and administrator procession followed by the class of 2023 senior student procession. We ask that you all please remain standing as both processions occur and then remain standing as Maeve Kennedy leads us in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance followed by Layla Grimaldi singing the Star-Spangled Banner and turn your attention to the American flag. Maeve, would you please come up and lead us. To the flag of the United and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God with the visual with liberty and justice for all. Amazing graduating class. At this time I'd like to introduce our co-principals for 22 years and Katie Sutton who has been a part of the RUHS faculty and staff for 12 years. Thank you for all you've done for our graduating seniors. Welcome to the 2023 commencement ceremony for our RU, oh sorry. Wrong part. Alright. Thank you Chelsea. I'm Lisa Floyd, not Katie Sutton, co-principal at Randolph Union High School and I am thrilled to be here with all of you this evening recognizing these smart funny capable young people that you have raised. Our community indeed this world is made better through their work ethic determination and creativity. And I am Katie Sutton co-principal at Randolph Union. It is our honor and privilege to celebrate these senior students with all of you here tonight. As you can see as you review the program for this evening's ceremony, we will hear from individuals who the seniors wish to celebrate and recognize and of course we will hear our seniors voices as well. We are delighted to spend this evening with you on this monumental occasion and with respect to the solemn and special nature of this occasion we ask that you please silence your cell phones and remain attentive as we enjoy our time with these remarkable senior students for just a couple more hours. Dear class of 2023 and all of you here with us under this tent on this lovely evening parents, guardians, grandparents, siblings, friends, community members who have supported and guided and nurtured these young people right up to this significant point in their lives. Thank you for joining us this evening to celebrate this remarkable accomplishment. This evening can be a bit bittersweet because while it marks the beginning of new and wondrous journeys, it also marks the end of equally many journeys and though our you has been a common experience for these young people and though their paths may have been intertwined at times, their journeys, obstacles and triumphs often have been their own. A lot about the idea of transition and change lately and how sometimes transition feels organic and gradually evolved much like a sunflower seed that is planted in the earth and knows vaguely but importantly what it will become. What its potential is to be tall and strong and beautiful to those who witness its growth. I ask you this evening to imagine a beautiful and vast field of sunflowers all kissed by the light all gently swaying in the wind together and in unison. We know that the students who we are celebrating tonight are also experiencing a significant and important passage in their lives. One that was not guaranteed and certainly not given to them without an extraordinary effort. I will always think about this class of students and what it took for them to be here in front of you all as their journey here has not been an easy one. They have experienced incredible adversity, a gale force wind, a torrential rain, the absence of light for prolonged periods of time all of which has impacted their growth and their ability to see what could be what potential they have to grow into the individual they are capable of being. Many of these factors have been beyond their control. An animal travels by and enjoys the meal of their petals leaving them vulnerable and exposed and wondering if their hearts, their minds, their spirit will ever regenerate. Sometimes the rain and wind is too much to bear and their stocks give out and there they lay exposed to the elements wondering if anyone will come by and lift them up or prune them to allow for regrowth. Some nurture, some care, some recognition that the conditions that they are facing are hard impossible even. Will anyone notice? I say to you tonight that we saw you and we see you. We know you've lost your teachers and peers throughout your tenure at RU. We know that during a critical point in your lives here at school you were not given the opportunity to witness other sunflowers grow in fields from afar and who also would have benefited from your presence, your inspiration to grow, your brilliance. That a pandemic, something beyond your control, much like an adverse weather event, attempted to steal your promise and our ability to support you in the ways in which you needed to be cared for. But here you stand, strong, tall and beautiful. We know there have been times over the course of your journey with us when things have been hard, times when your advisories seemed like they were falling apart and needed support, times when classes challenged your assumptions and left you feeling as if you would never pass that summative. There have also been times when life outside of school felt as if it would overwhelm every effort you made to learn and grow. And we have been fortunate enough to have front row seats to serve as guides and witnesses, as you solved problems, learned to reach out for help, leaned on each other for support, all in order to continue on your educational journey. Watching all of you enter this tent tonight reminded me of a time that doesn't feel very long ago, when you all were nervous eighth graders preparing to enter the world of high school. You all have made intentional choices as you navigated your path through the final years of your secondary education. Choices that have brought you on to this stage this evening. If you have ever observed a sunflower, you may have witnessed that they turn in the direction of the sun, hence the name. You can almost see the decision making as they slowly and gradually turn and tilt their heads, earnestly finding the right light that will allow them to realize their full potential. The choice is subconscious. They know they need the light to live and the transition, the change, ever so slight, ever so gradual, is essential to their growth. Some transitions feel like that. There seems to be no choice in it. It feels right and you just know somewhere in your heart, your mind, your spirit that it is the right one. But sometimes the change feels thrust upon you in abrupt, uninvited imposition or disruption, an invasive and persistent pest, much like the pandemic presented to all of us. What is remarkable about all of you is that when the changes, the transitions, have been imposed upon you, and it appears that you have no choice in it, no decision to make, that you have made one. You have decided that you can either lay on the ground, waiting for nurture and care, and decide to accept unfortunate conditions and slowly decay without purpose, or you can decide that you do have control and agency in it, that you can decide to approach the adversity, the change, the transition, with hope and optimism, and know that you will be nurtured, you will be cared for, and you are seen and heard, that you can leave a legacy, an impression that others are watching you and what you do, so that they then will have the courage and the fortitude to make something important and precious out of an unfortunate circumstance. That is why you are all here tonight, glowing in your growth and beauty right before our eyes. I have no doubt that others, outside of our special school community, will notice. Those of us who have had the joy of watching you grow and seeing you develop your own voices and strengths over time know that life will bring unexpected challenges. You have developed the capacity to learn to get back up, turn your faces to the sun each time you've been knocked down. And while your journeys may take you to varied and wild places, we sincerely hope that you will always know how to find your way home to the places that support and nurture you. We share with you a graduation gift, a poem by Mary Oliver, appropriately titled, The Sunflowers, which reminds us of all of you. Come with me into the field of sunflowers. Their faces are burnished discs, their dry spines, creek-like ship mass, their green leaves so heavy and many, fill all day with the sticky sugars of the sun. Come with me to visit the sunflowers. They are shy but want to be friends. They have wonderful stories of when they were young, the important weather, the wandering crows. Don't be afraid to ask them questions. Their bright faces which follow the sun will listen. And all these rows of seeds, each one a new life, hope for a deeper acquaintance. Each of them, though it stands in a crowd of many, like a separate universe, is lonely. The long work of turning their lives into a celebration is not easy. Come and let us talk with those modest faces, the simple garments of leaves, the coarse roots in the earth so uprightly burning. Congratulations Class of 2023. Thank you. Now we will engage in a special tradition at RU, recognizing and celebrating our international exchange students and families with the International Exchange Club Exchange of Flags. Please welcome Paula de Miguel Gonzalez of Spain and her exchange siblings Helen and Blake Allen to the stage. Good evening. My name is Blake Allen and my family has had the pleasure of hosting Paula de Miguel from Spain this past year. RUHS has a long tradition of honoring our exchange students and families at graduation with a sharing of flags. Year after year, our exchange students complete not only the lives of their families, but their classmates in the Randolph community. We are lucky and grateful to have them. This past year, RUHS welcomed Paula de Miguel as an AFS student from Spain. From the beginning, Paula fit right in with our family and school. She totally rolled with our family's humor and enjoyed the trips and activities we took. At school, Paula played three sports, being the star of the volleyball team, but picking up softball and basketball for the first time. She volunteered in the community through her Interac class and recently traveled to Florida through the RUHS Marine Biology trip. Paula will leave Randolph having found her way into broader RUHS community and into the hearts of her friends and host family's hearts. I will miss Paula comparing everything to high school musical, but I will never forget her. We now welcome Annabelle Sprague for our yearbook dedication. This year's yearbook dedication goes to Mike Gray. Mr. Gray has been with the class of 2023 for many years as he was a seventh grade advisor. You can always expect Mr. Gray to be participating in school events and busting a move on the dance floor at prom. Mr. Gray taught eighth grade science to our unbunctious class. His calm demeanor and humor proved to be just what our class needed. As Mr. Gray moves on next year, he will be greatly missed. Thank you Mr. Gray. Senior speaker of the evening. Please welcome Simon Allen. Good evening Randolph Union Galloping Ghost Community in the class of 2023. Albert Einstein once said, if you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not people or things. As we gather here today, we, the class of 2023, stand on the threshold of a significant milestone in our lives, high school graduation. This occasion is not just about us as individuals, but also about the people who have helped us get to this point. I, Simon Allen, stand before you as a representative of our class, sharing my own journey of adapting to Randolph Union. When my family informed me of our move from Chelsea to Randolph, I was initially resistant, leaving behind my familiar surroundings, school and cherish connections seem like the end of the world. However, as I entered seventh grade at RU, I quickly discovered the unfamiliarity was not as daunting as I had imagined. New friendships blossomed and we experienced the joy of growing together. As a sophomore, I had the privilege of attending a, ah, my bad. I had the privilege of attending a sports leadership conference put on by the BPA, supported by the school's booster club. It was there I learned the significance of setting goals and envisioning their realization. I actually took away a lot from the conference, but most important thing I took away was goal setting. Setting goals is not about merely going through the motions, required setting attainable yet challenging objectives, pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones and breaking down our aspirations into smaller manageable steps. And just through this process of growth and achievement that we can realize our full potential and make our dreams a reality. Since then, I've set goals for myself that are attainable, but won't be easily reached. And I set smaller goals to reach that large goal. They talked about making a dream board in this conference. And ever since then, I have had a dream board in my room, where I set goals all the way from three months out to 10 years. This lesson has stayed with me throughout my high school journey and will undoubtedly shape my future endeavors. You may ask, what is the point of all this? Well, we have all had the goal to graduate and we've done it. We'll now open the next chapter of our lives and continue to move forward with the same drive and aspirations that we have developed over the years. We may not have had the best athletics or academics, but I know that this class is full of hardworking and goal driven people. So class of 2023, even though Mr. Hawks thinks we are the class of 2022, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for the memories we have made together. Let us be bold in our ambitions, diligent in our efforts and unwavering in our commitment to success. Brian Cagney said, in order to know where you're headed, you must be aware of your own personal goals. So move forward in your next chapter by setting goals and working hard to attain them. And of course, stay small. Thank you, Simon. We now welcome Hisoka Chamberlain, our next senior speaker. Six years have been the craziest years of my life, as I can only assume everyone here has experienced. From the parents to the teachers and faculty who have held our hands. Thank you for guiding us through these crazy, important years. Not only have these years been crazy due to the growing process and discovery process, but they were also insane because we got caught up in COVID during our transition through into our high school years. For this, I want to commend everyone under this tent tonight for making it through for supporting students and being there for your peers through the rest of it. Here's to each and every one of us on the stage and off the stage tonight. To everyone who has lended a helping hand in raising each of us to be where we are today. To my fellow peers, we should all feel very accomplished for making it to this huge milestone in our adult lives. No, no matter what you do after this, just remember everyone who has made an impact on you in this moment right here and now. Have a wonderful night and peace and love be to all. Senior speaker will be Illumi Wheeler. I'd like to thank RUHS for helping me learn my potential and for granting me the ability to gain bonds over my years here. I'd also like to thank everyone who has helped me get to where I am today and I'll be leaving here with important knowledge and relationships and I know I'll be leaving here and have people believe in me. Goodbye RU and rock on. Samantha Flint. Celebrate the moment we've been thinking about since we walked in those doors in seventh grade. Back then it seemed so far away and now that's here it's kind of crazy how fast the years have gone by. Mostly you probably know me, but for those that don't, my name is Samantha Flint. I have been head of the costume team for the past two years and I spent my senior year in the ag program at the tech center. When I joined drama in ninth grade, I was really nervous because I didn't know anyone and I was the only freshman. I ended up having a lot of fun. I was able to expand my experience with sewing and altering clothing and I became friends with a ton of amazing people. I stayed in the drama program for the rest of high school. I've really enjoyed my time in the program and I've been able to learn a lot from Mr. Rainville and Mr. Mikiwan. Thank you. When I started this year in the diversified agriculture program I was pretty nervous but as time went on I had a lot of fun, made some new friends and got to know my cousin better. Most or both of these experiences have taught me that it's good to take risks and try new things. There have been a lot of times over the past six years where I was unsure of doing something because I didn't want to be alone, but I learned that if I'm going to do something I enjoy with people that enjoy it too I won't be alone. So my advice to everyone still in RUHS is to try joining a club or a sport or go to the tech center. Just don't hold yourself back and don't be afraid to meet new people. Trust me going to tech and joining drama has really paid off me because I've met some of my best friends there. Congratulations class of 2023 and good luck in the rest of your lives after high school. I now welcome Layla Grimaldi for her speech. Hello seniors, families and friends. I'm Layla Grimaldi but you might know me as campus life president, Miss Randolph Teen or even the new Southern girl that moved here last year. Or you might not know me at all but I find that extremely hard to believe. All the report cards and teachers notes I brought home the past 12 years had said something along the lines of this. Layla needs to learn a whole lot more and talk a whole lot less. Anyway I'm done with my intro so let's get why we're all here. Graduation. Dear fellow graduates, as we gather here today to celebrate our graduation I can't help but reflect on the journey that brought us here. For me that journey is when I moved here from Georgia all the way to Randolph. I was nervous and unsure about what to expect but I quickly realized that I had landed in a very special place. And just like that you get new experiences. I've met so many cool people in Randolph through school and my extracurriculars. I've also met amazing people beyond the walls of high school. We've all had our fair share of foreign exchange students to never forget. And friends that you meet from different schools or sports events. But with this you also find people you don't connect with or like. And that's something I had to come to terms with. We all have gone through some awkward phases. If you had seen 2019 Layla begging her mom for the Air Force Ones and wearing that God awful red lifeguard hoodie you'd understand. But through these high school experiences we find ourselves. We start seeing what we can do and who we want to be. For me this defining moment is when I started pageantry. Even though it's not really understood in our little town. I made so many amazing friends by walking in stages and sparkly dresses. I've learned to have amazing speech skills and to be a leader. I've also learned how to fail and get back up and to be confident when we're not our best selves. Throughout these four years a lot of us couldn't believe in ourselves. At some point in time we have all been scared and afraid. Whatever that moment was no matter if it was on the Asbab or on your 10th grade portfolio we all had that same exact moment. But I know moments of strength can also look different for everybody. It might be when a paint brush is first put into your hands or when you scored your first goal on the varsity team. This moment opens everyone's eyes to see that you are okay with who you are and not with what people want you to be. Randolph Union High School has been more than just a school for all of us. It's been a community, a family, and a home. We have made lifelong friends, shared unforgettable experiences, and learned valuable lessons that will stay with us forever. It has been a long road these past four years of high school life, but I feel like all of us had made valuable connections and left our marks. But my experience is just one small part of the bigger picture. Everyone of us has a story to tell. A journey to share and a unique perspective to offer. Together we make up the fabric of this amazing community. Class clowns, athletes, artists, and actors. We all love Randolph and in common, we will have it in a common and we all have it in common for the rest of our lives. Standing here I want to make it clear that no matter who you are, what click you're in or what path you're taking out of here, you are getting the same diploma as everyone else walking the stage, doing it in front of the people who did or didn't believe in you. Maybe some of you heard graduation isn't an accomplishment. When I heard this from my dad being halfway through high school at the time, I felt disconnected and discouraged. But being here today I know what it means. He knew and he believed I would do better than a high school diploma. He knew the work was going to be worth more in the end. High school will only be one very small part of my achievements and our achievements and one very small stepping stone for our futures. Seniors, we have come together to support each other through the good times and bad. We have celebrated each other's victories and lifted each other through our defeats. We have learned from our mistakes and grown stronger as a result. I feel like this year we really morphed seniors into a family. As we talked to each other and we became a team by the end of the year. As we move on to the next chapter of our lives, we will take us lessons, memories, and happiness that we have found here. Whether those were hard lessons or a teacher connection for the next chapter, there was something you took away from Randolph Union. We will look back our time at Randolph Union with gratitude and fondness. So let us take a moment to thank our teachers, our families, and each other for what we have done to make this day possible. Let us look forward to the future with optimism and excitement, knowing that we are ready for whatever comes our way. I hope you all work hard and accomplish all of your dreams. I hope you live day by day like it's your last. Push yourself and break the rules. One day you'll find what you truly love. One day you'll sit down and say this is what I'm meant to do. This is what the path God or the universe holds for me. To quote an influential woman of our time and one of the number one lyrics screamed on the senior trip bus and on the dance floor prom, here's a quote from the boss herself, Lizzo. Turn up the music, turn down the lights. I've got a feeling we're gonna be all right. It's about damn time. Congratulations class of 2023. I'll see you all through union. Who's our keynote speaker for this evening? Please welcome seniors, Logan Margison and Quinn Gallant. Good evening. Hold on. I'm tall so I gotta justice. Good evening. Are you guests? I would like to introduce an old friend of mine. This man is my former para and has helped me throughout most of my high school career. I miss having him around and really appreciate all the help he has given me. He is respectful, helpful, and most importantly an incredible person. And he has helped me become a stronger person both accidentally and emotionally. In the brief time he and I have worked together, he has become one of my closest friends. Additionally, our speaker is someone I've known since I was nine as a camp counselor and in the last three years as a lacrosse coach. I can say with confidence that he is a personable, thoughtful, and inspiring person as a coach and a friend. It is our honor and pleasure to call Richard Burnham to the stage. Superintendant Lane Millington, principals Katie Sutton and Lisa Floyd, members of the faculty, family, friends, and most importantly the graduating class of 2023. Congratulations on this milestone. I remember graduating on the same stage back in 2016 just seven years ago. I remember the conversations about the after party and brain tree later that night. I remember wearing slippers under my graduation attire, which my mother was very angry about. And among my lasting memories is the fact that I was chosen as one of the student speakers. I remember I thought I was going to change the lives of my classmates with this genius piece of advice I had come up with. I wrote a speech about never forgetting where you came from. Super original. At the moment, at that moment, I was proud of the work that I had put forward. But as I got older and had more time to reflect in the speech that day, I realized a few things. One, that piece of advice was extremely corny. Two, I realized I should not have worn slippers in front of speaking in front of everybody. And three, I was 18 years old with no real adult life experience attempting to give people the same age as me advice on being an adult. Something about that never felt right and it felt kind of selfish. What I have learned is that the best advice is given through the actions of others. Anyone with the right amount of time can sit down and write positive affirmations like get comfortable being uncomfortable. Everything happens for a reason. Success is a mindset. All of those are great, but the people that live by those positive affirmations, they're the ones that we were supposed to learn from. They're the ones in the front lines fighting wars, protecting our streets, sprinting into fires and standing up for what is just. They're they're the ones who sacrificed every waking hour of their lives, nursing people back to health during the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching our next generation and maintaining our societal infrastructure. They're the ones that left a forever long impact on those around them. Acknowledging that fact, today I'm going to do something different. I'm going to tell you the three life lessons I learned from the actions of others that have come into my life. Number one, serve a purpose bigger than yourself, but expect nothing in return. It is spring 2022 and I'm working in a classroom with a unique group of students. Every day, this particular group of seniors had a different objective. Some days it was, how can we make Richard extremely uncomfortable? Other days it was, is it possible to make Richard angry? However, in this particular instance, they were preparing for prom. While the majority of the students browsed websites for tuxedos, dresses and other items, there was one senior who never did. She always faced the window, never truly interacting with the rest of the classroom, except when the topic of prom came up, the student's head would perk up quickly and her, and their eyes would widen in excitement. However, there was one problem, the student could not afford the prom experience. I had a supervisor at the time who always sat diagonally across from me in our classroom. If a student had a bad day, she was the first to listen. If a student accomplished even the smallest of tasks, she was the first to scream in excitement. Despite having kids of her own, I could tell each day of working alongside her that no matter what student she worked with, she cared about them as if they were her own. On this particular day, I was only a bystander to a conversation with a student who sat by the window. Sadly, I do not remember it word for word, but the result of it was my supervisor paying for her to have the prom experience. She got her hair braided, her nails done, and got to choose from a selection of dresses collectively given to her by a few staff members. Then, on the day of prom, my supervisor and I attended their pre-prom photo shoot. The student who sat by the window, who never truly interacted with the rest of the classroom, was now a social butterfly. She had the biggest smile we had seen all year. The student who thought it would not be possible to truly experience prom had it brought to life for her, and it was all because of my supervisor. There will always be someone less fortunate than you. Even in the darkest, most painful moments of your life, there will always be someone who has it worse. Yet, we get so easily blinded by our own misfortunes. We forget about the world others live in. We forget how hard it is for others to afford commodities like food, water, or shelter. If you want to leave a positive legacy, it starts with serving others so that they can experience the beauty that life has to offer. The sad part is, though, some people who serve do it for the wrong reasons. They want the clout that comes along with it. They want to be able to make a new Instagram story or TikTok. These people want someone to recognize them for what they are doing. That is not why we serve others. We serve others because it's the right thing to do. We serve others because there are people out there that will never get the same opportunities as the rest of us. We serve others because we don't know how much time everyone has on this earth. If you commit to helping others, at some point the recognition will come, but don't make it the reason you do it. Serve a purpose bigger than yourself, but expect nothing in return. Number two, build a strong and undeniable belief in yourself while staying grounded and humble. It was August 2018. I was running through a torrential downpour in Northfield, Massachusetts, wearing a 25-pound weighted vest, raising money for the Wounded Warrior Project. I had spent my entire summer training for a 10-mile Spartan race, consisting of trails knee-deep in mud, gruesome sandbag carries, rope climbs, and endless amounts of burpees. As my runs got faster, my lifts got stronger, and my confidence grew at an insurmountable level. But at this particular moment, I was uncontrollably shivering from the cold. My weighted vest weighed about 20 pounds heavier due to the rain. With each step, I couldn't feel my legs from the knees down. I had blood running down one of my forearms, and I had run out of water. My thoughts consisted of a never-running circle of wanting to quit, thinking about the pain I felt and feeling sorry for myself. On your right, the man behind me shouted, I move over into the grass to allow the other racer to pass me. He was about six feet tall, wearing nothing but black shorts and a pair of running shoes. He had long, curly black hair, a thick, survivalist beard, and tattoos covering most of his body. But then, as he completely passed me, I noticed about halfway down his forearm, the remainder of his arm was missing. He was also missing half of his right leg. Instead, he had a prosthetic attached below the knee. I stopped running, and my thoughts completely cleared. I was no longer thinking about the pain I felt in my body. My legs began to wake up enough so I could feel my toes, and the air no longer felt nearly as cold. Being cold no longer mattered. Being wet no longer mattered. The pain and soreness in my body no longer mattered. They were all minor inconveniences, not real challenges. I'm proud of myself for finishing the race, despite not finishing first. But I learned there are people in this world who have stories you will never know. They grow up with hardships that we as people can never dream of experiencing. Yet, there are still people in this world that don't want to put the work into capitalizing the opportunities they were born into. This feels disrespectful. Even worse, those same people try to instill into others that they should take shortcuts, do what they want them to do, or not challenge themselves. That is not how you build confidence. That is how you develop an ego. We were supposed to do hard things. The greatest lesson, the great, sorry, the greatest lessons and personal stories are rooted in experiencing, surviving, and thriving when doing things that suck. In order to develop into the greatest human you can be, you need to take advantage of every single opportunity given to you, not because you have to, but because you get to. Build a strong and undeniable belief in yourself while staying grounded and humble. Number three, never allow anyone to convince you that you're incapable of achieving something. In the winter of 2019, I was attending my alma mater, Wake Forest University. I was taking an anatomy course and after seven weeks into the class, I was failing. My professor was not only one of the leading researchers on Neosteoarthritis, but he was also extremely old school. His class had no curve. He did not post his notes online. He never once made a slideshow. If we visited him in his office hours, we weren't allowed to record our conversations. We could not take any pictures of our notes, nor were we allowed to make any copies. He admittedly told us about some of our test questions, being ones he stole from his PhD program 30 years ago. It took him until 2015 to start giving quizzes in between tests in the class average he maintained out of sea. This was a man who would push you until your absolute limit. And if you did not meet his and only his standards, you would not succeed. We were about to take our fourth exam in seven weeks. We were expected to know every muscle from the neck down to the hips. What nerves innervate said muscle, the origins and insertion points of each muscle. And lastly, the functions of each. On top of this, we had to be able to identify every factor on either a cadaver, specimen, diagram, model, bone, or even a magazine. In total, there were 492 pieces of information we had to have memorized. We were only being tested on a random set of 80. I was nervous. I was nervous beyond belief. If I failed another exam, there was no way I would be able to recover. What I decided to do was try and win over my professor with my work ethic. For 10 days, I documented every second detail, image and video that I studied. I created a color coordinated spreadsheet that outlined everything I did to prepare for the test. So I could show my professor how much I genuinely cared, hoping if I failed, this would be my one saving grace. Fast forward to the end of those 10 days, I had just finished my exam and within 10 seconds of leaving the lecture hall, my anxiety had overtaken my entire body. I could not wait to hear what my grade was. My only option was to go see my professor before he was able to grade. As I approached his door, my heart was pounding. I could not get the idea potentially failing the class off of my mind. But before I could knock, he noticed me standing there. Come in, Richard, he said. He could tell something was immediately wrong because the second my foot crossed the entrance of the door, he said, what is troubling you? I poured out every ounce of self doubt and panic I had in my body. I showed him my studying spreadsheet and explained every single detail. He stared at me and listened intently to every word that left my mouth. And then he said the words that forever changed my life. In the 30 years, I have been a professor. I have never adapted my course for a single student and I'm not going to start now. Maybe you are not meant to pass my class. It felt as if a fire had been lit inside of me. It was a fire that I was missing for my entire academic career. My potential was being doubted once again. I had people tell me my whole life I couldn't accomplish countless things. You could never run 48 miles. You could never get into Wake Forest. You could never become a teacher. You could never get out of Randolph. I proved all of those people wrong. Why am I going to stop now? I shook my professor's hand, thanked him for his time. They went back to my dorm and changed every single one of my habits that I believed were affecting my ability to do well in this course. I passed the exam and eventually passed the entire course. The people who doubt your potential are some of the strongest sources of external motivation you will ever experience. Throughout your entire life, there are going to be people who don't believe in you. There will be people who purposely try to prevent you from succeeding. These people are not meant to be hated, resented or disrespected. They're meant to be proved wrong. Do not let their doubt consume you. Instead, embrace the challenge and rise above their disbelief because it is in those moments of adversity where you will truly shine. Prove to yourself and everyone around you that you are capable of surpassing even your own expectations. Never allow anyone to convince you that you are incapable of achieving something. With each passing second, you draw closer to embarking on your next journey. There will be times where your very best will not be good enough. There will be people who do everything in their power to make sure that you don't succeed and there will be uncontrollable events in your life that will forever change who you are. But if you serve a purpose bigger than yourself and expect nothing in return, if you build a strong and undeniable belief in yourself while staying grounded and humble, and you never allow anyone to convince you that you are incapable of achieving something, you will unlock the limitless potential within you and pave the way for extraordinary accomplishments. Thank you very much for this opportunity to share my story with all of you. Congratulations, class of 2020, 2023 and go ghosts. And now for our introduction of the RUHS graduates of the class of 2023, we welcome senior advisor Jamie Conner to introduce our graduates while we present the diplomas. We ask that families only come forward to take a picture when their graduate is receiving their diploma. We promise we will hold our pose to wait for you to get pictures. Here we go, seniors. Dakota Gonzalez. I'm taking a gap here and working as an LNA. School for the U.S. Air Force Medical Services Education of 2023, majoring in public health science and minoring in Spanish and to complete an 18 day early childhood course then apply as a substitute while also focusing on her bowling career and sewing passion. He beginning in the fall of 2023, majoring in art and design for two years and studying business for an additional two years. Ellie has received her cosmetology license and is now pursuing additional certifications. State University major undeclared while continuing to study dentistry and work in the field. Lily Smith to move to North Carolina after graduation to start her family. Kaylee Monger here to travel after graduation. Florence University in the fall of 2023, majoring in psychology. Makayla Herring, College of Vermont whilst also continuing her job as an LNA. Leah Vinton will continue to work as an LNA while studying to become a registered nurse. Enter the workforce, majoring in electrical engineering and minoring in computer science. Diesel equipment, his work in photography and making it a career is on finding an art major. Leah of Kentucky, majoring in business 2023 to earn her bachelor's of science in nursing. College this fall, majoring in theater acting. Enter the workforce, gets in business while being a salesman at Green Mountain Electric Supply, which then transferred to Grand Canyon University to pursue an education in mechanical engineering and physics, conservation. River Toyota as a mechanic, animations pursuing welding to begin a welding apprenticeship to pursue a degree in fire science. Love de Saint. Caleb will be going to Vermont State University, VTC campus, majoring in construction management and will continue to work and pursue his dream of photography, ski to the best of his ability and will never stop working on his car. Is continuing into her second year at Norwich University with hopes to get her master's in architecture 2023 for snapping turtle tree work, he will reach different heights by becoming the new climber mechanic while still room electrical engineering, this majoring in renewable energy, continue working as an electrical apprentice working towards his journeyman's license and further advancing in his career, clinical college in the fall of 2023, majoring in mechanical engineering. 23 time for the town of Randolph, continuing to work at Gifford Medical Center as an LNA after graduation and may attend college in the future to further her nursing career. Union principles, we certify tonight to OSSD board chair Hannah Arias and superintendent Millington and the surrounding communities that these Randolph Union seniors have successfully met the state of Vermont and Orange Southwest school district academic graduation requirements and proficiencies and that they are prepared for the conferral of their diplomas. These turn your tassels from the right side of your cap to the left in order to signify your status as Randolph Union at this time it's of the class of 2023.