SACS grads saluted

Contributed Phtoto/Suzie Tarr
WE MADE IT — Celebrating Friday evening after their graduation are Joseph Frazier, left, Ryland King of Southern Aroostook Community School.
By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
    Southern Aroostook Community School graduated 32 students last Friday night. The honor speakers spoke on many topics from defining yourself, choosing the right path, along with taking time to celebrate to getting involved.
    Guest speaker Jody Brown, a 1995 SACS graduate, reminded each student has a fresh start.
    “Essentially, whatever you choose to do from here on out is up to you,” she said. “This is your chance to define yourself and start with a clean slate.”
    Brown noted that each graduate’s accomplishments thus far has moved them to their next step in life.
    “But, you will have to keep working and accomplishing new things to move on,” she cautioned. “I have been pleasantly surprised to learn that Aroostook County actually has a very good reputation for turning out exceptional, hard-working students and employees. I think you should take full advantage of this because your reputation will precede you. A work ethic is something that can’t be taught, it’s engrained in you when you’re brought up here. Be proud of where you come from, I know I am – this will always be my home.”
    In her closing remarks, Brown advised the graduates to live their class motto: “And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
    “This is your time to do what you want to do, to figure out what direction your life will take, to have fun. Live it, every single day without regrets,” she added.
    Valedictorian Morgan Gustin noted that for about the last nine months, she and her peers have been discussing post-graduation plans with just about everyone.
    “Each person has one more piece of advice to offer — perhaps about jobs, about college, about life in general,” she said. “It can be tedious. It can be overwhelming. It all seems like way too much to remember.”
    Gustin explained it was all right not follow each person’s advice.
    “Life is about choices — many times, personal choices. Choices that, in both large and small ways, will influence who you are, who you seek to become, how others view you, and even the footprint you will leave behind on the world,” she said.
    As Gustin closed, she quoted an old adage: Watch your thoughts; they become words; Watch your words; they become actions; Watch your actions; they become habits; Watch your habits; they become character; And watch your character, because it defines you.
    “Live a life that you will be proud of when you look back on it five, 10, 15 years from the present. Enjoy life, but live with dignity, discipline, determination, and grit,” she added. “And one last thing: Accept no one’s definition of your life; define … yourself.”
    Salutatorian Jessica Charest compared graduation to the Department of Mysteries in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” a room full of doors leading in all different directions.
    “Each one of us must choose which door to continue through now,” she said. “We may have to open several doors to get where we want to go, or we may just need to open one before we are satisfied that we are going in the right direction.”
Contributed photo/Suzie Tarr
SIBLINGS — SACS Valedictorian Morgan Gustin, left, gives her speech while twin brother, Vance Gustin (First Honor Essayist) looks on in the background.
    Charest assured her classmates that there is a door for everyone.
    “Now that the door to our high school years has closed, we have to open the door leading to the rest of our lives,” she said. “We might make mistakes and walk through several wrong doors, but that’s life. Life is full of mistakes, and now is the time to make them. We must make our mistakes now so that we can learn from them later in our life. Now, we still have our families to help us through our mistakes, we still have time to get things right, and we begin by opening a new door and seeing what is held within.”
    After quoting Denzel Washington “nothing is worthwhile, unless you take risks,” Charest preceded to say “We must take the risk of choosing the wrong door in order to find the right one leading to our destination. Right now, we may not know where that destination lies, but every door we open brings us that much closer to a bright future.”
    “We have come here today to celebrate our journey and to remember the times of our youth,” said First Honor Essayist Vance Gustin.
    He talked about having the “best of times” and “worst of times.” How each class member shared their stories, succeeded and failed in their goals, learned and failed to learn valuable life lessons and dreamt of the future.
    “We had dreams and these dreams, have formed the backbone of our desire to succeed,” he said. “These dreams push us onward into a future in which anything is possible.”
    Gustin reminded those in attendance that SACS graduation was a time to celebrate those dreams and bask in the time graduates have before leaving the “metaphorical” nest.
    “For time moves along its unstoppable course and you can only live today once,” he said. “This is a day to make happy memories. This is a day of smiles and laughter. This is a day of relaxation and joy. For tomorrow we begin a new journey.”
    Taylor Locke, second honor essayist, challenged his classmates and class body at SACS.
    “The one thing I have learned over these last few years is the importance of getting involved,” he said. “Often times the general consensus is that nothing can be accomplished and standing on the sidelines is the best course of action. It is important to get involved in things you care about.
    “Never underestimate yourselves, never think that your opinions don’t matter, and never think that you cannot make a difference,” he added.
    Locke quoted Teddy Roosevelt, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
    Locke also left a word of wisdom to the undergraduates.
    “Many of us, myself included, never took the time to just enjoy the moment, just to stop and take it all in. If I had any advice for my friends coming back to high school it would be, enjoy the what is happening now and don’t wish  your life away,” he added.
    “We are embarking on a new journey,” he said. “For most that means college; for others, it means the military or the work force. But whatever it is, it will be different; it will be a change. Yet this is only a new beginning.”