Crowds were packed into the bleachers of the Petersburg High School gym as teachers, families, and friends proudly watched 37 soon-to-be graduates walk to their seats.
The graduation program began with gratitude as seniors handed out roses to important staff and family members. Then, representatives of the graduating class gave speeches.
Salutatorian Elias Ward compared the granite of his countertop with the strong influences that formed his class.
“Granite is composed of many different types of minerals, just like those of us graduating tonight are the result of various influences in our lives,” he said.
Ward said that families, teachers, and the community of Petersburg all came together to help form the graduates today.
The class historian, Isaac Litster, reminded the audience about the journey the class has gone through. The class of 2025 overcame big challenges, whether that was walking in a straight line in elementary school or learning during the pandemic.
Eleanor Kandoll focused on her father’s advice during her valedictorian speech: “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
“To be sure, there is a lot of talent here,” Kandoll said. “When I look before me I see not just students, but athletes, musicians, artists, actors, welders, people who haven’t waited to graduate to make their impact on the world. We have no lack of talent, of gifts, that we are going to bring out into the wider world. But what’s even more important is that everyone here, every single graduate, has an immense capacity for hard work.”
The class of 2025 selected two students to give the commencement speech: Zane Browning and Joseph Tagaban. Both students underwent cancer treatments while in school. They spoke about the strength of the community that helped lift them up during challenging times.
“During my medical period in the hospital, I found myself longing to return back to this town,” Tagaban said. “Friendliness that’s found in a town and largely absent in a city with no connectable relations with others. I’m fortunate to call this place home.”
When Browning spoke, he talked about the way that Petersburg comes together to support people in hard times.
“This life is a life of weights, but all throughout mine, I’m lucky enough to say that I’ve never had to lift one entirely by myself. It’s easy to believe that we are alone in our endeavors, to convince ourselves that there is nobody ready or willing to help but few places disprove that as well as Petersburg,” said Browning. “And from what I’ve seen in this class, what I’ve witnessed firsthand, no matter where we go, no matter how heavy that weight is, we will lift it, not because we can, not even because we have to, but because we are adaptable, because we are resilient, strong and stupid at times, because we are Vikings.”
And when the speeches concluded, there was only one more thing left for these graduates to do: get their diplomas and turn their tassels.
