Port Chester High School graduates ready to brave the next phase of life
July 3, 2024 at 11:17 p.m.
As Port Chester High School valedictorian Orhan Eski pointed out during his commencement speech, the Class of 2024 has gone through some tough times.
“Our time at Port Chester High School has taught us that our collective experiences and friendships are invaluable,” he said to his soon-to-be former classmates during the 2024 graduation ceremony on Thursday, June 27. “This moment isn’t just a farewell, it’s a celebration of our resilience, adaptability and the enduring bonds we forged.”
The final adjustment the Class of 2024 had to make before gloriously receiving their diplomas was the date of the event itself. To avoid an impending thunderstorm forecast for the original plan of June 26, Port Chester High School administrators elected to push the ceremony back.
Superintendent Dr. Aurelia Henriquez proudly looks over the Class of 2024 while offering them a bilingual message to keep moving forward before they move on to their next chapter.By Sarah Wolpoff
But the 361 graduates took the shift in stride, taking to their school’s football field one last time on the sunny day in their blue robes—though the wind did provide students and spectators with some laughs by blowing off the caps of speakers and students as they walked.
In keeping with tradition, prior to walking down the aisle with their high school diplomas, various speakers orated to the students. However, this year didn’t feature a keynote speech, shortening the often-lengthy event. Those who did speak centered on the Class of 2024’s tenacity and the need to be willing to fail in life.
Perseverance was the attribute that Superintendent Dr. Aurelia Henriquez focused on when she addressed the students.
She presented them with a saying popular in Puerto Rico, “Pa’lante, y nunca pa’traz,” which translates from Spanish to “forward, and never backwards.”
“I stand before you to share this simple but meaningful message,” Henriquez said. “Rooted in history of a powerful Spanish expression that embodies resilience, persistence and an unwavering commitment to keep going forward.”
She explained that the island of Puerto Rico has been struck by various natural disasters, but its people rebuild their home with a strength and dedication that she admires. She urged the graduates to stay true to that mentality, as it would help them reach their potential not just as lifelong learners, but as people.
Eski provided what may be the most apparent example of how the Class of 2024 demonstrated grit by reminding them of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on their lives.
“Remember our eighth-grade drive-thru graduation?” he posed to his peers. “It was like a fast-food drive-thru, but instead of burgers, we picked up our diplomas.”
Following their unconventional ceremony in 2019, the cohort went through an equally unusual freshman year—through computer screens.
“This was not the high school experience we had envisioned,” Eski said. He joked that students became so proficient at multitasking during remote learning that they could eat entire meals, play video games and nap during their virtual classes.
Despite the rough start, Eski felt his classmates achieved great things.
Soon-to-be graduate Sophia Maldonado tips her cap to the adventures ahead.By Sarah Wolpoff
He listed their achievements including reviving the school newspaper, having the largest starting group of IB (International Baccalaureate) Diploma candidates and their numerous athletic wins. He said their grit is what makes them stand out as students, an idea that senior class co-president Matthew Palma expanded on.
He said they are reflections of the nature of humans as a whole.
“Humans are relentless. We are relentless. We persevere through hardships,” he said.
In his final words to the pupils, Principal Luke Sotherden said their tenacity is a trait that will take them far, so long as they have the boldness to fail.
“Remember it is always better to try and fail than fail to try,” he said. His speech contained excerpts from an address President Theodore Roosevelt gave in 1910, known as “The Man in the Arena,” a copy of which he keeps framed in his office.
“It is not the critic who counts,” Sotherden quoted. “The credit belongs to the man in the arena…who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”
Salutatorian Damaris Ramirez said failure has been, and will continue to be, a key part of their development as students and young adults.
“Our failures are not memorabilia we put on the shelves in order to feel bad about ourselves,” she said. “They are opportunities. Opportunities to grow.”
Ramirez said shortcomings create steppingstones to success. She urged her fellow graduates to embrace the failures that will inevitably occur in various aspects of life, from academic to familial.
“Challenge yourselves,” she said. “Become better than what you once were.”
In his final act as Board of Education member, then-President Lou Russo mimicked Ramirez’s message in a brief speech.
“Life is moving from one comfort zone to the next,” he said. “Here you are today with great pride and joy on the move again, using this moment to fuel your soul for the next part of your journey.”
He urged the graduates to challenge themselves without fear of failure to guarantee a lifetime of growth and learning.
Russo ended his address by leading the students and their families in a chant of “Go Rams,” in what may be the final time some of the graduates do so.
The graduates spent the latter half of the ceremony receiving their diplomas, relishing their achievement. They strutted down the field to the cheers of their friends and families, as their senior co-president Brian Alvarado had asked them to do during his speech.
“Enjoy this moment. Embrace it. Moments as such don’t come very often. Especially graduating high school, it only happens once,” Alvarado said.
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