BELCHERTOWN — As president of the Belchertown High School class of 2021, David Hulme admitted that coming up with the right words for his commencement speech proved difficult.
“I feel like there really isn’t anything left for me to tell you,” Hulme said Thursday evening with his fellow classmates seated behind him at the high school’s stadium. “You survived a global health emergency, you suffered immeasurable loss, you overcame challenges and you took on huge changes … You shaped your futures in a world where we did not know what tomorrow would look like.”
By the end of his speech, Hulme said he could have summarized the year using the words penned to him by an elementary school student the day before: “Great job, you did the damn thing.”
The commencement marked the 150th ceremony for graduating seniors at Belchertown High School with 171 students receiving diplomas. Parents and family members gathered on lawn chairs on the stadium field and the senior class was assembled onto the bleachers dressed in black caps and gowns.
In a year unlike any other for students across the country, Hulme noted that about three million other seniors were graduating across the United States — a statistic supported by the National Center for Education Statistics. The figure represents the number of people who have competed for places at colleges and universities and will be soon joining the workforce.
“Three million people who want to make a difference just like you,” Hulme said, noting that this year’s class of seniors were forced to re-invent how learning happens. “I can truly say you have all made history.”
Principal Christine Vigneux distinguished this year’s class — not by the pandemic — but by a rare event that only happens every 101 years: “20 and 21 are consecutive integers, and the last time that happened was 1920 … It gives us a unique opportunity for perspective.”
In 1920, women won the right to vote. Now, we have a woman as vice president of the United States. In 1920, the first licensed radio station began broadcasting. Now, “each of you carries your own team and production studio along with you in your pocket. These are reminders of what we are capable of,” she said.
“As 21 follows 20, so does dawn follow the darkness,” she said. “Wisdom can sometimes be painful and hard won, but that can make it all the more valuable.”
During Ashley Messier’s salutatory address, she encouraged her fellow graduates to be themselves “fully and unapologetically.”
“No one person fits this one inflexible mold,” Messier said. “The classmate, and more importantly friend in me, can offer you nothing but continual support and encouragement as you embark on the next chapter of your life. And I sincerely hope that you remain true to yourself each and every step of the way.”
Luis Fieldman can be reached at lfieldman@gazettenet.com.