‘Life is a highway’: Granby grads encouraged to enjoy the journey

GRANBY — Ellie Goulding’s synth-pop anthem “Anything Could Happen” blasted in the Granby Junior-Senior High School on Saturday morning while students exited the building with smiles and a pep in their step.

Whether the graduates are lined up for college, going straight into the workforce or preparing to enter the military, their commencement ceremony highlighted something the 44 graduates had in common: a fuzzy conception of the future. Truly, anything could happen.

Regardless of the unknown, the day’s speakers egged each other on to make history, forge a path, and perhaps more importantly, to tell the people around them that they love them.

“Life is a highway,” said Superintendent Mary Jane Rickson addressing the room, citing the theme song of the Pixar movie “Cars.”

“If ‘Cars’ teaches us anything, it’s that the journey matters just as much as the destination. Success is not about just crossing the finishing line, it’s about growth, humility, resilience and relationships that we build along the way,” she said.

And along the winding road of twists and turns, salutatorian Mylin Laliberte said that perfectionism isn’t the answer. Everyone will make mistakes, but authenticity is what matters, she told her peers.

“Leaving here today, we are stepping into a world that doesn’t come with instructions. Some of us have our future carefully planned out, while others are in doubt,” said Laliberte. “What matters is that we continue to move forward, what matters is staying true to who we are.”

She ended her address on a motivational note. “Let’s go and make some history!” she said as she waved to the room and left the podium.

The day’s valedictorian, Kaitlyn Curran, asked the room, “Can I even sum up 12 years of growth, mistakes, lessons and memories?”

She said over that time she was focused on academic goals and honors.

“I thought success was measured in percentages and trophies — the tangible items that proved you work hard,” she said. “While those things still matter, I realize that they’re only a small part of the story. The real measure isn’t found on our high school transcripts. I realized from my time here at Granby High School it is truly the people that define the place.”

Social science teacher and commencement speaker Norman Racine took the moment to tell his students he loved them now that they’d be in the school together for a last time.

“Mostly I just try to show people I care about them in small ways, so before you leave, I want to let you know how I really feel about you,” he said. “I have a brother and sister and our love language is verbal abuse. We cannot stop mocking each other. My brother and I have been making fun of our sister for something she said in 1998 — and not just at Thanksgiving and Christmas — but every time we could work it into conversations.”

He continued, “We don’t do this to be mean. We do this to account for our shared histories, to make each other laugh and let each other know the times we share matter to us. So kids, if I ever included you in jokes, it’s because I liked having you around, and I wanted you to feel like you belong.”

In conclusion, he lent some advice for teachers and students: let others know how you feel about them.

Graduates

 Emma Rose Beaulieu, Richard James Beaulieu, Skylar Benware, Ethan L. Bergeron, Lea Marie Charest, Allison June Charron, Brandon S. Chatel, Chase Michael Clark, Raymond A. Colon, Kaitlyn Elizabeth Curran, Edward Jakob Dziok, Leonardo Manuel Esquivel, Zavien Fernandez, Benjamin Christian French, Angelina Marie Fuentes, Quinn Emily Fuller, Brodie Lundon Funk, Jake Allen Gagnon, Braden Michael Gallagher, Durant John Garden, Addison Michelle Gardner, Daniel James Hackett, Maxwell Adam Kennedy, Jacob Daniel Lacasse, Braydon Anthony LaDuke, Mylin An Laliberte, Jared Raymond Lapite, Blake Jasper Francis Lashway, Ava-Elizabeth Marie Loughman, Rosalba Milena Manduca, Allison Hope Maslak, Annalise Lily Patterson, Keith Andrew Patterson, David Ryan Radkowski, Faith Hope Ramos, Jadin Dennis Rowell, Savannah River Rushlow, Anthony Alexander Santiago, Daniel Alexander Santiago, Addison Hazel Scott, Stephen Michael Szlosek, Mark Francis Tavernier, Nathaniel Thomas Valle, Izzy Woods.