A school record 430 students received their diplomas at Liberty’s 10th commencement on June 1 at the Family Arena. Graduates earned more than $10.5 million of scholarship offers from the colleges they applied for.
Before he sent the graduates off, head principal Dr. Ed Nelson encouraged students to “ be careful, be good and get attention for the right reasons.”
Choir director Carter Datz (staff) was chosen by the students to be the staff speaker. In his speech, he gave advice to his 18-year-old self. Among his pieces of advice, Datz said “the grass is not greener on the other side. The grass is greener wherever you water it. Don’t spend your life wishing for what you don’t have. Take stock in what you have.”
Datz also encouraged seniors to write a thank you note to someone who changed their life.
Student speaker Leah Dudley (12) discussed the importance of community building and for her fellow graduates not to go about their futures solely individually.
“I think a defining issue of our generation will be the struggle to create connection in an increasingly individualistic world,” Dudley said in her speech. “The more technology advances, the less we need to rely on each other to accomplish the same tasks. It’s a beautiful thing to be self-reliant; don’t get me wrong. But it also means that community building isn’t nearly as effortless or accidental as it used to be.”
After all of the graduates’ names were read by Daniel Wheeler, senior class co-presidents Jasper Leech (12) and Charles Giraud (12) announced to their class that they could move their tassels from the right to the left and throw their caps.
