Mt. Abram graduates told to ’embrace the mountain, keep an open mind’

Mt. Abram Regional Substantial College senior Edilia Stinchfield gets a hug Friday from Assistant Principal Kristina Stevens during graduation ceremonies in Salem Township. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

SALEM TOWNSHIP — Mt. Abram Regional High College graduating seniors were explained to to embrace, not panic, the mountain and to maintain an open mind by salutatorian Cameron Walters.

“Standing behind me is a mountain, the same mountain the college is named for,” he mentioned. “I can not feel of nearly anything additional fitting to symbolize the college, staff members or learners. Owning hiked the mountain once a year … I have grown to take pleasure in the problems of the hike and I master something new each individual time to make the trek a lot easier for the subsequent year. My awareness of the mountain has paralleled my journey through superior school in many means.”

All those climbing the mountain for the 1st time start off at a run, irrespective of becoming instructed to sluggish down because the hardest and steepest part arrives at the finish, Walters reported.

“Remember, lifetime is a marathon not a sprint,” he famous. “We have all completed a incredibly critical area of our race but there is even now lots additional to arrive. Choose it gradual and tackle your worries a single at a time.”

Mt. Abram Regional Large School seniors check out with close friends and household Friday in Salem Township. Graduation ceremonies had been delayed when the audio method would not work and experienced to be changed. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

There are 4 fake peaks ahead of achieving the summit, Walters reported.

“We have achieved our have edition of the untrue peak, not bogus as in fake,” he observed. “We haven’t arrived at the prime of the mountain. We have all labored our butts off to graduate but the difficult do the job doesn’t halt listed here, in point it has only just begun. Enable your progress and progression go on. Do not allow graduation tonight be your last location. Established yourself a new aim whichever path you select and permit every single phase from right here on out guide you to your aspirations.”

While the school’s motto is “Fear the mountain,” individuals graduating must alter the motto to “Embrace the mountain,” Walters claimed. “Embrace every little thing the mountain embodies, all the things you have learned at college although the mountain silently looked in excess of us.

“Never neglect the memories manufactured at Mt. Abram, now go out into the entire world and make memories with new people today on new adventures,” he added.

It was declared that the 40 graduating seniors acquired $822,734 in scholarships from 79 resources. Of the seniors, 23 system to show up at secondary educational facilities, 16 will enter the workforce and 1 will serve in the United States armed service.

Wyatt Sieminski, valedictorian of Mt. Abram Regional High Faculty, speaks Friday for the duration of graduation ceremonies at Salem Township. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

“Today is a quite interesting working day,” valedictorian Wyatt Sieminski advised those people collected. “It is outrageous to imagine that we began large faculty four decades back and now it is time to graduate. We have completed a great deal for the duration of our time in this article. We have gained soccer video games in the center of snow storms, received a basketball game in Augusta for the to start with time in 20 a long time and just previous week we even managed to come across our time capsule following an hour of digging random holes in the floor.

“Through all of all those things we have grown. Via our associations, ambitions, steps and achievements we have slowly but surely become the men and women who are all set to get the future methods in our life. Now we are encouraged to take on the real entire world — a frightening location filled with new responsibilities and issues.

“Some college students have identified what their first techniques in the real environment will be whilst some others however are not sure what their very best choice is,” Sieminski said. “That is Ok. The truth is none of us know the place we will be in a single yr, let by yourself 5 or 10.”

Uncertainty will be confronted in the upcoming 12 months, but there will be opportunities and likelihood, he added.

The high college working experience for the Course of 2022 was not vintage, said Kristina Stevens, assistant principal and athletic director. She spoke of the numerous challenges faced and shed possibilities throughout the pandemic as perfectly as the tragic car accident “with our possess involved.”

“We cried, we grieved and we came collectively as a neighborhood,” she stated. “We have all been by means of so a great deal collectively that we never even speak about it for the reason that there seems to be no words for it. But there is a term for that ‘blah’ we are all feeling, and it is identified as ‘languishing.’ It is about the lack of connection, absence of drive and a common sense of apathy and numbness.

“Many of us felt this over the past couple of yrs but when I glance into this crowd of seniors I do see hope for the long run due to the fact I consider you will all learn from this encounter.

“Redefine what is achievable from the occasions when points felt very impossible,” she encouraged.

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