Belmont High Seniors Storm Graduation

Belmont High School's 275 seniors became graduates Sunday to thunderous applause from family and friends and, well, actual thunder.

As violent storms roared through the area - which was a severe weather microburst that did considerable damage in town - the class of 2010, dressed in maroon caps and gowns with gold trim, received their diplomas in a muggy Wenner Field House with mixed emotions.

"I was anxious and excited," said newly-minted graduate Karina Bekelian, who will attend the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences this fall. "It does feel good to be done though."

Her mother, Talin Bekelian, a 1982 Belmont High School graduate, beamed as her oldest child posed for photographs. "It's amazing," she said of her daughter's graduation. "I feel like I'm right back here doing it all over again."

For friends, like Leili Ansari and Marie Alexander, who have known each other since second grade, the day was bittersweet.

"I can't believe we're not coming back here," Ansari said. "It feels like we've been here forever."

Alexander agreed.

"I'm excited and sad," she said. "I'm definitely going to miss everybody."

Other graduates needed more time to take it all in. "It's interesting," said Ian Magnusson, who will attend Bard College. "I don't think it can hit you all in one day."

Principal Michael Harvey opened the ceremonies by telling the soon-to-be graduates that they have lived up to the school's motto of, "learn, think, create and serve."

He said 46 students in the graduating class earned perfect 800 scores on a portion of the SAT I or an SAT II exam, 11 received National Merit Scholarships and numerous students received academic and athletic awards, including those in mathematics, the sciences and the visual arts. As a class, the graduates amassed 11,200 hours of community service, he said.

"You've all truly earned the distinction Belmont High School graduate," Harvey said.

Class president Catherine Christensen recalled a meaningful conversation she had with her father, where he told her to stop focusing on what she didn't have and appreciate life. "The key to happiness is gratitude," she told her fellow classmates.

Harvard University-bound valedictorian Alison Liou had a similar message for graduates, while salutatorian Thomas Miller, also matriculating to Harvard this fall, talked about how much he had grown over his four years.

"If I had been asked to give this speech my freshman year, I would've fainted in terror," he joked at the podium.

And as the line of graduating seniors came up to accept their diplomas, the wind began to roar, the rain came down and the thunder began to clap.

"Great way to go out," said a senior to his friend. "Stormin' our graduation."