Hightstown High School Seniors Graduate to Adulthood

For 339 seniors, June 16 will be a day they won’t soon forget. That was the day they took part in their school’s 97th commencement ceremony as the graduating Class of 2011 inside the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton. (See a slideshow of the graduation.)

Rikki Pincus, president of the Class of 2011, spoke about dreams and the struggles that can get in the way of accomplishing them. She said life cannot be left to faith. Instead, she said, her peers need to take advantage of life.

“As we venture down this road of college, the military or whatever our future may hold, I hope we experience a treasure chest of unexplored opportunities,” Pincus said. “Whatever path we are choosing, we know we can all relate back to Hightstown.”

Salutatorian Zachary Shuler joked that his parents expected nothing less than A’s from him. His message to them was that school is not just about grades, but the experience and life lessons from it. He advicsed his classmates to never give up on accomplishing their dreams.

“Love your life—it’s the only one you have,” Shuler said. “I hope you will take life’s challenges head-on. Don’t let anyone bring you down and make you feel worthless. Go with your gut and don’t be afraid of what others may think of your actions. Your feet will take you anywhere in life as long as you take the necessary steps to get there.”

Diversity was the theme of valedictorian One Hyuk Ra’s speech. According to him, that's what makes Hightstown High School special and extraordinary, because it shows the different students’ background and culture. He said he leaves with no regrets, and he thanked his friends, family and the school staff for their help along the way.

“Diversity is a prized characteristic of only a handful of schools, but few schools can claim that their students make the best of the existent diversity,” said Hyuk Ra. “This theme of diversity does not stop at high school. It will become more significant in our lives when we leave high school and enter adulthood. We are now competing against the rest of the world.”

Principle Alix Arvizu read part of a speech billionaire businessman and philanthropist Bill Gates has read to high school students about what students do not and won’t learn in school. It included lessons on how life is not fair, that students shouldn't expect to make $60,000 right out of high school and that one's mistakes are not one's parents' fault.

Arvizu said that hard work is what gives life meaning, and she left the students with some advice, such as to always be accountable for your decisions and to find the positive in life’s moments.

“Tonight we celebrate your hard work towards receiving your high school diploma,” Arvizu said. “I am privileged to be a part of this exciting moment, and hope that you look back at your high school careers and are able to say that you learned a lot, had fun and made some lifelong friends.”

Superintendent Edward Forsthoffer III, who has now served his first year in the position, looked for songs that would make an appropriate message for the day. He came up with Queen’s “We are the Champions,” Taylor Swift’s “A Place in This World” and R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly.” He concluded by reading the poem “Dream Big,” a work he has read at every graduation he has spoken at.

“Graduation is both a beginning and an end,” Dr. Forsthoffer said. “It signifies the beginning of your adult life. Decisions that you will make and actions you undertake will have a lasting effect on the people around you and potentially all of society.”

In the Class of 2011, 94 students were honored with senior awards and scholarships and 58 were recognized for being in the National Honor Society.

As a senior class gift, the class vice presidents presented the school with a banner for the school parking lot.

“You have made us very proud in your academic, athletic and community service achievements and we look forward to many more of these achievements in the future,” Board of Education President Robert Laverty told the graduates.