Absegami Graduates Look to the Future

Absegami High School valedictorian spoke of the challenges the graduating Class of 2011 will face as it enters the real world, and salutatorian Marina Mariam Monir Sharobeam spoke of the need to stay positive.

from Absegami High School Wednesday night, and they were looking forward to a bright future.

“I’m really excited,” said Matthew Dickson, who will be attending Kings College on an academic leadership scholarship. “I’m going to be swimming and majoring in communications and marketing.”

“It feels really good (to graduate),” said Alexis Jenkins, who will find herself at Georgian Court University in the fall. “My best friend (Alyssa Alexander) is going to be my roommate.”

The class eagerly anticipated the future, but many realized the need to begin working this summer.

“I’m going to be getting a job, and start working out, getting ready for next year,” said Avery Cunningham, an Absegami basketball player who is hoping to play as a walk on while majoring in mechanical engineering at North Carolina A&T. “(Graduating) is an amazing accomplishment, but I have more to go. This is a step in a positive direction.”

“High school is a standard, not an achievement,” said David Correa, who will major in health and fitness management at Rowan University. “The achievement is getting your college degree, having a profession and raising a family.”

Correa will also be rooming with a friend from high school, David Miller, when they go off to college together.

Those who will see a familiar face in college can feel a sense of comfort in an unfamiliar world.

“We are graduating in an era laden with great challenges, but also rife with great opportunities,” Axelrod said in her speech. “From the generation before us, we are inheriting several wars, an economic meltdown, and bickering political parties. The consequences of this have been felt everywhere across the nation, even in our own school. We have witnessed excellent young educators laid off, activities discontinued, and late buses curtailed due to budget cuts.

“It is imperative that we mature into effective and successful adults in order to leave the proper legacy for the next generation. Never have we been so vital to the fate of tomorrow. Part of how we learn success is through the examples set by the generations preceding us.

“We are fortunate to have had many positive role models here at Absegami, as well as our parents, relatives and others whom we admire in our personal lives. Though we can glean much information from their favorable examples, we can learn just as much from individuals who are not effective.”

She went on to discuss the near-government shutdown, and how it demonstrates a need to compromise.

“We may not always agree, but we must be able to see others’ points of view,” Greater Egg Harbor Regional School District Superintendent of Schools Steven Ciccariello said. “That will serve you well as you enter the rapidly changing world.”

Sharobeam pointed out the difficulties of this ideal, as the world is made up of both optimists and pessimists.

“The scarce optimists were always seen as unrealistic and naïve, shielding themselves from the true concerns of the world,” Sharobeam said in her speech. “But maybe, just maybe, these optimists have the right idea.

“Many people think that optimism is an impractical way of looking at the world. But maybe it’s far more useful than you can imagine. Pessimists, always seeing the worst of the world, will never be able to be happy. No matter what may go their way, they will always see something wrong. Optimists, on the other hand, will be able to see the silver lining of any unfortunate situation, making them generally happier people. Even statistically, happier people are more successful people, so the world can always use more optimism.”

After listening to the speeches, the graduates received their diplomas, one at a time, beginning with class president Michael Leon Stafford. That’s when the reality truly sunk in for some students.

“We’ve been doing nothing but graduation practice for five days now, but right now, it’s beginning to sink in,” said Christine Dizenzo, who will study international politics and minor in Mandarin Chinese at Penn State. “It’s sinking in that I’ll never have to come back here, although I probably will.”

Dizenzo will return to see her friend, junior Billy Bates, perform in plays. Before she goes to college, she’ll be going to Disney World and working at Party City this summer.

The summer is the last step before these high school students fully begin the next chapter in their lives, a chapter that for some, feels like it should have a few more pages.

“I can’t believe all four years went by so fast,” said Courtney Sciarretto, who will attend Atlantic Cape Community College this fall. “Over the summer, I’m going to get a job, go to the beach, hang out and just enjoy the summer being free.”