Class of 2023

wherever you venture.”

She then acknowledged Student Council President Celeste Yeany and Senior Class President Lydia Luna in attendance at the ceremony, and presented them with their diplomas first as part of an annual Cherokee “tradition” so that they can “read their fellow graduates’ names” in handing out the rest of the diplomas to the 559-member graduating class.

After about 20 minutes had passed, the graduating class heard from its valedictorian, Daniel Hassall, who initially gave his mother a loving shoutout, at one point declaring, “you are the greatest thing in my life.”

He then asked his classmates, “Do you remember when we were all very young and the world was ours for the taking?”

“I remember all of ‘you’ – you with that crazy laugh, or ‘you’ and that steel look on your face at every at bat,” he recalled. “The way ‘you’ covered every notebook with flowers. And I will never forget ‘you’ and how your rich brown eyes shined like stars in the sunlight.

“I remember ‘you’ on hot summer mornings, and on cold autumn bus rides, making them all worthwhile. I remember climbing on those storage crates during football in the park, when we all realized, but never acknowledged, how we were all leaving boyhood behind – together.”

Each statement, it was later noted, related to a memory of a different friend or classmate and how they will continue to grow together, but in new directions. The takeaway from Hassall’s speech is that he is grateful for all that his fellow classmates offer each other, and that he loves everyone for the experience.

“For now, I give all of you, a little softly now, the truest thing I know – I love you,” Hassall declared.

‘What

But Rather Advised to Ask, ‘Why Not?’ in Maximizing Possibilities

By D ouglas D. M elegari

Staff Writer

MEDFORD—There are an “infinite number of events” that occur in life that cause one to ask, in reflecting back on them, the question of, “What if?”, but Devin SevilleWalls Torres, president of the Lenape High School Class of 2023, advised his peers during a June 16 graduation ceremony to instead “focus on the reality of what you did, rather than the possibilities of what you would have, could have, or should have done.”

Torres explained to the 472-member graduating class that he often catches himself “contemplating two words: ‘What if?’” citing an example of when the Coronavirus pandemic began during the graduates’ sophomore year of high school, having thought, “What if COVID had died down like we all expected, and

“What if we came back on April 20 (of 2020) like they said we would (but in reality became a closure for the rest of the school year)?”

“Maybe we would have been better at studying,” he surmised. “Maybe we would have scored even higher on some tests. Maybe the economy would be better, and maybe cookies would still be 75 cents (versus $1 now). Maybe we would be a step closer to our set goals. Maybe some people we miss today would not have left our lives in the first place.”

But then, he asked of his peers, what would have happened to all the new connections made, for instance, or if those experiences of late hadn’t been experienced.

“Throw away the ‘What if?’” Torres suggested to the graduating class. “Reflect on the past, sure, but don’t concern yourself with the idea of changing it because it got you exactly where you are today, here with your friends and family at your own high school graduation.”

Co-salutatorian Aayush J. Talreja, however, challenged his classmates to ask the question of, “Why not?”

“Why not maximize the infinite possibilities of today?” asked Talreja, warning his peers to avoid what he referred to as the “trap of adulthood,” or where livelihoods can become “cyclical” and “repetitive.”

Talreja added that the graduates “can’t sit here today and worry about the challenges of tomorrow” and in giving his advice to his peers, declared, “don’t worry about the future, just take a leap of faith today.”

His counterpart, Rohan Gawande, also class salutatorian, in describing that the Class of 2023 has arrived at a “magic moment, at a metaphorical crossroads,” described that his peers now have “two options” to choose, either “complacency” or “success,” before asking several other questions of the graduates.

“Which would you choose?” Gawande asked. “Why wouldn’t we choose ‘success?’ Why would we stay ‘mediocre’ when we could be great?”

In answering that latter question that he posed to his classmates, Gawande asserted, “We stay average because we simply aren’t willing to fail.”

“‘Success,’” he declared, “is only possible if we let go of the past and stop overthinking about the future.”

“Life stops for no one, and why should we?” inquired Gawande of his classmates. “To succeed, we need to seize every opportunity and accept every failure.”

Gawande pointed to Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Jalen Hurts taking a risk of failure every time that he throws the football to win the game.

“Here’s the thing,” Gawande said. “Do you think he has ever frozen in fear, worrying about what ‘could happen’ if the ball is intercepted? No, because failure is simply part of the process. Living in the moment is when failure simply isn’t a concern. And you must focus on the now.”

In pointing to there being 86,400 seconds in a day, Gawande declared there are “86,400 opportunities in a day,” and, “every second, every day, is a fleeting moment for success.”

Gawande’s speech to his peers revolved around the magical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

“We need to use our magic, while accepting failure and living in the moment,” Gawande declared. “We need to reach for the stars. We need to experience today to the fullest, and collect every moment, every motion and look for your family, friends and supporters. These are the keys to your success.”

Torres called June 16 a “historic moment” for many reasons.

“We are the last group of seniors with class rank,” he said, alluding to a prior decision by the Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) Board of Education to no longer publish or release class rank, unless a waiver is granted by the district for a limited circumstance, beginning with the next school year. “We are also the last graduating class that got to experience Lenape before COVID, and before many teachers used Google Classroom (a virtual learning tool), and most importantly, before 75 cent cookies became a $1.”

The Class of 2023, the senior class president pointed out, is also the first to graduate on the high school’s new turf field, and in pointing this out, made a pronouncement that the graduating class was making a “monetary donation for even more improvements to our campus,” though no further details were offered.

“It is “important to remember,” Torres said, “this is not the finish line,” but rather “let this graduation be a steppingstone to a bright future, filled with more graduations, more (honor) cords, more medals and more speeches.”

Sahithya Suryanarayanan, Lenape’s student council president and a graduating senior, put it this way: “Today, we stand on this first page of a new chapter in our lives,” further declaring, “every hardship we have faced over the past four years, no matter how daunting it seemed, was worth it for this very moment.”

Her advice to her peers was to “take a moment to reflect, not just on the big memories, … but every small moment we may have taken for granted.”

Suryanarayanan maintained it is “truly the smaller moments that made this school a true family” and “I know our future holds a billion more of these small moments that will make life outside Lenape that much more spectacular.”

“We will all experience new streets, new people, new food, new dreams and a whole lifetime without each other, but I know that we are all still cheering each other on from the sidelines, whether it is by saving a life, by performing brain surgery on an elderly patient, belting out a captivating performance on Broadway or scoring a touchdown in the Super Bowl,” she said. “Never, ever forget your Lenape family, as the world eagerly awaits the impact you

See LENAPE/ Page G12