Class of 2020

Celebrating the Class of 2020

The Class of 2020 was set to take the stage at Forest Lawn’s Hall of Liberty on Saturday, June 6. Due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, a "Drive Through Memory Lane” experience was planned instead for that same day as a special tribute to the graduates. Wearing their caps and gowns, members of the Class of 2020 and their family members participated in a unique vehicle parade through campus, which was decorated with banners of enlarged photos from the past four years, and culminated with the graduates receiving Adidas backpacks and duffel bags that were graciously donated by the Whitaker family, and their diploma covers (diplomas are always sent out after graduation).

This year's valedictorian was MARIAM EBRAHIMI '20, who will attend UCLA, and the salutatorian was CRYSTAL SANROW '20, who will also attend UCLA. Additionally, Crystal was the recipient of the Mother Joseph Award. The Spirit Award recipient was ANGELO VITUG '20, who will attend Loyola Marymount University. GREGORY SIMITIAN '20, who will attend UC Berkeley, was awarded the 2020 Archdiocese of Los Angeles Christian Service Award.

The Marcelo family (MATTHEW '20, PATRICK '15, and CHRISTIAN '13), the Tolentino family (JENNIFER '20, JULIANNE '15, and ROBERT '13), and the Vitug family (ANGELO '20, AARON '17, and ANDREW '16) were recipients of the Pioneering Family Award, which recognizes families with three or more PHS graduates.

Although no one could have predicted the last few months of the school year ending this way with the senior class missing out on all of their end-of-the-year activities, one thing was made very clear: this class was loved and extra efforts were put into place to make the graduates feel that love and appreciation for rising to the occasion.

Farewell, Class of 2020. The PHS community wishes you well and knows that you are capable of much more than anyone could have ever expected. Use your talents and go make a difference in the world like the true Pioneers that you have become.

MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2020 WERE ACCEPTED TO THE FOLLOWING COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.* American University Arizona State University - Tempe Aurora University Azusa Pacific University Baylor University Biola University Boston University Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo California Lutheran University California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State University Channel Islands California State University, Dominguez Hills California State University, East Bay California State University, Long Beach California State University, Fresno California State University, Fullerton California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Northridge California State University, Sacramento Case Western Reserve University Central Wyoming College Chapman University

Colorado State University - Fort Collins Columbia College Chicago Columbia University in the City of New York De La Salle University Manila DePaul University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott Emerson College Emmanuel College - Boston Fordham University Franciscan University of Steubenville Glendale Community College Gonzaga University Indiana University-Bloomington Lewis & Clark College Loyola Marymount University Loyola University Maryland Lynn University Miami University - Oxford (Arts & Sciences) Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles New York University Northern Arizona University Occidental College Oregon State University Pace University - New York Pasadena City College

Pennsylvania State University Pepperdine University Purdue University - Main Campus Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute San Francisco State University San Jose State University Santa Clara University Sarah Lawrence College Savannah College of Art and Design Seattle Pacific University Seton Hall University Sonoma State University Southern Methodist University St. John's University Syracuse University The Ohio State University The University of Arizona University of British Columbia University of California, Merced University of California, San Diego University of California, Berkeley University of California, Davis University of California, Irvine University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Riverside

University of California, Santa Barbara University of California, Santa Cruz University of Colorado, Boulder University of Colorado, Colorado Springs University of Hawaii at Manoa University of La Verne University of Massachusetts - Amherst University of Nevada - Reno University of New Mexico - Main Campus University of Oregon University of Portland University of San Diego University of San Francisco University of South Carolina - Columbia University of Southern California University of the Pacific University of Toledo University of Washington, Seattle University of Wisconsin - Madison Vanguard University of Southern California Washington State University Whittier College Woodbury University

* This list is based on information submitted to Mrs. Clara Bird, Director of College Counseling.

ASB President ANGELO VITUG '20 was voted by his classmates of you all were, that was always glued to the TV. I remember the only reason I really liked the weekends was because they were the only days I'd be able to watch TV all day. I remember watching Disney or Nick Jr in the early morning, switch to Cartoon Network in the afternoon to watch the original Teen Titans, Chowder, Fanboy and Chum Chum, Adventure Time, or of course The Regular Show. And in the evenings, I’d switch back to Nickelodeon to watch Nick at Nite and make myself feel like as much of a “grown up” as possible by watching Friends and The Nanny, but end up falling asleep as The Now...you’re all probably wondering what this has to do with us graduating, or our last day of school. You see, the thing with television shows is that they last for so long. We come back to them day after day and we grow up with the characters we see. But we soon face the sad truth. All shows must come to an end. And as you all probably know, the end is what we remember the most. I mean, I think we can all remember when Teddy said her last “Good Luck Charlie,” or Hannah Montana making us shed a small tear as she sang "I’ll Always Remember You," and we all definitely remember Troy Bolton, Gabriella, and the rest of the High School Musical group jumping into that last freeze frame in front of that red curtain. Well, that’s where we

to deliver the senior speech, which is typically held during the annual senior and faculty/staff luncheon, days before graduation. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Angelo presented his speech via Zoom during the senior countdown, which is traditionally the last day of school

Growing up, I was the type of kid, as I’m sure many Nanny theme song began to play.

for the senior class. are now. That final freeze frame making that final jump, and when we all land, we land in the real world ready to face it head on.

However, the thing we don’t realize is that, while the show may be over, the episodes are still there to come back to again and again and again. I mean the amount of times I’ve seen some episodes of Friends or the amount of times some of you have re-watched The Office is kind of ridiculous at this point. I mean for God’s sake find another show to watch. But that’s the thing. You see when I tell someone that Monica Geller has 11 categories of towels, or Joey Tribiani’s imaginary friend is Maurice the Space Cowboy, they think I’m crazy. They never understand why I would watch the same show over and over again. But the thing that I realized is that I replay these episodes because they make me happy. They fill me with joy and laughter, and they take away some of the pain I feel in that moment. In real life, we call that a memory. As we live our lives, we go through experiences both good and bad and they get engraved into our minds as memories. When we replay or look back at the good ones, they make us happy. Memories are our television episodes.

Five years from now, when I replay these episodes in my head, I’ll see Mina running into school with his 80 lb backpack trying not to be late. I'll hear Anahit asking the

most random "would you rather question" at the most random times just to break a silence. I’ll watch before my eyes Frederick and Michael Garcia wiping the floors of the courthouse in Mock Trial with their arguments. I’ll hear Liam telling me about the wonders of historical wars. I’ll see Emily, Haley, Dennse, Kat, Liana, and Marie making a tiktok in the senior patio. I’ll see Mina and Enrique hilariously arguing about the smallest things. I’ll see Carissa leading our class in her moped as we all drove into school on Pioneer Day. I’ll see Julian not hit a ball in home run derby. I’ll see Mr. Rufus fist bump me in the halls, I’ll taste the foreign chips Mr. Zubi would share with us, I’ll see the disappointment in Ms. Fernandes’ face when we say “Survival of the Fittest” instead of “Survival of the most fit.” I’ll see Mr. Bird’s frog peeing on Rebecca not once, but twice. I’ll hear Ms. Kuklish telling me to wake up and get some work done in class. I’ll hear Mr. Bullock teaching class in his Shrek voice. Oh and I’ll definitely hear Mr. Jimenez kicking us out of his classroom during office hours. And then, I’ll see today. Our final episode. Our series finale. To be honest with you, whoever did the screenplay for this episode should be fired. I mean this ending is almost as bad as the ending to Game of Thrones.

"We are in this together. You are not and will never be alone."

But in all seriousness, we all had our dreams about this day, we all had visions of what would happen.

If you really know me, you’d know that I think...a lot. And when I over think some things, I like to write them down to let them out. These are the notes on my phone. This third section here is titled, “Thoughts” and there are 35 total entries. The second entry was written on April 15, 2017, the end of freshman year. It reads “Life is unpredictable and control is just an illusion.” I can’t really remember what show this is from, but I wrote it down. On October 7, 2018, the beginning of our junior year, I wrote something that explains this quote. I wrote, “Life is this thing that’s unexplainable. It goes up like a roller-coaster, but then pours down like rain, and it's all random / It just happens / We can’t go back to fix our mistakes / and we can’t go forward to see what happens next / But everything happens for a reason / It’s life / Life is THE thing / The thing so uncontrollably amazing.”

As we move on with our lives I want to leave you with a message: if quarantine has taught me anything, it is to live in the present moment. When we focus too hard on the future or dwell too long on the past, we fail to enjoy the moments in front of us. The small things. The ability to hug each other. The ability to hear each other's laugh. Soak up the present, because the present moment will never be the present moment again. And with that, I leave you with this:

On April 6, 2020 at 6:18 PM I wrote,

Dear Class of 2020,

They say that when it rains it pours, But never in a million years would I think that it would pour this hard. For many of us, This was going to be our time to shine. We spent 12 whole years to get here, And we expected these moments To be filled with laughter, joy, tears, and Memories. But instead, we sit in our rooms, Longing for what should have been.

But don’t worry, We are in this together, You are not and will never be alone. We will hug again, We will hold hands again, We will see each other again, We will walk the stage, And we will celebrate.

But until then, Just remember, You are missed and you are loved, And as our final episode comes to an end, Don’t be mad about what we didn’t get to do, But instead take a bow and curtsy for the greatness of what we’ve done.

Thank you and I will see you soon.