Pomp and Circumstance

Published 2:05 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE – As they listened to classmates perform the popular song “I Hope You Dance,” Mount Si High School seniors celebrated their last moments as undergraduates on Friday.

The seniors chose the song for their graduation ceremony because its lyrics encourage living life to its fullest. With a class that has achieved so much, that shouldn’t be a problem.

“I feel great,” said Mount Si Principal George Ilgenfritz. “I feel proud this is a great class. This is a class that has excelled tremendously in both academics and athletics.”

There were 245 graduates in the class of 2001. Of those, Lauren Berndt and Erica Peterson were valedictorians, and Elizabeth Kumbalek and Shannon Meyer were salutatorians.

A whopping $2.12 million in scholarship money was awarded to the class, which is almost $1 million more than last year. In addition, one student, Erica Peterson, is a National Merit Finalist and Lauren Berndt and Sean Trettel are National Merit Commended Students, which means they scored in the top 3 to 5 percent in the nation on the PSAT. Berndt is also a Washington Scholar, for which only the top 1 percent of Washington state seniors are nominated.

Shawn Kelley won a four-year ROTC scholarship, which was based on academics, SAT or ACT test scores, leadership, extra curricular activities and fitness. In addition, Julia Walker was selected as the Eastside Journal’s top “unsung hero” for her volunteer work and other activities.

“There’s a great balance between them. And they’re great citizens, too, great people,” Ilgenfritz said just moments before the ceremony.

Besides giving the welcome speech, Ilgenfritz presented the valedictorians and salutatorians and announced awards and scholarships. Berndt and Peterson were the senior speakers for the ceremony. Berndt’s advice was to “live today, each day, as it’s your day,” then added, “Today is our day.”

Peterson’s speech was about giving up. She listed things to give up, such as negativity and procrastination. “Give up giving up,” she said. “Each new day is a chance to start over. Don’t be afraid of taking chances.”

Other seniors also contributed to the evening. Bobby Taylor read his poem titled “G.R.A.D.U.A.T.I.O.N.,” a piece about the good times of high school and what lies beyond, which made the audience chuckle.

Japanese foreign-exchange student Kumiko Hata also gave a speech. Sarah Coffey sang and played the piano for “It’s Our Time,” and Erica Tawney sang the evening’s theme song, along with Sarah Dempster on vocals, Annie Olson on piano and Payton Thompson on guitar.

Finally, Snoqualmie Valley School District board members Rudy Edwards, Becky Jorgensen, David Reed, Kristy Sullivan and president Rick Krona handed out diplomas and shook hands with the latest batch of Mount Si’s finest.

The proud looks on faces and the tears in seniors’ eyes during the ceremony revealed the range of emotions many of them expressed earlier, while standing in line waiting to enter the gymnasium.

“I’m going to miss everybody, but I’m looking forward to college. But I have a lot of memories of high school,” said Shaeleen Gilson, who will attend Western Washington University.

“[Graduating] feels really weird because we’ve been living like this for 12 years,” said John Varga, who will attend the University of Washington after completing his United States Army Reserve training. “Our parents have been paying for everything and that’s going to change for most of us. It’s kind of like a slap in the face N we’ll wake up in a week and discover that life as we know it is over.” Varga said he’d like to be a lawyer or entertainer.

While some seniors mused, others rejoiced.

“I think that I feel like I’m ready to move on to bigger and better things,” said Anna Pedee. “It was fun while it lasted but there’s a fulfilling future that God has planned for me.” Pedee is going to Italy for one year, where she will live with a family and study Italian. When she comes back, she wants to get a pastry arts degree.

“It’s a great experience, the school, the people in the school, the fun stuff, meeting people,” said Matthias Klauser, exchange student from Germany.

To sum up the evening and offer advice for next year’s seniors, Sheena Kern put it the best when she said, “Enjoy it, it only happens once.”