Celebrating Class of 2019
JACKSON TWP — Daniel Delahanty's jokes will always connect him to his fellow graduates.
As he crossed the commencement stage, he checked off one phase of his life.
“It feels like a new path of my life,” said Delahanty, 18, who plans to join the United States Marine Corps Reserve and study at Slippery Rock University in the fall.
Under Friday night lights, 590 Seneca Valley High School seniors wore smiles brighter than the setting sun.
“You made it,” declared Superintendent Tracy Vitale. “You're finally here.”
More than 4,000 parents, relatives and friends filled NexTier Stadium with cheers, tears and air horns at commencement as they watched their seniors transform into a graduates.
Brooke Raschke talked to her fellow graduates about one last lesson — perseverance. When a person is at a low point, think of the reward, Raschke said during her salutatorian speech.
“The struggle makes you a stronger person than you were before,” Raschke said.
“There's always another challenge in life and reason to give up ... It's up to you to rise to the occasion.”
Between speeches, students had their moment to cross the stage, accept their diplomas and eye the future that awaits them.
As valedictorian Rishin Sharma reflected on who he was after 13 years of school (5'9” with dark curly hair, has a mad sock game, and is a bit of a misfit), he said in his speech that the obstacles and struggles his peers face will shape who they are.
He struggled to be accepted by his peers because he is Indian, he said, and was labeled “the smart Indian kid.”
Sharma said he was so focused on fitting in, he stopped being honest about who he is.
“It's okay to be different,” Sharma said, adding each graduate is unique.
Graduation is not about a diploma, but about learning about yourself, he said.
“Our potential is infinite,” he said.
Sharma said his fellow graduates will be the future leaders of the country and write the course of human history.
“Those crazy enough to change the world will change the world,” he said. “Stay crazy.”
