The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
The Franklin High School Class of 2022 was exhorted to persevere and be proud of whatever they choose as their life’s path during their graduation ceremony June 24 at Warrior Stadium.
More than 580 seniors sat patiently through five short speeches and several selections by the FHS Choir before the main event: receiving their diplomas.
Class Valedictorian Victoria Iakoubova told her classmates that she was proud of them, no matter what they choose to do after graduation.
“Whatever it is that you are doing, do what you are comfortable with and be proud of it,” she said.
Whether you go to a four-year college, gap year, trade school, military, community college, no college, etc., every single one of these are worthy of value and respect,” she said. “I’m proud of anything you chose to pursue because it took dedication, it took consideration and it took passion from every single one of you.”
“At the end of the day, your path is your path,” Iakoubova said.
“You all are just so fabulously, fanatically, fashionable, fearlessly, factually flawlessly, Franklinisciously fantastic, so thank you all,” she said.
“This graduation is as much of an end as it’s not,” she said. “We’ve made it so far; we’ve grown as people, we have built the momentum and we can’t stop now.”
“As we walk away from this field, I encourage you all to lift those chins up and show them who’s the boss,” Iakoubova said. “Walk away knowing that high school is not your big, knowing that you are all so bodacious, brilliant, and amazing, knowing that this is just the beginning of your era.”
Class Salutatorian Dev Patel told his classmates that as they go through life, they must remember to “keep on swimming.”
Patel told the story of a small fish who was forgetful and unaware of her surroundings, One day, he said, she nearly swam into a bigger fish, but was saved by her parents.
“The young fish apologized for being forgetful and unaware of her surroundings,” he said. “But instead of scolding her, her parents told her to just keep swimming.”
“Just keep swimming; this is exactly what each and every one of us told ourselves during these past four years,” he said. “Through the challenges both large and small that we faced, we kept persevering. In March 2020, what we thought was going to be an extended Spring break, turned into a global pandemic. We didn’t get to see our friends or teachers and we didn’t get closure for that school year.”
“We are all gathered here today because we just kept swimming, whether it was something small like a difficult math problem, or something big like a major loss in the family, we never lost sight of our goals,” Patel said. “So now, as we part our ways, to go off into different directions, just remember to do exactly that.”
“To the Class of 2022, we are all going very different ways, some of us college, some of us trade school, the workforce, but whatever it is, we’ve pushed through our struggles and now we’re going on to much bigger things,” he said.
“And the biggest thing about high school graduation is that it does not end here,” Patel said. “This is just the beginning of our story. Our lives start today.”
“Whatever journey you’ve picked, this is where it’s starting,” he said. “And remember to keep your goals in sight while you enact change in the world. Just keep swimming.”
Making his first graduation address as FHS Principal Nicholas Solomon told the seniors that they should “dream and dream big, because the world is in front of you, and you can be anything, anything you want.”
Using the phrase “I got you,” as his theme, Solomon told the seniors that he chooses “to believe when you state ‘I got you,’ that you will carry out the responsibilities that are being asked of you. I choose to believe that you will work to your potential. I choose to believe that you will now go off into this world and do amazing things.”
Solomon said that the students will be helped along their lif journeys by others, which means they need to help others as well.
“One day, someone in the next generation will say to you, ‘I got you,'” he said. “Then you will realize that you are obligated to help mold the next generation following in your path.”
“There’s a motto I live by, ‘lift as you climb,’ he said.” “Remember to help the next person as you grow.”
Solomon also thanked the class, some of which he said he’s known since they were in elementary school, for allowing him to be a principal and a father.
“What makes this class extra special, is that you allowed me to have a balance between being a Dad to my daughter Nia, and being a principal all these years,” he said.
The class also heard from Akshay Gokul, president of the Class of 2022, and Joe Ayala, the Student Government Association president.
Ayala led the Pledge of Allegiance, Lee Twombly sand the Star Spangled Banner and the trio of Tedros Abera, Kayla Bullock and Cyprianna Stewart sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” accompanied by Class of 2021’s Bryce Gray on the keyboard.
The Franklin High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps presented the colors.
Here are some photos of the procession into Warrior Stadium:
Here are some random scenes from the day:
