Page 12 - Priorities #34 2006-July

Graduation—A Time of Joy and Sadness and Congratulations for
The intellectual and social tools learned from teachers and classmates will lead you to success in new and unfamiliar terrain.
Donald Kennedy, President Emeritus, Stanford University
Editor-in-Chief, Science Magazine
Tim Molak (left) and Father Martin Mager, OSB (right) pause with graduation speaker Donald Kennedy, president emeritus of Stanford University and editor of Science, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Kennedy congratulated students and parents for surviving the “annual college admissions madness. It
is a process that badly needs re- engineering...”
Class of 2006
By Judy Noice, Alumni Parent
The class of 2006 graduated on Friday, May 26 at 10:00 a.m., receiving accolades and congratulations from family, friends and alumni.
Donald Kennedy, Ph.D., President Emeritus of Stanford University and Editor-in-Chief of Science Magazine, delivered the commencement address. He told Priory graduates about the advantages they received from the school.
“You have experienced an intimate participation in a community of faith that is also a community
of values,” he said. Kennedy went on to praise
the Priory for making service to others part of the curriculum as well.
Kennedy assured the class of 2006 that any doubts they may have in looking forward will disappear when they discover the value of the intellectual and social tools they got from their teachers and classmates. With these tools, the graduates will succeed when they go through doors to new and unfamiliar terrain.
Stephanie Stoll and Molly Magnuson were the student speakers.
Stephanie read two “palancas” or love letters she wrote to the Priory and her classmates. She thanked the school for having a unique and beautiful learning environment which emphasized spiritual growth as well as academics.
“You introduced us to a world outside of ourselves and helped us open our minds,” Stephanie explained. “Chapel gave us all the chance to express our individuality and grow in ways we did not know we were capable of.”
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Molly spoke to the audience about the most important lessons her class learned from the Priory. One of her discoveries was that teachers are real people.
“When someone asks me what my favorite thing about Priory is, I tell that person it’s the teachers,” Molly said. “The thing that sets them apart is the fact that they’re not only amazing teachers, they are extraordinary friends.”
Another valuable lesson, Molly reminded
the graduates, is life is what you make of it. For example, Molly told the audience she did not want to come to the Priory her freshman year. She cried every day for the first week, she said.
“[N]ow I have come full circle,” Molly remembered, “because I cried every day ...my last week of school. But it’s for a different reason...I am hesitant to leave a place I call home...I have come to realize that if you want something to be great, it will be, as long as you make the most of it.”
Awards were presented to the following students: Valedictorians—Kristof Horompoly and Myles Lam
Salutatorian—Diego Moncada
Father Benignus F. Barat Citizenship Award—
Rachel Moody
Head of School’s Award—Heewon “Kathy” Lim
and Scott Bader
Dean’s Award—Elyse Romano St. Benedict Award—Ben Pekarek