Page 7 - Priorities #27 2004-July

Woodside Priory School celebrated its graduation of the Class of 2004 on Saturday, May 29 at 10:00 a.m. The outdoor ceremony began with the traditional procession led by bagpipers, then graduates in caps and gowns, and finally the gowned faculty coming down the hill and across the lawn. After speeches, awards, and a short reception on the basketball court, the event concluded with a reception for grads and guests in the gym.
The graduation speaker was filmmaker and producer Jerry Zucker, whose work includes such comedy classics as My Best Friend’s Wedding, Rat Race, Airplane, Naked Gun and Hot Shots.
Summing up his experiences since graduating from college, Zucker advised the students to think aboutthefuturebutnotliveinit.“Iworkina business where almost everyone is waiting for the next big thing. Sometimes it comes, and sometimes it doesn’t. But it doesn’t matter that your dream came true if you spent your whole life waiting,” he said.
He advised having the courage to fail big in pursuit of big goals, and not to worry much about what other people think. After one of his films bombed, John Travolta pointed out to him that other people hardly notice one’s failures—“it’s hardly a blip on their radar screen,” he said.
Student speaker and Valedictorian, Laura Brent, told the assembled guests that “though 51 students is a very small graduating class, this size has its benefits. In our multi-talented class, it would be impossible
to form friendships and social hierarchies along any
of the classic one-dimensional high school divisions. There is no one here who is just an artist, just a musician, just an athlete, just a computer enthusiast.”
Student speaker Alexis Smith described her classmates as the “rebels with a cause.” “From start to finish, the Class of 2004 was shaking things up, challenging the status quo, and ultimately, changing the Priory for the better,” she said.
“...This class’s restless spirit actually strengthened the Benedictine values of support for individuality and positive change. . . Now it is up to us to change the world. For, as Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘We must become the change we wish to see,’ ” she said.
Awards presented at graduation are listed on page 10.
Priory class of 2004 celebrates its special qualities and heads into the future.
Brother Edward Englund, followed by the traditional bagpipers, led the procession of students and faculty
into the outdoor setting for the graduation exercises. Following the ceremony, faculty and grads collected on the basketball court for congratulations. In the photo, one of the grads gets a hug from Father Maurus.