ARLINGTON — The farewells were even more emotional than usual during the Arlington High School class of 2016 graduation ceremony June 12 at the Xfinity Arena in Everett.
Not only will this be the last AHS class that superintendent Kris McDuffy and assistant superintendent Diane Kirchner-Scott will get to send off into the broader world, but it was an especially bittersweet commencement for Andraya Albright, one of the class’ four valedictorians.
Albright confessed to struggling with an eating disorder her sophomore year, until her younger sister told her, “I can’t watch you kill yourself anymore. You’re my younger sister, and I can’t live without you.”
This inspired Albright to make a renewed commitment to her life and studies, which was only further strengthened when her ailing grandfather expressed his desire to see all four of his granddaughters graduate from high school.
Albright was his youngest granddaughter, and to alleviate his boredom at sitting through long graduation ceremonies, she jokingly promised him, “Don’t worry, grandpa. I’ll be valedictorian and make my speech amazing, just for you.”
“Hopefully I’m doing a good job so far,” Albright said.
Unfortunately, her grandfather’s stomach cancer returned during Albright’s senior year, and he passed away at the end of September.
“Being the first major loss of my family, this took a huge toll on us all,” Albright said. “Through many sleepless nights and shed tears, we continued forward as a family, because that’s the only thing you can do.”
Albright voiced her readiness to move onto a new phase of her life, and told her classmates they should look forward to doing the same.
“We all have long lives ahead of us, full of whatever adventures we want,” Albright said. “These adventures may be hard, and you may want to give up, but no matter what, you need to keep pushing forward. There is always something better on the other side of the obstacle that is in your way, you just have to be willing to fight for it.”
Fellow Valedictorian Emaline Modahl admitted she was ready to leave behind the hassles of high school, including the often-congested AHS parking lot, algebra classes, lunchroom food and the thronged hallways of the school building.
“But these aren’t the things we are going to remember from high school,” Modahl said. “We’re going to remember the good things that we’ll miss, like the familiar faces we’ve seen since we were little, the people we’ve talked to every day who we’ll probably never see again.”
Modahl acknowledged the impact that the graduates’ teachers and mentors have made in their studies and lives.
“What we will miss most of all is each other,” Modahl said. “This is the last time that we will all be together. All of us are going on our own paths, to achieve our own dreams and desires.”
Valedictorian Raiven Yoes proudly held up her old “Class of 2016” T-shirt from fifth grade, reading aloud the signatures that she could still barely make out from her classmates.
“Back when cursive was for more than the back of SAT tests,” Yoes said. “Even back then, we all shared one goal: Graduate high school. But now, what comes after that wornout shirt, that’s been sitting in the back of your closet for seven years? Well, let me be the bearer of bad news. I do not have with me a new goal shirt for all of us.”
Like Modahl, Yoes called upon her classmates to follow their individual pursuits, “whether that’s having your own ice cream truck or working in the White House. Fulfill your need for love, self-love, and love to outwit hatred. Fulfill your demands of goodness by helping others, despite your differences, and most importantly, fulfill the need to be one-hundred-percent authentically you.”
Aaron Paloalto expressed his authentic self by unzipping his graduation gown to reveal a poncho emblazoned with the Mexican flag.
“I’m proud of my culture and want to represent it,” Paloalto said.
Valedictorian Emma Janousek reflected on some of the other tragic losses that the Arlington community had weathered during the students’ four years of high school, from the casualties of the Oso slide and the Marysville-Pilchuck High School shooting in 2014, to the death of fellow AHS senior Samantha Weldon in February.
“In such times of catastrophe, never did we hang our heads or turn our backs,” Janousek said. “We rallied together, grieved with our arms around each other’s shoulders, and picked our Arlington family members up onto their feet when they found themselves at rock bottom.”
Wherever the graduates go from here, Janousek urged them to keep Arlington close to their hearts, in gratitude for all that it has given them.
“Even those of us who came to Arlington later on feel as though we’ve been together from the very start,” Janousek said. “Arlington’s inclusive nature has been the foundation of everything we’ve been through together. It has cultivated a special kinship between us that will last a lifetime. The memories our time at Arlington has offered us have become a part of us, that we will take with us as we move on to bigger and better things in the real world.”
