Hats off to Oceanside High School grads

Caps and gowns were paired with sunglasses and portable fans as Oceanside High School's class of 2010 prepared to graduate in the sweltering June heat last Sunday.

Principal Mark Secaur kicked off the school's 107th graduation by leading the chorus in singing the alma mater.

Salutatorian Nicole Pinola was the first speaker, and she compared the graduates' four years of high school to running a mile —four laps — around the school track. “While hurdles got in the way,” Pinola said, “the key to success is to never give up until you cross the finish line.”

Likening her teachers and friends to coaches and sponsors, she finished by quoting the late rapper Tupac Shakur, saying, “With all my fans, I have a family again.”

Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown was the next to address the seniors, and spoke of a special connection he felt with them because they had started kindergarten the same year he became superintendent.

Referencing legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden's “pyramid of success,” Brown advised the graduates to remain persistent and never give up on their goals. "All of life is peaks and valleys," he said. "Don't let the peaks get too high or the valleys too low." Emphasizing patience and self-control, he told them to be more concerned with their character than their reputation.

Valedictorian Brian Kelley expressed his faith in the graduating class to get past any obstacles that may come their way. "While the future may appear bleak, the clouds will dissipate," Kelley said, smiling. Quoting Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind," Kelley finished by saying, "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

After Kelley spoke, class President Tess Ytuarte presented Board of Education President Kim Garrity with a new sound system to be installed at the football field. Then Ytuarte addressed her classmates, telling a story about a faulty bag she fashioned out of an old sweater whose contents spilled all over an Oceanside High hallway on her first day as a freshman. Although she was embarrassed, she was proud of the bag that she made on her own, just as she was "proud of the journeys that got us here today."

Returning to the podium, Secaur applauded the graduates for all their accomplishments, including the 161 students who were Advanced Placement scholars.

"Know thoroughly, think critically and act ethically," Secaur concluded, before presenting the Sailor of the Year award to graduate Sal Consiglio.

After they received their diplomas, the new graduates tossed their mortarboards in the air — the first celebratory act of their post-graduate lives.

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