Valedictorians and salutatorians from Nassau County’s high schools will soon graduate — embarking on new journeys as they walk in the steps of scholars who came before them.
Before all this, however, the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents recognized them for earning the top spots in their class. At a June 1 breakfast, David Flatley, the council’s president, gave words of encouragement to the Class of 2018.
“Question everything,” he said, before quoting President John F. Kennedy, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” In order to strive for excellence, Flatley continued, the best and brightest minds must reject the status quo and never settle for what appears easy.
Keynote Speaker Elizabeth Hashagan, an anchor at News 12, shared a similar sentiment as she addressed the graduating class. She asked them to imagine a world where they are always given what they want and problems are solved effortlessly. If such a world were to exist, she continued, there would be no growth.
“For me, the ‘nos’ in my life have made me a fighter,” Hashagan said about her dream of becoming a news reporter and the many rejections she received before getting her first job.