SEBASTIAN — Both the home and visitor stands overflowed with friends and family of nearly 400 Sebastian River High School graduates, fanning themselves with their programs and using umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun instead of rain.
Senior Class President Alyssa Sexton was the first to address her classmates and the standing room only crowd at Sharks Stadium. Quoting from The Notorious B.I.G., she reminded her fellow sharks that the sky really is the limit for their potential.
“This senior class will take this world by storm,” she said.
Sebastian River High’s 17th graduating class included 104 Honor Graduate candidates, 35 International Baccalaureate candidates, and six with Associate degrees from Indian River State College. Two students were accepted into the US Air Force and US Naval academies. Six more will go directly into military service, including the Army, Navy and Marines.
In all, the Class of 2012 earned $1.6 million in scholarships and grants for the next four years and volunteered 18,830 hours to the community.
The Top 2 Sharks – Salutatorian Eugene Wolff and Valedictorian Brooke Evans – described themselves as “business casual” and “intellectual visionary,” respectively, according to their introducer, Assistant Principal Jessica Keaton.
Wolff graduates with a 4.81 GPA and 38 ½ credits – a record number at Sebastian River High, Keaton said. He plans to attend the University of Pennsylvania to major in economics and minor in Spanish.
If there were one thing he’d do to better mankind, he told Keaton, it would be to do away with Daylight Saving Time by moving the clock 30 minutes and “call it even.”
“This moment represents everything we’ve worked for in the last four years,” Wolff said, addressing his classmates.
He encouraged them to take a moment today to thank their families for their support “because they still love you despite your teenage years!”
“Seize every opportunity you can,” Wolff added.
Evans graduates with a 4.83 GPA and will attend Duke University to study neuroscience pre-med. She plans to go on to graduate school to become a medical doctor and one day work on clinical trials to treat and end dementia.
Evans pointed out several groups of people sitting on the field before her – friends she’s had since kindergarten, friends from fifth grade, and teachers she’s had for the last four years.
“I’m proud to say I was raised by Indian River County,” she said.
She recalled a day this school year when Athletic Director Michael Stutzke pulled her aside and told her that she had achieved all she could at high school, saying she “can’t do any more” and that she “must go out with a bang.”
A member of the Lady Sharks Basketball team, which brought home the State Champions title this year, Evans and her teammates did just that.
“Explore, discover and dream to your fullest potential,” Evans told her fellow Sharks. “I hope only for the best for the Class of 2012.”
