On 21 June, the Class of 2014, made up of 242 students, started their transition from high school to college at graduation on the Mignault Football Field. With a remarkable turnout in weather, the students lined up next to the Agri-Science building in preparation to walk out across the track to the chairs awaiting them on the field. With junior class marshalls Benjamin McHale and Rachel Phelps leading the group, the class was on their way to receiving their diplomas and moving on from high school into the world.
The ceremony included the National Anthem, directed by alumna Emily Marquardt and sung by the Senior Chorale. Class President Kevin McCarthy, Poet Laureate Melissa Billing, Ledyard Scholars, and Principal Amanda Fagan all gave addresses to the class. Many students received various awards and scholarships along with their diplomas.
Most of the graduates are eager to start their new journey into adulthood. Alumna Tess Candler, who will be attending Eastern Connecticut State University in the fall as a communications major, is looking forward to move on from high school, and the “freedom and all the options available to me now. There are so many possibilities.” Candler said she was also “looking forward to not having to ask to go the bathroom.”
“At first, I thought I was going to miss high school, but once I got my diploma, that feeling of dread turned into excitement,” Alumni Jack Desormier said. Desormier, attending the University of Hartford for Film and Psychology in the fall, didn’t think he would enjoy the same expectant excitement other graduates had, and instead felt a sense of foreboding. However, getting closer to the date of graduation, he was excited to start his post-high school adventures. “I’m looking forward to having more control over my life,” Desormier said.
Other students hadn’t waited with bated breath for graduation. Attending Mitchell College as a Human Development major, alumna Hayley Jarrett didn’t feel too different about the ceremony; however, graduating didn’t come without some type of feeling of moving on. “It feels transitional and I appreciate having more freedom,” Jarrett said. “I’m looking forward to my education in college and I can go out in the field and work internships.”
As the Class of 2014 walks away from their senior year as graduates, nostalgic yet hopeful, the rising seniors of the Class of 2015 eagerly take their spots as the next graduating class of Ledyard High School.
Jamie Bogue, Editor-in-Chief
Senior Jamie Bogue is the Editor-in-Chief for the 2014-2015 Colonel. She is a drum major for marching band, sings in Ledyard Carolers, Assistant Editor-in-Chief of Ledyard’s Horizons Yearbook, and is attending Liberty University next fall.
THE COLONEL NEWSMAGAZINE 