Graduation day on Saturday was "bittersweet" for Potomac Falls High School graduate Torey Wilson.
The 18-year-old said that day she was sad at the same time she was excited. She has to leave something that has been "a big part of my life for four years" to move on to the next stage of her life — studying English at Virginia Tech in the fall.
Kathleen Martin, 18, does not want to leave her friends, especially Jennifer Kernich, whom she has known since she was 5 year old through Brownies, Girl Scouts and school. Kernich is planning to attend East Carolina University and Martin, the Medical College of Virginia. "I’m really going to miss the people," she said, adding that at the same time, "It’s a new chapter in my life, and I’m really excited."
This new chapter is what class valedictorian Jaclyn Link and keynote speaker Ted Leonsis, vice-chairman of America Online, Inc. and owner of the Washington Capitals, described during graduation ceremonies at George Mason University's Patriot Center.
Link, who plans to attend the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, said her one goal was to finish first in her class. She told her classmates that as they journey into adulthood to not forget those who helped them reach their own goals. "We, as seniors, cannot take full responsibility for our accomplishments. Alone, we could never have imagined we could achieve such success, let alone execute our goals," she said.
LEONSIS, an entrepreneur and author of four books on the personal computer industry, wanted to be brief and memorable in his address to the seniors about his six "bits of advice." He said:
* It’s OK not to have all of the right answers when the business world is really about multiple choice and that failures are often a prerequisite to success.
* Avoid giving in to the experts. "There will be a lot of people out there speaking with conviction, trying to tell you what to do," he said. "Most of the time, these people are wrong," he said.
* Have a game plan on how to use individual gifts and talents. Leonsis didn't have such a plan until 1982 when he was involved in a near plane crash. He wrote a list of 101 things he wanted to accomplish in life and has so far checked off 62 things. "Until I made that list, I was unstructured. That list has been the biggest influence in my life," he said.
* Do little things right, such as respecting others, treating them as neighbors and saying please and thank you. "Little things count. They can pay off big," he said. "People notice."
* Always do the right thing in the right way and do not buy into taking shortcuts and looking out for number one.
* Don’t get too high with the highs and too low with the lows.
Ned Waterhouse, deputy superintendent, gave the students additional advice, which was repeated at other graduation ceremonies last week and on Monday. He told the students to remember to say thank you to those who have helped them and to never accept the idea they cannot achieve something by accepting what others may say or by doubting themselves.
Potomac Falls graduated 369 students, the largest of the school's five graduating classes. The class of 2003 earned $1.2 million in scholarships with 86 percent of the students planning on attending college.