Students in Old Rochester Regional’s class of 2019 were told to make their own path in their graduation addresses. 

Class President Katherine Gillis was the first to address her classmates on June 1. In emotional remarks, she spoke about how much the connections she has made with her classmates have meant to her. 

“No matter how far apart we are, I will find comfort in my forever friends,” Gillis said. 

Superintendent Doug White also addressed the graduating class. He reminded them that many people had likely helped them along the way, and asked graduates to “at some point in the near future please reach out and show your gratitude.”  

He told graduates that up until this point their success had likely been measured by how they performed as individuals. But as an adult it would likely be measured by how they interact with others, not by who had the highest test scores or even was most determined. 

“It’s not about survival of the fittest, it’s about survival of the best fit,” in terms of finding a path that worked for them personally, White said. 

He also had some advice about social media, telling graduates to unfollow content that upsets them, and to only have enough connections to still share authentic emotions. He told the class that it was okay to be happy, and the best way to do that was to be grateful and extend that gratitude to others, and also to reflect on positive things rather than harping on negatives. 

“Inspired by Dr. White, I also read a book,” Principal Mike Devoll quipped as he addressed the graduates next. That book was “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.” 

Bases on the book, he advised graduates to sample widely, take detours, experiment relentlessly, and to delay specialization for as long as possible. 

Devoll said that he saw evidence of variety in his school. He asked the graduating seniors to demonstrate this, by calling out a number of categories, and having graduates stand if the category applied to them. Audience members got to see visually the transfer students, twins, international students, students who had completed more than 250 hours of community service, students who completed up to nine AP classes, sports captains, drama leaders, band members and students who had played at TD Garden and Gillette Stadium, among other categories. 

“Do everything you can for as long as you possibly can,” Devoll told the class. 

Michaela Mattson, the class valedictorian, spoke about what she called “the long race of education.” In that race, she said, she has always been slow. In preschool her teachers told her that she would have to learn to eat faster to have enough time to finish lunch in school. She also said that she was moved to a lower level art class because she was taking too long to finish a drawing of an airplane (because she put a person in every single window). 

She spoke candidly about some of the hurdles that she has met and sometimes fallen over on her own race. So far, she said, the goal has been to get to the finish line and graduate. 

“We made it to that goal, but there are many other races to be run,” Mattson said, adding that in the future, graduates will be able to choose which races to complete. 

“The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep running,” the valedictorian said. “Congratulations to the Class of 2019. Our best race is yet to be run.”