By Khalida Sarwari
The morning after graduation, Saratoga High School’s class of 2015 sprawled across the football field to watch the sun rise. And then they were finally ready to say goodbye.
“It was a great way to kick off the end of a new era and a new beginning, really,” said Mahir Jethanandani, 18, one of the 356 seniors who just 12 hours prior had crossed the stage to shake principal Paul Robinson’s hand and accept his diploma.
For Jethanandani and his fellow graduates, it was the culmination of an exciting 24 hours that began with breakfast and lunch with loved ones the previous day, followed by one of the most important evenings of his life, and then a memorable grad night that offered a satisfying array of food, amusement park rides and even a hypnotist.
The June 4 ceremony included the usual speeches and “Pomp and Circumstance,” but also paid tribute to the late Audrie Pott, a student who tragically took her own life at the age of 15 nearly three years ago.
In his speech, salutatorian Max Chang commended his class for modeling the qualities of the falcon, their school mascot, particularly the bird’s perseverance and attitude.
A lot of effort was made, said Jethanandani, to make the ceremony feel inclusive to all. To that end, students were discouraged from wearing any distinctive strings they received on award night or decorating their caps.
“I definitely liked the administrators’ approach of unifying the class as one,” he said. “The awards ceremony is the appropriate time to honor everyone for their individual achievements, [but] it’s good to graduate as one.”
Before lining up to accept their diplomas, the members of Saratoga High’s class of 2015–the girls decked out in white, the boys in black–proudly sang the Saratoga alma mater. Introduced when the school opened in the fall of 1959, the song fell out of tradition years ago, but was brought back this year by Robinson, said Jethanandani.
And with that, the members of Saratoga High School’s 53rd graduating class stepped into their future.
