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South Summit Class of 2017 pledges to seize opportunities

Graduates say they’re excited to see what’s ahead

Members of the 2017 South Summit High School graduating class applaud after Superintendent Shad Sorenson recognized members of the faculty for their service and wished them well in their retirement during the schools commencement ceremony May 25.
(Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

When Broughton Flygare strolled down the track circling the South Summit High School football field and pivoted to take his seat alongside his fellow graduates at the center of the turf, he was thinking about what comes next.

“I’m excited to get into the real world and start heading where I want to go in life,” he said shortly before the school’s commencement ceremony on May 25. “I can’t wait to get into career options and that stuff. It’s exciting.”

By all accounts, South Summit’s Class of 2017 — comprising 91 graduates — is well equipped to begin their voyage into the real world. But while some, like Flygare, wanted to look forward during one of the most important evenings of their school careers, others recalled the memories they were preparing to leave behind.

During a speech to the crowd during the ceremony, Abigayle Petty described how she had been impatient for graduation throughout the school year. Now that it had arrived, though, she felt a tinge of sadness.

“It means leaving friends who inspire me and teachers who helped me and taught me so much,” she said, fighting back tears.

Petty later thanked the people, from administrators to parents, who invested time and effort into the students over the years. She said they had prepared the Class of 2017 well enough that the students will flourish as they enter the uncharted territory of adult life.

For Logan Crandall, however, the next chapter doesn’t seem so uncertain. Addressing the crowd, he spoke about how he’s not afraid of failure — the journey is what’s most important — and how he intends to become a teacher thanks to the examples of those who taught him at South Summit.

“We have all had teachers who inspired us and led us on our own paths in life,” he said.

Crandall wasn’t the only graduate who had planned for the future. Fallon Richmond said she intends to go to Colorado Northwestern Community College to pursue a degree in agricultural business. She will miss the camaraderie of high school and the activities, but has been looking forward to graduating for a long time.

“It’s different because we’ve never been this far before,” she said. “It’s a new experience, but it’s exciting and fun. I’m excited to see what happens.”

Before marching onto the field for the ceremony, Kaylee Marchant said she was feeling similar excitement.

“It’s pretty great,” she said. “I love it. I didn’t think it was actually here until today. It’s been a lot of hard work but I’m glad I did it. It’s gone by really fast and I sort of wish it had slowed down a little bit.”

Amidst the excitement, though, was the realization for the graduates that they would no longer see their classmates every day. Marchant, for one, said that made graduation bittersweet, an emotion that was amplified by growing up in a small school district.

“I literally know everyone here,” said Marchant, who will study business at Utah State University and wants to eventually open her own greenhouse. “I could tell you all their names and who their family is and everything like that. I’m definitely going to miss them. At first, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m not going to miss any of these people.’ Now I’m looking at it like, ‘I’m never going to see them. I grew up with them.’ It’s going to be hard not being around them.”

Added Kaden Atkinson, who plans to go to trade school and become an electrician: “It’s crazy to think about. I’m so used to seeing them every day.”

More photos of South Summit’s graduation ceremony are available at http://photos.parkrecord.com/2017/05/26/photos-south-summit-high-school-graduates-91/.

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