our lives that we were born we have been building the foundation upon which we will build the rest of our lives today goes on tape and will be complete and ready for us to build upon but we did not build the foundation for alone we have built or added to them together and for each other and because of this we will always be a part of because i live this past year has been such a wonderful one for our class during this year i have seen lines that used to divide us among our state champion gold medal winners and award winning dollars an artist of many kinds none of these honors could have been exceeded without the support and respect that is so characteristic of our class in september stood before you and i ask you to trust me at your presence and you did countless times i ask you to help with decorating planning organizing and even planting bowls and you did whenever i needed some help you were there willingness to do so often left we are in the book the seven habits of highly effective people even our having claimed that on a continuum of maturity one moved from a state of dependence to one of independence and finally to the most effective state of interdependence he said independent people who do not have the maturity to think and act interdependently may be good individual producers but they won't be good leaders or team players interdependent with a far more mature more advanced concept if i am physically independent i am self reliant and capable but i also realize that you and i working together can accomplish far more than i even at my best could accomplish if i'm mostly interdependent i drive a great sense of worth within myself but i also recognize the need for love for giving and for receiving love from others if i am a collector lead to dependence i realize that i need the best thinking of other people to join with my own this statement of interdependence could very well be used to describe in our class our dedication to ourselves and to each other has think key to our success this year i have asked many things of you over this  and today i ask one more take with you the support respect and interdependent that is so characteristic of our class used it as the source of strength in your lives and give it to those whose lives we will touch thank you again from the bottom of my heart for your trust in the port and friendship not only for me but for each other word could not come close to fully expressing my gratitude so i won't try it is my hope and prayer that you will with until this year i was pretty caught up in the flow of high school life going through my own business doing my own thing through the community service class i had the opportunity to work one on one with a few it great students from the first day i was confronted with one of the greatest obstacles i can imagine having to give of myself when i really didn't think there was anything i had to offer but then something happened that i was prepared for i was actually able to take what i had learned and share with them to teach them just as i've been taught their understanding was much more rewarding than personal achievement could ever be i came to realize that as successful as any of us may become true happiness will lose us until we share our passions i realize that it is more important for us to be noble in our methods than to achieve excellence it's not too hard to see this noble spirit here in this room we must love not to the people who seem most noted but those who are so generous with themselves that we hardly notice them for they are the true heroes we must look at a few of us the tennis players who are always there helping us achieve the we must look at the dance captain for arrive at rehearsal an hour early to help us coordinate people we must look at every classroom to the kids who put the effort in to make sure the people around them understand something we must look to the people who are more interested in giving of themselves than they are adding to their pile of achievements and trophies to remember what we have accomplished during our high school here but it is also a time to think of future gradually signals the beginning of an enormous change in our lives and love change in the fighting and exhilarating thirty eight thirty seven thirty seven thirty six and argue about whether the count was accurate the days went on and we began to think of nothing but graduation and what we would do after the end of the year came to an end we filled out freshman housing form and began planning the lives in which we would eat in the area dormitory to meet people from all over the country that our own schedule and never again have to take a class at seven thirty five but underneath aren't that patient and happy that we are all the bit frightened by our impending independence the past four years been busy sometimes chaotic but they have also been relatively not clear cut graduation has come at last we feel ready to move on and yet we find nothing short not quite sure of what lies ahead we could ask the same question alice in wonderland but the chef or cat would you tell me please which way i ought to go from here that's a tens on a good deal on where you want to get to the cat i don't much care where that alice then it doesn't matter which way you go that the cat as long as i get somewhere alice added as an where we are going some of us already know that we want to be surgeons for teachers or artists but we don't know how to get there others like me have no answer ready for the well wishers to say now that you're into college what do you want to do with your life treasure cast tells alice that where you go depends a good deal on where you want to get to where do we want to get to trying to answer that question will help us set goals for ourselves during the next few years and for the rest of our lives we will be trying to discover what we are what we want to do and how we can use our talents to help others and make a contribution to society our parents teachers and friends at so much time seven card stud have taught us a lot about making decisions and it helps each of us begin to decide what is important we have to struggle to get through we build with test lab reports track meet and play practice and try to figure out how we can live up to the expectations of our teachers and coaches and still find a way to keep our kids our commitments to friends and family in surviving these weeks we have already begun to learn how to separate already for ourselves how to make decisions and how to decide where we want to get to and what kind of people we want to be when we get there we will continue to learn how to make these decisions during our years at college or at work and with that knowledge we will gradually the governor not only what we hope to achieve in life but also what indicated historic and unique project this year in which the music students of the class of nineteen ninety three played a major role in the group commissioned a professional composer dr dino wilson to write an original composition specifically for th a compact disc which produced that this is a major achievement for the town of belmont its music program and all members of the symphonic band my pleasure now to introduce a special arrangement of something that captures the very essence of this country and it's a beautiful piece of work america the beautiful by carmen drag real truth in the thirteen years i've been here i have not seen a class that has come together like this one has with the quality of the involvement in social activities whether it's a human awareness week or aids awareness program or many many things that illustrate the social conscience that these young people have today marks in the end in the beginning for you each of you will receive an award today and earn diploma some of your about it last year too i'm worried that you might accept where you are but those of you have achieved well i'm worried that you may be self satisfied and you may not see the true challenge that exists before you for you who felt that these four years have not been your best i am worried that you will accept your place each of you have truly wonderful things to discover about yourselves wonderful talents to uncover and i'm worried that you might stop too long here and let what has been dictate what can be part of your work is to know your own value we tend to reward a small somewhat narrow band of talent that is our tradition i worry that those of you who have not been located on that band may not recognize your true worth there is very little that we have to teach you that you can't learn i really believe that as an educator there isn't much that we have to teach to everyone if you can for most things are really simple just things that others like you and i have discovered sometimes the creation this is a wonderful world with all of its imperfections yours to be happy and fulfilled it's less of a function of material things and more about knowing your own special  wish for you troubled hard times as well as the world and friends come close beside you keep your sleepless i wish for you the thrill of knowing who you are where you stand and why specially why not prosperity but dreams i wish for you not riches but a sense of your own worth wish for you not even one life however proud would be to have it so but tomorrow is now my pleasure to represent the faculty of the high school in presenting the department for the students who display special talent and individual academic academic areas have been chosen than anything i will read our young the english department the word will go to i'm a member of the national honor society a national merit scholarship committee student a member of the performing arts company direct a class play member a student going government student rep the school committee active in peer leadership said horace she writes for the school newspaper a member of the eight action committee studied by piano one voice for ten years and you can leave it at that this is  our social studies department work goes to a national merit finalist national honor society member editor in chief of the high point concert by the h s performing arts company she's a chorus volunteer in turn jane will be attending harvard university in  know music departmental work goes to a young woman who plays clarinet saxophone with the same tonic and marching band she is a member of the performing arts company sad staff member of the union which is our literary magazine president of the  member of the greater boston used to use symphony orchestra in northeast district music festival she's a music teacher in our community service program to be attending boston university in the fall sharon h our industrialized department award goes to a young man who was a great all star soccer player recruited by many colleges it's an outstanding young man talented in sports intelligent very responsible hardworking and conscientious one of the most gifted soccer players i've seen in a very very long time for language department award goes to a member of our varsity basketball soccer teams played on the melrose summer basketball the honest faculty right honest open and forthright young man finds students with a sense of purpose attending stonehill college our business department award goes to a staff writer for the high point appear a little earlier for middle school students member of saddened belmonte club in the student government four years active participant in soccer  are science department of word goes to member of our national honor society national america committee student captain of the parsley swim team number of u s swim team involved with special olympics space leadership by dependability responsibility and willingness willingness to work she'll be attending john hopkins university michael mccann working in a restaurant italy one year this is something that we've put together is a very serious part of our program and i think you ought to take the opportunity to listen to it seriously seniors shields typical for outstanding achievement an exceptional distinction and scholarship is awarded to a senior who is a member of the national honor society has received national merit commendation and the recipient of the masses massachusetts association of school superintendents certificate of merit has been awarded the harvard prize the society of women's engineering award bausch and lomb science of ward has received many p t a awards in departmental areas the belmont tennis trophy holds membership in the concert choir served as sports editor for the high point and a member of that the recipient of this award the valedictorian of the class has nine hundred ninety three is carol mon feel certificate for outstanding achievement an exceptional distinction in scholarship is awarded to a senior who is a national merit finalist member of the national honor society recipient of the wellesley college field certificate for outstanding achievement an exceptional distinction in scholarship is awarded to a senior who is a member of the national honor society has their own car for the latter is an indoor track outdoor track country as a active member of the belmonte and club and also active in both church and community service this student has given many hours and has distinguished himself by his record and community service the recipient of this award is the co's solitary end of the class of ninety ninety three daniel go for our graduates i would also like to recognize the parents of our graduates as a parent i know that your task of moving your son or daughter from helpless infancy to graduate has been different in its individual demands but universal in its sequence you have moved to that helpless infant considerably along that continuum and in doing that your son and your daughter have learned that the world is a good pla place where someone outside his or her self can filled one's needs where that someone is worth pleasing even if it means giving up one's own pleasures we recognize your efforts as parents in today's celebration graduate i hope you continue to perceive this world as a good place and that you are strong commitment to others as already evidence by your involvement in community service will become stronger as you experience more of the world none of you knew robert kennedy much has been written about him as we walked the twenty fifth anniversary of his assassination one writer suggests that what distinguished bobby kennedy was his belief that we have an obligation to one another the right to suggest that acknowledging our obligation to one another is really a classic case of self and light and interest doing the right thing because it's right but also because it works because it is necessary for our nation to tocqueville said it bad when he realized even at the very beginning of our national life he said america is great because america is good if america ceases to be good you will cease to be great i do not doubt that you the class of nineteen ninety three will send your obligations to one another in the many different paths that you will travel as you depart belmont high school you will send your obligation to want to another in your personal relationship in your academic and work setting and then you a civic responsibility you will contribute to our nation's goodness which is it greatness and now to the school committee cam and mrs karen pressing i am pleased to certify that the seniors here president has met the requirements of graduation from belmont high school chairman of the belmont school committee i wish to welcome you all parents relatives friends and students to share in this proud day of accomplishment every one of you has earned this diploma your four years of hard work numerous late nights and probably more than a few tears along the way today is the payoff you will join the ranks of those who are privileged to say they are graduates of belmont high school  that we are proud of each one of you and that we wish you great success in the future this class is particularly special to the school committee because to school committee members june widmer and two current school committee members that comment on myself are shall we say parentally related to members of this class we therefore sharing the honor of addressing the graduates and mrs  remarks on behalf of the school committee thank you karen i welcome the opportunity to address the class of nine hundred ninety three i've watched many of you progress from pacifiers to playgrounds to prom and finally in today's proud for sessional your graduation marks the culmination of work of over twelve years of belmont's investment in you we need only look at the quality of this gr class to see that public education is working you're pre graduation assembly granted a record number of awards and honors those of you who had achieved high levels of success during high school at that ceremony are drama director joke overall meaningfully stated without challenge there is no learning go out challenge yourself but then give something back it has been the challenge of those of us who stood up here today and to the townspeople of belmont to provide you with a framework of education but it is your challenge to take the draw materials and build something meaningful your class has taken this challenge seriously your hard work is brought to belmont state athletic championships which are hanging on our wall news eight gold medals state art and drama award for viewer math national merit scholars and ninety four percent of you are going on to higher education in addition you've attended the elderly a nursing home tutored the young at elementary schools and planted flowers around town these contributions and accomplishments have brought great pride to the whole community not all of you can be members of championship teams or be academic leaders however but if each of you strive to attain your personal best you will be successful your individual achievement will be different from the classmate next to you and your accomplishments will come at different times in this book the prophet braun strayed if the teacher is wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind is my hope that your years of education in belmont to bless each of you to a deeper understanding of your own uniqueness your own special talents that you will be leaving belmont well prepared for your future and will remember to give back so that the next generation can have the benefits you have your progress to date has been remarkable but your challenge is just beginning and your potential is limitless in closing i can't resist one last piece of motherly advice this comes from the wall street journal remember always who you are stand up for what you have become but for heaven's sake stand up straight over adrianna been at campbell michael christopher mcgovern aaron levie kelly emily elizabeth cargo brian dana yarrow heather and nicole cutting joshua law in thomas suppressing david emanuel ross cynthia and johnston richard perry colby bryan laurie laura a green karen mary quinn frederick leo good amy christine more bradley douglas cur mcdonald king jennifer when murphy nicole come on doris tracey and