Graduation Photos

It's the heart of graduation season and we've got grad photos.
Slide shows »

Multimedia

View an archive multimedia project on teen drinking.
WATCH NOW »

The seniors of Oak Park High recognized that an ending was also a beginning.

In their graduation Thursday night "this point of triumph," in the words of student speaker Adam Dehmohseni they were also urged to see their achievement as the inspiration to be challenged.

"It is time to break free and share our gifts with the broader world," said Lisa Rotenstein, a valedictorian and another of the four senior speakers. Quoting Robert F. Kennedy, she said that those who stand up for an ideal create a ripple of hope.

"Those ripples build a current which can knock down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance," she said. "Let our ripples create a wave by which we can be forever remembered."

Or, as Dehmohseni put it in a humorous speech playing off many of the conventions of high-school commencement addresses, "We are called to care, to actually give a damn, in the age of apathy."

There was no lack of achievement among the 284 students 270 from Oak Park High, and 14 from Oak Park Independent School assembled on the high school's football field. More than a third of them graduated with grade-point averages of 3.50 or higher, including 33 with GPAs of 4.0 or better.

Leading that group were valedictorians Rotenstein, who had a 4.41 GPA and will attend Harvard, and Maximillian Hirsch, who had a 4.42 GPA and will attend UCLA. Salutatorian Tiffany Chang (4.40) will also attend UCLA.

Beforehand, Rotenstein had admitted she was nervous about speaking.

"It would be nice to get that part of it over with," she said, "but it's part of the experience, and I'm excited to have gotten here."

As she prepares to move on to Harvard, where she anticipates a major combining neuroscience and bioengineering and a separate major in political science, she believes the most memorable part of her high school experience will be the myriad activities she took part in and the people she met because of them.

"I was really thankful for that because I really got to meet a cross section of the school," she said. Other graduates also felt the human connection would be the most lasting aspect of their high school years.

"It's definitely the people, my friends, and the moments we shared together," said Aaron Levine, who will attend the University of Arizona.

"I'll miss seeing all my friends every day and being able to talk with someone," said Patrick Henggeler, who plans to play football next season at Ventura College. "Now, I won't be able to because I'm going to have friends all over the place. I'm going to have friends in Florida and Colorado. It's going to be weird not seeing them every day."

The ceremony signals "moving on to the next step of life," said Jason Lauterbach, who plans to attend Sonoma State.

And, of course, it was a definite reason to celebrate.

"It's really exciting," said Sara Majidian, who will play volleyball next year at Pierce College. "It's actually shocking. I never thought I would be here.

"I just remember, like sixth grade, thinking, I wish I was a senior and graduating. Now we're finally here. It's crazy."