Ad
Featured
Bernalillo grads told to 'make your own story'; get movie quotes to live by
Published
Modified
BERNALILLO — A bright Saturday morning sun beating down on Spartan Stadium at Bernalillo High School was no match for the words of wisdom graduates received before getting their diplomas, even if a few of those words came in the form of quotes from some timeless films.
Graduates, their families and friends heard from top students, BHS Principal Alyssa Sanchez Padilla, BPS School Board President Paul Madrid and BPS Superintendent Matt Montaño during the two-hour proceedings that concluded with everyone gathering on the field to offer their congratulations.
Valedictorian Alena Grife said in crafting her speech, she thought about a question someone once asked her: “If you had five minutes to say anything to the whole world, what would you say?”
Grife said she decided to think of her audience at Saturday’s graduation and tell them what she thought they would want to hear from her. To make things “short and sweet,” she decided to share three quotes from her favorite movies: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Coach Carter” and “Close Quarters.”
Grife, who said her favorite movie was “Ferris,” quoted Matthew Broderick’s character of the same name, who said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Grife said the quote is especially relevant to the students’ lives now, since their new phase in life will likely be fast-paced with exponential growth. Still, there will be time for the finer things in life, she said.
“Do not forget to often look around, take in your environment, the people around you, and the moment that you’re in,” Grife said. “Don’t let it make you sad that you’ll never get it back, but let it inspire you.”
Grife urged graduates to not let her speech “go in one ear and out the other.”
Movie quotes aside, Madrid and Montaño had their own bit of advice for graduates.
But first, Madrid could not help but single out his daughter, Aleah Madrid, who was among the 165 seniors graduating this year. Madrid noted it must not always be easy for a student to be the school board president’s daughter.
Ad
“I know the expectations were high — there were probably moments when you felt like everyone was watching, even just a little too closely,” Madrid said. “You didn’t just get through it; you grew through it.”
He added that he is filled with great pride knowing all his daughter did to get to graduation day.
For the rest of the graduates, Madrid asked them to carry forward a mantra that life is not about what setbacks they might experience in life, it’s how they deal with those challenges.
Montaño began his remarks not with advice but with a request for a moment of silence for former BPS educator Michael Ray Chavez, who passed away May 19 at the age of 54, according to an obituary found online.
Montaño noted he was not one to share stories of his own, so he shared stories of a few exceptional students, many of whom experienced adversity in their lives. One of those students was senior Christian Aguilar, whose father passed away before graduation.
Montaño said losing a father could have “broken (Aguilar’s) spirit,” but he did not let it.
“Instead, your perseverance became a true testament of hard work, resilience and inter strength,” Montaño said. “Christian, your story inspires us all and reminds that even in the face of deep loss, we can still choose to grow, to lead and to shine.”
Following graduation, Aguilar told the Observer he made it through school by thinking of his father, who told the senior he was always “the strongest kid” out of all of his siblings
“It wasn’t really a struggle; I just pushed myself to do everything for him and make him proud, watching me above,” Aguilar said.
He is already focused on the future and has a job lined up as a welder.
Montaño closed his remarks by telling graduates to “make your story your own, no matter how many edits life throws at you.”
