Claremont
Pederson doesn’t believe she would have been wearing her red cap and gown were it not for her mother’s unwavering support and encouragement.
“My mother pushed me to go back to school and graduate on time,” said Pederson on Thursday, hours before she graduated.
Pederson left school late in her freshman year to have a child. She home schooled over summer 2014 to catch up on work and returned to Stevens that fall, something Pederson doubts would have happened without her mother, backed up by help from Stevens faculty.
“My mom was my backbone to everything,” said Pederson, whose son, Jason, is 3. “She always pushed me to do better and even took time off from work to help.”
This spring, Pederson was enrolled in the school’s extended learning opportunities at the recommendation of one of her teachers.
“It gave me an opportunity to see what it is like to be in a business environment,” said Pederson, who took the course at Red River Computer. For now, her post graduate plans are to join the workforce, but she hasn’t dismissed the idea of returning to school to study business or computers, which will be a greater possibility thanks mostly to her mother.
“I owe everything to her.”
Graduation in Carr gymnasium had a little bit of everything, including some impromptu slow dancing with brothers Nick and Zack O’Brien swaying with class advisers Karen Cullison and Maria Smith, while Cullison’s daughter, Stevens alumna Caitlin Cullison, sang Lee Ann Womack’s I Hope You Dance, as requested by Smith. Moments before, Karen Cullison also gave her farewell to the class in song as she stood before the graduates on the gym floor singing For Good from the musical Wicked, with Caitlin joining her. Several graduates rose to hug their adviser when she finished to loud applause.
A lot of thanks, praise and good wishes, along with memories and advice were heard from the podium by graduation speakers.
At the beginning, Superintendent Middleton McGoodwin told the graduates to be “proud of what they accomplished and savor it,” and Stevens Principal Patricia Barry told the class as the ceremony wound down to go out and become the best version of themselves, a superhero of sorts to make the world a better place. “The world is waiting. The time is now.”
Cameron Cullison, valedictorian and daughter of Karen, said as the final days of high school wound down, she came to realize the importance of living in the moment with those she is with and that moment is better enjoyed by putting the cellphone down.
Citing some of her classmates’ numerous accomplishments, Cullison said high school will soon be a memory, so “all I ask of you is that you stop and look around, be present and live in the moment, because I can promise you, the company you keep is pretty great, and I have four amazing years to prove it.”
For salutatorian Anna Avery, the conventional speech of congratulations and cherishing memories was not her style, but not because she didn’t think many of those memories are good or that the graduates weren’t worthy of praise.
She instead urged her fellow graduates to look “outward” past their own existence “and realize that there is something you can do to make someone else’s day just a little bit better.”
Her advice was to remember there is someone watching, in a good way, over you.
“Someone sees your struggles. Someone sees your achievement and your failures. Someone sees your flaws in character. Someone sees your virtue. But no one can see inside you. If what’s on the outside doesn’t reflect the inside, know that it is never too late to change it. This is the time to leave behind the parts of you that you don’t like and take with you the parts you are proud of,” Avery concluded.
Class president Zach O’Brien enthusiastically spoke of the spirit, energy and character of the class from the moment they entered Stevens and the first pep rally.
“From that moment, I knew we had something special,” O’Brien said.
He recalled being bewildered and amazed at the size of the crowds from Claremont that turned out to watch Stevens win the state championship in football and fall just short in basketball.
“The only answer I had was they were there for us,” O’Brien said. “They wanted us to know that they had our back and I will never forget that.”
O’Brien went on to thank teachers, coaches, administrators, his parents and finally his classmates for the memories and friendships made the last four years.
Several graduates sang their own variation to Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah and then Nathaniel Treadway was presented with the Edgar Lord Faculty Award.
The school invited 1991 Stevens graduate and current Sullivan County Manager Derek Ferland to deliver the keynote speech.
Running your own race, having the right attitude and not forgetting where you came from was the advice Ferland gave to the graduates.
“You have to figure out what it is you want to do and then go do it,” Ferland said. “Don’t get caught up worrying about what everyone else is doing. So run your own race. Your race begins now.
“Attitude is the number one predictor of someone’s success or failure,” he continued. “That’s it. Positive attitude is the stuff of champions. Right football players? Attitude trumps all.”
With the traditional show of the class video on a large screen, graduates looked back one final time together on their four years at Stevens before leaving to the applause of family and friends.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
Stevens Class of 2017
Daniel Anderson, White Mountain Community College; Muhammad Armughan, militayr service: Anna Avery, Babson College; Brooke Bagley, Centre College; Makayla Bailey, New Hampshire Institute of Art; Logan Bateman, Regis College; Christopher Beckelman; Richard Bell, Plymouth State University; Timothy Berry, Worchester Polytechnic Institute; Jesse Blanchard; Logan Bonneau, Keene State College; Stephen Bosonac, Rochester Institute of Technology; Preston Brown, Marine Corps; Devon Burgess, River Valley Community College; Sarah Burnham; Braydon Burt, University of New Hampshire; Michael Callum, Colby Sawyer College; Joshua Carpenter; Robert Carpia, RVCC; Cameron Cullison, Mercer University; Angelique Day; Miranda Dicus; Alyssa Dodge, Full Sail University; L. Amber Duford, University of Hartford; Nicholas Eagan, UNH; Sasha Eastman; Broghan Eaton, RVCC; Matthew Ellis; Jack Fitzpatrick, Embry Riddle College; Gabrielle Fletcher, Keene Beauty Academy; Bryce Foss, University of Maine, Orono; Cody Foster, RVCC; Alexis Gagnon; Kaya Gaumont; Hannah George, Hartford University; Kyle Greene, Thomas College; Randy Greenleaf; Jazmyn Griffin, Keene State; Amina Hassan, Roger Williams University; Timothy Heighes; Coby Hussey, Becker College; Kayla Jennison, New Hampshire Technical Institute; Kylie-Renee’ Jones , Keene State; Angelique Kees; Cassidy Kelly, Keene State; Dylan Kemp, RVCC; Benjamin King; Kiara Knight, UNH; Morgan LaClair; Christopher LaFont, New Hampshire Technical Institute; Joshua LaPlante; Jaznele LaRoche; Dylan LeBlanc; Matthew LeClair; Jourdan Lemieux, RVCC; Katelyn Leslie; Bridget Long, New Hampshire Technical Institute; Marion Lovett, Roanoke College; Ian MacDonald, College of Dupage; Cody Mardanes; Gabrielle Marshall, RVCC; Bethany McNamara, Rivier University; Christian Menendez-Thrall; Sierra Meunier, Plymouth State; Margaret Milan, Florida Southern College; Michael Miller, UNH; Rebecca Moody, Mount Ida College; Reily Moote; Jennie Morey, Mount Ida College; Julianna Morton, New England Culinary Institute; Nickolas O’Brien, University of Maine; Zachary O’Brien, University of Maine; Brenden Pacetti; Alexis Parliman, Empire Beauty School; Emma Pederson; Andrea Peltier; Devin Porter; Brieanna Provencher; Micaiah Rankle; Carly Reynolds, St. Lawrence University; Logan Richards; Dylan Sabalewski, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Tyler Sabalewski; Maxamillian Salls; Cody Schoolcraft, UNH; Makayla Sewall, University of Maine; Emma Shea, University of Maine; Hunter Slattery, Fisher College; Parker Smith, Bates College; Richard Sprano; Zachary Stanhope, Saint Leo University; Meaghan Strecker, Plymouth State; Andrew Swan; Ethan Sweet, Mount Ida College; Katelyn Thedford, RVCC; Kayla Thibodeau; Nathaniel Treadway, Embry-Riddle; Sarra Wadsworth; Jeffrey Wood, Skidmore College; Samantha Woodman, UNH; Angel Woods, Southern New Hampshire University.
