Mira Loma Graduates Ready For Next Chapters

About 350 Mira Loma High School students celebrated their commencement exercises Friday at Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium.

The graduates, wearing red caps and gowns filed into the Memorial Auditorium at about 3 p.m. as proud family members and friends shouted words of encouragement and took pictures.

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's that we should never forget where we came from," said Kedar Kulkarni, who was selected to address his fellow graduates. "Mira Loma is part of who we are; you will always be a Mighty Matador (the school mascot)."

Kulkarni said he will attend the University of California, Berkeley in the fall to study business administration.

Mira Loma students Onalisa Pastrana and Imaan Taghavi perfomed the Bill Withers song "Lean On Me."

Finally, the graduates took the stage one by one, from Vrinda Agarwal to Matthew Zhong.

After the ceremony, graduates posed for pictures outside with each other and their families and friends.

"I'm really excited to go on to college," said Selena Li, who will attend Harvard to study molecular and cellular biology. "

Li said she's thankful for her time at Mira Loma.

"I like the air of innovation and curiousity there is," she said. "It's a school that breathes diversity."

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