Princeton High Graduates Urged to 'Learn to Live'

Little kids ask their parents endless questions.

Do fairies really exist? Why can’t I go to Pluto? Why can’t fish live without water?

As kids grow up the questions become harder, Senior Amanda Phelan told her fellow graduates on Tuesday.

Who is my Prince Charming? What is tax evasion? Why are my parents so embarrassing?

“What’s great about being an adult is knowing how to find your own answers,” Phelan said, addressing students and families. “We are gathered here today both blessed and enabled by a wonderful and supportive education. It’s up to us to dictate what tomorrow will be.”

Princeton High School’s commencement on the high school’s front lawn took place on Tuesday evening. High school diplomas were awarded to 337 seniors, including those from both Princeton and Cranbury. Cranbury students enroll at Princeton High School beginning in ninth grade after graduating from the .

Although thunderstorms were predicted and school officials had plans to move the graduation indoors in case of rain, it was a rain-event as hundreds gathered to watch friends and loved ones walk across the stage to receive a high school diploma.

“This is a day you have waited for for so long, but like the last four years, it will pass so fast,” Principal Gary R. Snyder said. “You have truly learned. Your work here is finished. The world awaits your spirit, talent and leadership.”

Graduates each affixed two gold stars on his or her blue graduation gown to honor two classmates who died during high school- Helene Cody, who died from a sudden illness last year, and Emma Brunskill.

“You will always be missed,” Class of 2011 President Daniel Taub said of Cody and Brunskill “You will never be forgotten to anyone whose lives you have touched.”

Over the past four years, Princeton High’s Class of 2011 has overcome loss, made friends, traveled the world with school organizations and learned that student council is not a popularity contest.

Now the students will move to the next stage of their lives, which they should do without worry, embarrassment or fear of failure, senior speaker Andrew Sodern said.

"Today we have another chance to reinvent ourselves, wherever we are going," Sodern said. 

The Class of 2011 selected Sodern, Emefa Agawa and Phelan as student commencement speakers.

“We’ve spent the last four years living to learn,” Phelan told her classmates. “Now it’s time to go out and learn to live."

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