Warsaw seniors have swift but sweet ending

WARSAW — It was a swift — but sweet — ending for Warsaw High School seniors.

Graduates marched across the stage, gathering their diplomas and saying farewell to friends at the school Friday.

For Warsaw High School student and salutatorian Marina Lane, graduation nearly didn’t go as planned, as she arrived at the podium without her speech.

She found her speech and told her classmates that the important people in life are not those with the most awards and accolades, but the ones that cared.

Lane, who heads to State Fair Community College in the fall and hopes to someday start her own recycling center, said she found the ceremony a surreal experience.

“I didn’t know I was going to be graduating until they said my name. I can’t believe it,” she said following the ceremony.

Valedictorian Thomas Meyer punctuated his largely comedic speech with lines from Journey’s classic song “Don’t Stop Believing.”

“Four years ago, when we began high school, I dare say we were much different people,” he said, though he joked his class could never have been as annoying as later freshmen. “Who we are now ... we’re an accomplished group of people. We’re a good-looking bunch.”

Meyer told his classmates that while the world isn’t fair, they are obligated to try to make it better.

High school did “not just teach us what we need to survive, but gave us the tools to change the world,” he said.

For graduate Amada Ealy, 18, that’s what she aims to do next. She chose to apply for the Peace Corps.

“I really just wanted to travel and help people and it seemed like a good way to do that,” she said.
She moved to Warsaw during her sophomore year, and is sad to leave.

“It was scary at first, but people here are so nice. I’ve made so many friends,” she said.

Graduate Michael Painter, 18, who heads to Missouri Valley College in the fall, said he felt “relief. I’m going to miss my friends, but I’m ready to start a new phase in my life.”

In just under an hour, graduation was over and that new phase began.