Lodi Academy graduates 25

Members of the Lodi Academy graduating class listen as Dan Brown gives the commencement address at the school’s auditorium June 2. (Jennifer Matthews-Howell/News-Sentinel)

By Nicholas Grudin
News-Sentinel staff writer

Twenty-five graduates of Lodi Academy’s Class of 2002 walked down the aisle of the gymnasium slowly and with broad smiles, basking in the flashes of the crowd’s cameras Sunday as they received their diplomas.

The graduates also picked up 27 awards and scholarships.

“This class has a lot of talent — all sorts of different talents,” said Robert Tan, the Class of 2002 sponsor and a music teacher at the school.

Tan took the group to Hawaii for their senior class trip and although he was excited to see them moving on, he was also sorry to see them go.

And the Class of 2002 will not soon forget Tan and their trip to Hawaii, either. On top of the standard cap and gown, the entire group wore Hawaiian leis as a tribute to their trip with Tan to the islands.

Like Tan, the graduates had a mixture of emotions after Sunday’s commencement — excitement, relief anxiousness.

Jennifer Pulido, the class valedictorian, who is attending Pacific Union College, sprinted out of the gymnasium yelling with excitement.

“It feels wonderful. I’m going to party,” she said, still wearing her red graduation cap. “I feel like this whole weight has been lifted off my head.”

Meanwhile, Matt Tener, 17, has a plan.

“To celebrate, I’m going to get a job,” he said.

Tener, who has attended Lodi Academy for all four years of high school, has already planned out his next six years.

“I’m going to Delta for two years and then a UC school,” he said, squinting in the sun with stringy party foam hanging from his brow, just moments after the two-hour commencement ceremony.

Alan Dowden, who received a reward in religious studies and a $2,700 scholarship for his tuition at Seattle Pacific University to study pre-med, realized the gravity of the moment.

“I’m finally done with this part of my life,” Dowden said softly, before rushing over to celebrate with the rest of his class.