Lodi High graduates say goodbye
With the toss of their caps, Lodi High School's graduating class of 2005 bid a fond farewell to their alma mater Thursday night, honoring shared memories and friendships while looking ahead to the future.
Thousands of family members and friends turned out at the Lodi Grape Bowl, armed with cow bells, air horns and plenty of lung power to honor the 475 Lodi High graduates who sat below them on the field.
The seniors sat perched on folding chairs as the early evening sun beat down on their faces. Decked out in sunglasses, the students remained quiet as speakers took the podium.
Just moments before the ceremony began, seniors gathered at the eastern end of the stadium in a thick crush of red and white polyester to make some last minute touches to their hair, makeup and mortarboard caps.
"I'm just excited to be here," said Heather McNear, adding that a close shave with an English class had her worried about being able to walk in the ceremony.
She and her friend, Justine McKinney, said they were not nervous or sad to be leaving school and were looking forward to whatever lay ahead of them.
"This is just like a transition," said McKinney. "It's something that you have to do."
Valedictorian Mia Shanholzer spoke to fellow classmates about how she refused to let stereotypes define her life. Instead, she jokingly told them, she would define herself as a nerd, but only on her own terms.
She encouraged them never to bow down to social conventions.
"Dare to be different," she said. "Follow your heart — don't just follow the crowd."
Keeping in tune with the theme of daring to be an individual, Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi, R-Lodi, encouraged Lodi High graduates to embrace failure and respect its power to teach.
He talked about his own failed attempt at seats on the State Senate and Assembly in years past and shared the value of learning lessons the hard way.
"Learn to love learning, no matter how it arrives," he stoically suggested.
Despite the sage advice, most seniors said their first priority would be to catch up on some much-needed rest.
When the ceremony was over, Kayla Erickson made a bee-line to her father, Jon. They embraced in a moment filled with joyous tears. The senior explained that she was worried she wouldn't make it to graduation night.
"I didn't think this was something I was going to accomplish," she said, wiping at a stray tear. "My teachers really helped me out."
Erickson added she was excited about not having to wake up early the next morning.
Adam Beckman left the field Thursday night in a euphoric state of mind.
"I was sad a little bit earlier in the evening, but now I'm pumped," he said, looking at a group of friends who waited for him nearby.
Part of his happiness came from the relief of taking the graduation walk without tripping in front of the crowd.
For John Pergande, graduation was a time for tearful goodbyes with friends he's known during his time at Lodi High.
After the ceremony, he clung to several friends, all of whom were crying. When he pulled away, he had their mascara on the collar of his dress shirt.
"We're family, stronger than family," he said with tears in his eyes. "That's probably going to be the hardest thing to leave."
In the fall, Pergande will leave Lodi for an extended training in the U.S. Navy, where he will specialize in nuclear engineering. It's a program that will take at least two years, he said.
Until then, he hopes to spend as much time as he can relishing what time he has left with former classmates.
Megan O'Dell, on the other hand, said she was happy to move onto the next part of her life.
"I just feel like it's definitely time to move on," she said confidently, adding that she looks forward to attending college at the Thornton School of music at the University of Southern California.
As for her immediate post-graduation plans, O'Dell said she was moving on to the all-night graduation party being held at the American Legion Hall down the street from the Grape Bowl.
The field began to clear as graduates left, still dressed in voluminous sheets of red and white, made their way to the parking lot.
That is, except for one exception. A single baby blue graduation cap and tassel peeked in and out the crowd. It's wearer, Robert Albin, wore it as a souvenir from his graduation at Liberty High School earlier that day.
Contact reporter Sara Cardine at sarac@lodinews.com.