Class president Manoli Barris welcomes attendees to the event. PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO

Annalise Curl receives the Marion T. Harris Award from English teacher Andrew Frey. PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO

Principal Evan Bishop speaks. PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO

The graduates make their way into the stadium. PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO

Valedictorian Celia Jenkins delivers her speech. PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO

HHS seniors (from left) Nathalie Bates, Caitlin Dempsey and Megan Joyce sing “California Dreaming” during the graduation ceremony. PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO

The concept of time was woven through the speeches at Friday’s graduation ceremony at Hopkinton High School.

Class president Manoli Barris reflected on the various periods of high school life.

Superintendent Carol Cavanaugh talked about the emphasis placed on time and how perceptions change as years pass.

Valedictorian Celia Jenkins urged classmates to live in the moment and focus on what brings them joy rather than always seeking perfection and projecting into the future.

And finally, Principal Evan Bishop challenged the graduates to take a break from social media, unplug and dedicate time and energy toward their mental health.

Barris kicked things off by remembering how “scary” it was as a freshman and sophomore to enter a new school, try to make friends and navigate as an underclassman in a sea of larger, intimidating older kids.

He noted that things start falling into place as a junior with privileges and culminates when they are seniors and “the school is ours.” Barris said that by the time senior year comes, “students look up a little less and we’re more and more looked up to.”

He said seniors are role models because they have matured and learned from their mistakes.

Barris asked whether graduating and going out into the world — to the workforce, military or higher education — feels like middle school again with that uncertainty.

He urged his classmates not to be scared because “stages are just a part of life.” Now that they are leaving the tight-knit Hopkinton school environment, Barris said, they have a clean slate, the ability to reinvent themselves and the opportunity to change and try new things.

The superintendent noted this milestone day is the culmination of 13 years of work or 72 percent of the graduates’ lives. She expanded by saying the graduates spent close to a million minutes in Hopkinton schools or elsewhere learning.

Quoting L. Robert Cole, Cavanaugh talked about the American culture’s obsession with time and how people have developed a “complex lexicon” about it — whether it is keeping time, worrying about losing time, delighting when saving time and understanding that time is a commodity not to be wasted.

Cavanaugh joked that when there is extra time “to kill … we call it senior privileges.”

Continuing the theme, she said that every day or single moment is perceived differently by each person, something the graduates will discover at future class reunions as they reflect back on their school experiences.

“Every unique, distinctive, idiosyncratic, quirky one of you has experienced high school differently,” Cavanaugh said.

She said during the nearly one million minutes they’ve spent in school, they have been “individually and markedly shaped … academically, socially, emotionally, behaviorally and philosophically,” with help from educators.

Cavanaugh urged the students in the days ahead to reach out and tell teachers how they influenced their lives. She also said graduates can expect to see “more greatness in the world and in humanity.”

Cavanaugh added, “Forge your own path. … It doesn’t matter where you go. What matters is what you do when you get there. Please continue to be the good, kind people that you are.”

Jenkins spoke about how as a kid, she sectioned off her food into parts and when there was “one perfectly crafted bite” left, she was unable to fully enjoy it because she was full.

She likened the experience into her adolescence and adulthood when she was always looking forward to vacations or perfect moments of peace during the school year. Jenkins said by overestimating those moments, by the time she got to them, she was burned out and couldn’t enjoy them.

Instead of focusing on what she loved most, Jenkins said she “endlessly was reaching forward,” and striving for perfection, thereby making it hard to appreciate the little things in life.

“Do your best to be kind to yourselves,” she told her classmates. “Don’t obsess over superficial things.” Instead, the valedictorian said her peers should focus on the present, the people they love and find out what brings them joy.

Bishop encouraged graduates to place the same energy on their mental health that they do on physical health. He said life is sometimes unfair and it is important the graduates ask for help when they need it and understand that it is “OK to be vulnerable, OK to not be OK.”

He concluded his remarks by saying, “Be kind to one another, be positive and keep smiling.”

Also during the ceremony, Annalise Curl received the Marion T. Harris Award. English teacher Andrew Frey praised her, calling Curl “an absolute force in the classroom and arts community.” He used the words “insightful,” “passionate,” “honest,” “kind” and “brave” to describe her.

Class treasurer Luciano Duca announced that the yearbook was dedicated to the technology staff. Secretary An-Wen Huang announced the class gift was a large red LED clock in the athletic center. Vice president Sarah Furlong presented gifts to class advisors Samantha Breen and Jay Golden.

Following is a list of the graduates.

Grace Aghababian
Victoria Allen
Michael Ambrosone
Brady Auslander
Aya Baba
Emmanuel Barris
Nathalie Bates
Kathleen Beauvais
Andrew Beck
Deirdre Belger
Brandon Belmonte
Morgan Berenson
Samantha Berenson
Michael Berman
Hunter Bertucci-Bissonnette
Brooke Best
Julian Bianchi
Sofia Bianchi
Mary Billeter
Trinity Birtwistle
Joshua Blangeard
Harrison Bograd
Anthony Boulos
Sarah Bouvier
Olivia Bradley
Alec Brookes
Rowan Buck
Lillian Buckley
Matthew Burdulis
Michael Burney
Ashley Butler
Sean Cahill
Ryan Cain
Kathryn Callery
Charlotte Cann
Myles Canty
Beatrice Casartelli
Julianna Ceddia
Chloe Cella
Shivali Chandrasekar
Jacob Chastain
Asia Chemello
Aidan Chen
Charlotte Cheverie
Praneet Chilla
Lauren Cho
Gabriella Ciri
Margaret Clements
Lauren Coccio
Makayla Coffey
Matthew Coffman
Melanie Cole
Claire Colvin
Quinlin Comiskey
Charles Cooper
Amy Cox
Ciara Cross
Kyla Crum
Annalise Curl
Griffin Curtin
Ryan D’Alleva
Colin Davan
William Davies
Dea Dedolli
Caitlin Dempsey
Faye Desmond
Julia Dever
Jonathan Dicken
Chase Dickson
Keerthana Dinesh
Kathryn Dion
Kara Diune
Anish Doki
Jack Dolski
Devan Donnelly
Alina Donoian
Brooke Dougherty
Madison Drew
Luciano Duca
Jakob Dugas Costa
Daniel Dunn
Alexandre Durand
Rachel Durand
Mouttaz Elgabry
Lydia Ellinwood
Tyler Fallon
Davide Farinacci
Pierce Farrell
Farzad Ferdous
Riley Finnegan
Victoria Fischer
Owen Flanagan
Grace Ford
MacKenzie Fossbender
Ryan Franklin
Morgan Fraser
Sarah Furlong
Lucas Gammal
Andrew Gaughan
Vania Gautam
Lauren Gelbwachs
Melanie Gildea
Audrey Gilpin
Hayley Glassburn
Cristina Gomez
Donate Nickey Gonzalez
Tyler Gordon
Rowan Gould
Connor Grady
Mikayla Grady
Keira Greene
Callum Greenwood
Kevin Gu
Joshua Guarino
Saibhaskar Gudempati
Kush Gupta
Shawn Haley
Cyrus Hanson
Shayna Hanson
Carly Hedstrom
Mackenzie Holmes
Clare Hood
Spencer Horgan
An-Wen Huang
Joshua Huang
Hannah Hutchins
Avery Hutchinson
Michael Hyman
Jessica Ianelli
Yasutora Ito
Louis Jackson
Olivia Jaye
Celia Jenkins
Ethan Jones
Grace Joy
Megan Joyce
Emily Jurasek
Ryan Kalen
Sowmya Karthikeyan
Nathaniel Kasper
Gurleen Kaur
Meher Kaur
Simran Kaur
Owen Keefe
Aidan Kelley
Griffin Kelley
Liam Keohane
Shanzay Khan
Shubhanjay Khanal
Alexander Kimball
Riley Krattenmaker
Joshua Krymgold
Yaseen Kurdi
Jake Lacoche
Bridget Lacroix
Samuel LaGoy
Cathryn Leighton
Emily LePage
Lisa Levandosky
Jack Levy
Elizabeth Liu
Dylan Locke
Federico Logroscino
Connor Lombard
Troy Long
Madison Loos
Sebastian Losada
Sofia Luce
Emma Lucy
Katherine Lundy
Abigail Lussier
Acadia MacDonald
Owen MacDonald
Catherine Mahoney
Vasishta Malisetty
Connor Maloney
Zachary Marlowe
Pietro Marsella
Paige Marshall
Meghan McCarron
Sean McGrail
Allison McMullen
Alexandra McNamee
Fiona Medeiros
Emily Miller
Rachel Miniman
Ramona Molnar
Arcas Moore
Saathvika Motukuri
Alex Munn
James Muzzy
Johanna Nathman
Thomas Nation
Archita Nemalikanti
Gabriel O’Brien
Megan O’Connor
Hayden Orenstein
Caroline Ozmun
Evan Packer
Scott Pagliuca
Nicholas Paharik
Bianca Pal
Kayali Pandian
Krutarth Parmar
Kriya Patel
Suneet Pathangay
Ashleigh Pepin
Ava Perlov
Hannah Pessin
Jordan Pessin
Nathan Petrie
John Petruney
Katherine Powers
Rohan Preis
Katrina Provencher
Jahnavi Prudhivi
Vincent Purpura
Caleb Rahaim
Tanisha Rajgor
Anjali Ramesh
Sreya Ravi
Srikar Ravi
Brendan Regan
Jenny Rock
Cole Rodrigues
Jewlya Rogers
Marc Rogers
Elden Rozy
Aaditya Saini
Chaitrali Samant
Petra-Jasmine Samrout
Paige Sanderson
Raghavendra Saxena
Madelyn Scannell
Cosima Schemmel
Elizabeth Schneider
Owen Schnur
Samuel Scire
Aryan Shah
Kate Sherffius
Nathaniel Siegfried
Alexander Smith
Spencer Smith
Madalyn Snow
Deborah Sousa
Kyler Spar
Emma Steir
Samuel Strechay
Ashlyn Sullivan
Jonathan Sundberg
Sucheta Sunder
Li Sutherland
Kira Sward
Olivia Sward
Afnaan Syed
Parth Tare
Arianna Taylor
Sean Thapa
Ashley Thomas
Miranda Thomas
Ashley Tomaso
Emma Torgerson
Nicholas Torres
Calvin Touzjian
Alexis Trendel
Madeline Ullman
Deeksha Vaidyanathan
Hemankit Vallurupalli
Jeremyah Vasquez
Anshu Velur
Hope Vidil
Daniel Villani
Henry Wailgum
Sean Walker
Marissa Walsh
Kenneth Wan
Alan Wang
Maeve Watson
John Wauters
Jacob Waxman
Tess Weatherhead
Treavor Weeden
Abigail Weinstock
Ava Whelan
Cindy Yang
Erin Yenawine
Grace Young
Marina Youssef
Mena Youssif
David Yurewicz
Josephine Zeigler
Ernest Zhang
Anton Zieger
Mariia Zolotareva