Amat Celebrates 50th Graduating Class

By Alyssa Rocha
Correspondent

Around 330 seniors graduated from high school Friday in Bishop Amat’s Fiftieth Annual Commencement Ceremony.

Alex Pimentel, who will be attending Princeton University in the fall, served as the salutatorian for the class of 2010.

In his speech, Pimentel focused on the Amat family.

“ Lancer tradition isn’t one specific team, it’s about family, its always been about family,“ Pimentel said.

As Pimentel continued his speech he explained that it would be difficult for the classmates not to see each other everyday.

“We didn’t prepare for the goodbye we would share with each other tonight,” he said.

After Pimentel’s speech, seniors Kenneth Orlino, Eunice Solomon, Megan Uriarte, Melody Palmerin, Emilio Tello, and Victoria Perez sang “Lean On Me.” The crowd was involved with the performance and clapped to the beat during the song’s chorus.

Then, valedictorian Samantha Mojica, who will be attending the University of California Los Angeles, spoke about unity among the faculty and student body.

“Community, family, and friendship are the most important things in life,” Mojica said.

The chamber singers followed with the song “Wana Baraka,” which means “they have blessings.”

After the song, Monsignor Aidan Carroll, Principal Merritt Hemenway and Vice Principal Richard Beck presented the graduating class with their diplomas.

The class of 2010 included 94 students with first honors, 41 with the gold medal, which means the students maintained a GPA of 4.0 or higher during their high school years.The 53 bronze medal earners, maintained a GPA between 3.5 and 3.99 or higher during their four years at Amat.

After the ceremony, graduate Arlene Rangel, who will be attending Mount St. Mary’s College, said it feels weird to graduate.

“ I feel like I am going to have to show up for school on Monday,” she said.