Saxony Lutheran senior Aaron Zoellner took a different approach with his commencement speech.
He wrote a poem.
Zoellner based the poem on “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to remember all the fun times he and his classmates had in their four years at Saxony.
“Little did we know there would be a pig in school, but in the end we made a video so cool; every sport and club lined up in the hall, some of us even got to throw a ball.” Zoellner said.
But in the end he knew that his time at Saxony would come to an end.
“So across the stage we walked, About our achievements we talked,but at the end of the day, no longer we could stay. Leaving with memories of Saxony Lutheran high, and finally saying our last goodbye.” Zoellner said.
Zoellner and his 55 classmates said goodbye to the halls of Saxony Lutheran for the last time during the school’s graduation ceremony on Sunday.
Zoellner said he and his classmates faced many challenges during their time at Saxony including the COVID-19 pandemic and being masked at school for their sophomore year. However, they rose above it all.
“In all of the challenges we experienced during our freshman year, it would have been easy to have given up but, we did not. We persevered and we flourished,” Zoellner said. “We barely had 6 months of high school before we were shut down. We were still trying to make friends and find our place in high school. So, I say we are the class of resilience, perseverance, and hope. We were able to overcome every insane obstacle that came our way. However, we didn’t do this alone.”
Through everything, the class prevailed, especially in the classroom. The average ACT score for the 2023 class was 23, which is three points higher than the national average. A total of 73 percent of the graduates earned 559 college credits, which is the most in the last five years at Saxony, with 40 of the graduates taking at least one college course. The total amount of scholarship money earned and accepted was more than $1.4 million, with the average money amount being $32,700. The average was one of the highest in school history.
Commencement speaker Max Wieser compared the student’s compared the four years of high school to a 4x400 meter relay where freshman year they were just getting used to be in high school to now leaving for the last time.
“Everyone will have to get used to going to class or doing something that isn’t at Saxony,” he said. “How you react to possible failures and rise above them is sometimes better than always succeeding.”
