St. Vincent looks back and forward during graduation

The St. Vincent High School channeled its inner Ebenezer Scrooge as the trio of valedictorians gave a look back at the past, present, and the future during its annual graduation ceremony.
St. Vincent said goodbye to 46 graduates on Sunday in the St. Vincent De Paul Church, but not before Valedictorian Hannah Riney looked back at the previous 13 years the Class of 2021 had spent together walking the halls.
“While our time here at St. Vincent may only seem like a small part of the bigger picture, it has held some of my favorite memories and I have had the opportunity to spend 13 years with the most amazing class,” Riney said.
Riney, like many other students that sat in the audience, is nervous about what may come in the next chapter of their lives. However, she believes that the past years at the school has shaped them and will help the now-alumni as they move forward.
“The memories we made here we will look back on for years to come, but it is the strong faith and the sacraments that we have learned while at St. Vincent to guide us. St. Vincent is all that we have known, but the past should not be forgotten.”
While the past is important to remember, Genevieve Lipe said that it is important to live life in the present.
“Every moment that we have spent at St. Vincent has gone by before we even had a chance to cherish it,” Lipe said. “Out of the many seniors here today, there has to be one thing that we would like to experience just one more time. In life, it is easy to get caught up in unnecessary things. We immerse ourselves in things that seemingly important at the time, but really aren’t. As a result our time is wasted on things we can’t control. Living in the present means focusing on the things we can.”

In that present, St. Vincent had 28 of its 46 graduating students received Cum Laude honors this year.
Summa Cum Laude honor (4.0 grade point average) students were: Jayden Bauwens, Mallory Clifton, Claire Deterding, Phillip Ernst, Alania Hotop, Emerson Kirn, Genevieve Lipe, Hannah Riney, Kirsten Robinson, and John Wibbenmeyer. Magna Cum Laude students (3.75-3.99) were Kate Brewer, Luke Brickhaus, Marissa Cooper, Shawn Koishor, Alana Meyer, Shjon Pyle, Blake Schnurbusch, Zoey Wibbenmeyer, and Jessica Steele.
Cum Laude students (3.50-3.74) were Morgan Berkheimer, Jacob Baer, Lacey Best, Alex Buerck, Isaac Hotop, Brendon Moonier, Faith Mueller, Mary Schwartz, and Josh Unterreiner.
Deterding, the third Valedictorian and last speech of the ceremony looked ahead to the future, fittingly right after the St. Vincent students received their diplomas.
“Our diplomas are the key to all our future endeavors,” Deterding said. “Up to this point our lives have been planned for us. We have followed the paved path from elementary school, to junior high and high school. However, now we take the first steps in deciding how our lives will go.
To end the ceremony, Wibbenmeyer received the St. Vincent De Paul award for his contributions both inside and outside the halls of St. Vincent High Schools.
Commencement Speaker Seth Amschler noted that now that the students are graduated they enter an esteemed group of people as St. Vincent alumni, but they must continue to keep their Catholic faith at the forefront.
“You are blessed with a Catholic education and that is something that can’t be taken away,” Amschler said. “I challenge each of you to make your faith a priority.”