Graduation 2014: Pasco 'I promise it won't be boring'

Pasco High School’s 106th graduation ceremony featured a quote from British rocker David Bowie, whose 1995 comeback tour was before many of the seniors were born: “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.”

The speeches Saturday evening at Edgar Brown Stadium referred to performers like Beyonce, who is more from the graduates’ era. But they also addressed timeless commencement themes, including the importance of knowledge and perseverance.

“Stay true to your purpose, and the rewards in life will follow,” Principal Raul Sital told the 359 graduates.

The students, who collected a total of $1.5 million in college scholarships, entered the stadium hand-in-hand, with the boys wearing purple and the girls in white.

Salutatorian Maria Fernanda Pineda delivered her speech first in Spanish, then in English. She talked of how she came from Mexico in 2010 not knowing English. She began to understand the language by her sophomore year and only started giving speeches and writing essays in English as a junior.

Pineda will move on to Columbia Basin College to study architecture.

“Most of us went from not knowing a single word of English to not being able to stop talking in class,” she said.

Valedictorian Abigail Buckenberger told graduates to find what makes them happy and indulge in it.

“Don’t be discouraged by the real world because, I don’t know if anybody told you, but we’ve been living in it for 18 years,” she said.

This story was originally published June 7, 2014 at 9:04 PM with the headline "Graduation 2014: Pasco 'I promise it won't be boring'."