Prosser High School graduation: ‘We’ll always have a home here’

The Prosser High School Class of 2015 valedictorians had a lot of people to thank Friday morning.

Michael Rodriguez thanked his parents and those of his classmates for their love, support, gas money and willingness to sign permission forms. Tanya Godinez Castillo thanked everyone who came out to graduation for the support they provided over the years. Hanna Peters focused on the teachers.

“These teachers deserve a heck of a lot of credit,” Castillo said. “And some major respect, because after four years, we get to leave and they don’t.”

But then it was time for the more than 170 graduates to embark on a life of their own and use the tools and skills they’ve earned and been bestowed with, though that doesn’t guarantee things will always go as planned.

“We will all fail time and time again, but it is important to recognize that failure is just as much a symbol of ambition as success is,” Castillo said.

Rodriguez wondered how, despite everything that happened junior year, that anyone in the class made it.

Though their lives might take them far away from Prosser, Michael said the class should never forget where they came from, and the community that will always back them up. He illustrated this with a quote from a character from the TV show The Office, which he pulled from his shirt as it wasn’t an approved part of his speech.

“He said, ‘no matter how you get there or where you end up, human beings have this miraculous gift to make that place home,’ ” Michael quoted. “I am very confident that wherever we end up, we’ll make it home, but we’ll always have a home here.”

This story was originally published June 6, 2015 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Prosser High School graduation: ‘We’ll always have a home here’."