Tunkhannock grads told to redefine success

Tunkhannock Area valedictorian tells class to value faith, family, friends.

IAN CAMPBELL Times Leader Correspondent

TUNKHANNOCK – Those who have the most toys in life won’t necessarily win.

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Rachel Doctor, left, and Jessica Davidson lead the procession of Tunkhannock Area High School graduates into the football stadium during commencement on Friday.

Don Carey/The Times Leader

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That, in effect, was the message from the leaders of Tunkhannock Area High School’s class of 2009 on Friday.

Broadening the expression to include the most money, biggest house and fanciest car, class President Melissa Manglaviti pointed out that it’s the way in which people handle the less-than-ideal circumstances in their lives that shows their true strength of character.

People need to redefine success to focus on life experience rather than monetary reward, and not be afraid to stop if they feel their lives are going off track and start over, she told the large outdoor crowd at the school’s Memorial Field.

Salutatorian Jessica George also noted the opportunities graduation gave for people to start afresh, as they headed out to start new lives away from the routines of the past 13 years.

Valedictorian Sarah Yeust, who also picked up a number of scholarships, academic and community awards, also noted that students had undergone a change of perspective in recent weeks, as the end of their academic term grew near.

Students should remember the three most important aspects of life as they moved forward, she said, rather than focus on what the world currently views as important.

When someone loses the lifestyle of a big house, expensive car, powerful job, it often turns out that their lives underneath the trappings are remarkably shallow, she said.

It was more important to remember the value of faith, family, and friends, she noted.

In life, people have the option of doing a job, simply and without any attention to its quality, or they could strive to have perfection as their goal. She urged them to try for the latter, and quoted Dr Seuss to give her words a link to the first reading most of her classmates ever did.

“You can steer your direction wherever you want to go,” she quoted Seuss.

The district listed 213 students as potential graduates at the Friday evening event.