Ending one journey to begin another, Princeton High School (PHS) senior graduates celebrated the end of their high school years when they walked across the Class of 2025 graduation ceremony stage.
The high school’s commencement ceremony was held on the front lawn in front of the Tower at Princeton High School on June 18.
Each year during the commencement ceremony there has been a tradition at PHS where four seniors are selected to deliver a senior address at graduation on the themes of achievement, community, future and spirit.
For the Class of 2025, they chose five seniors to deliver this year’s addresses.
The first speaker was Priya Brunnermeier, who spoke on the theme of achievement.
“In life, achievement comes down to a simple formula – a balance of fortune and virtue,” she said. “Fortune being the art of chance and virtue being the skills that we hold.”
“…as Ms. Murphy once told our class, the nature of life is change. Fortune is a wheel constantly turning. Eventually the best of luck runs out, but if the consolation is by nature, it will continue turning. Floods end; the river returns to its bank…So, build your defenses, be cautious, but more importantly be adventurous.”
Brunnermeier noted how people often say in life that people can’t always count on being fortunate or having fortune brought to us.
“Yet I believe every fortune that pushes us off our desired life path guides us to our… fate,” she said. “…And just as others, like my father, mother, and many friends have left their legacy in me; we as the Class of 2025 will build a legacy in others as we journey forward beyond the Tower quietly standing behind me and that legacy is our success.”
Brian Donis delivered his address on community. For Donis the word community is very special to him.
“I was blessed to grow up with family all over the Princeton Public School system as well as my neighborhood,” he said. “Every first day of school, I’m used to being asked, ‘Are you related to the other Donis?’ and in that I take pride in the reputation my family has left behind for me.
“You all introduced me to PHS with lots of love and my bond with you will forever hold a deep space in my heart. That was my first sense of community. Loving family, celebrating our culture, and having each other’s backs with endless love.”
Donis highlighted that when transitioning into PHS he encountered a broader, more dynamic version of community. For him, PHS is a collection of nationalities, languages and religions, and lived experiences.
“What distinguishes PHS is not just our diversity, but our deliberate efforts to recognize, celebrate and learn from it,” he said. “This is a place where community takes shape in three powerful forms – cultural expression, athletic mentorship, and academic solidarity.
“Cultural celebration is essential to the identity of our school. Events like Asian Fest, Festival Latino, the Black History Month assembly and Hispanic Heritage Month are not merely performances. They are acts of representation and belonging… these moments helped transform the unfamiliar to the familiar and strangers into collaborators.”
In athletics, community emerges in mentorship, Donis said. Upperclassmen take younger teammates under their wing and offer not just skills and strategy but encouragement, structure and sometimes transportation.
“Then there is the academic culture of PHS. Yes, Princeton is known for its intellectual rigor, but here achievement is not confined to one pathway,” he said.
“Whether you are enrolling in a four-year university, pursuing a technical certification, joining the workforce or still discovering your next steps, your journey is honored. Today we acknowledge not just academic success, but our community support toward perseverance, growth and vision.”
Will Ponder delivered remarks on the concept of future.
“PHS Class of 2025, I see you and when I see you, I see the future,” he said. “When I first started high school, graduation felt like this distant event far into the future. However, I wished I savored it more as I’m realizing we will no longer see each other in the hallway every day.
“Graduating, while marking an exciting new era, also marks the conclusion to the simplicities of high school. It marks the conclusion to the simplicities of childhood.”
Ponder said that as he looks into the future, he feels some trepidation about the wide unknown.
“There are no guarantees that our life plans will come to fruition and in fact some of us do not have a plan to begin with,” he said.
“I for one am worried about the future because my parents will no longer be paying for my DoorDash orders … still I believe instead of focusing on what we can’t control we should focus on the positives we can bring into the future. My experience at Princeton High School taught me to look outside of myself and to truly see others.”
With all the chaos currently happening in the world, people seem to be losing their humanity, he noted. Ponder said that is why I am grateful that PHS has given (the graduating seniors) ample opportunity to learn how to treat others with kindness and respect.
“We should strive to understand what brings people joy, their vulnerabilities and what shapes their dreams and ensures that they have basic human rights,” he added. “We will be prepared for the future if we move forward with empathy, if we move forward with gratitude, and appreciation for the vibrant community that surrounds us every day.”
Brendan Beatty and Lois Matsukawa together delivered the address on the concept of Spirit.
“Today we are honored to speak about the spirted nature of our school,” Beatty said. “If you were to ask us freshman year what spirit meant to us, I’d probably say just wearing blue on Tiger Friday.”
Matsukawa added, “I’d probably say just joining a couple clubs. But, over the past four years we have come to learn that spirit is much more than that and it is captured in the stories we are about to share.”
Matsukawa and Beatty said they witnessed the spirit and community previous seniors carried with them.
“Whether it was chanting ‘Let’s Go Tigers’ until you lost your voice, clapping for your friends at assemblies or making sure the quiet freshman had someone to talk to,” they noted.
Now as graduating seniors, we tried our best to do the same,” Matsukawa said. “Lead with pride, support others and help pave the way for younger students. Just like the seniors did for us.”
With sharing memories and events, Matsukawa and Beatty spelled out what “Spirit” means for the class. The first letter in Spirit is S, which stands for show up, P stands for promote, the first I stands for inclusive environment, R stands for Roll Tigers, followed by the second I, which stands for inspire, and T, stands for team leader.
“Before we all walk up on this stage, there is one thing I hope you carry with you into the next chapter and that is to not be afraid,” Matsukawa told his fellow graduating classmates. “Don’t be afraid to share what you are passionate about or dress up for sporting events, don’t be afraid to let your spirit run wild.
“Let people see what brings you joy because when you live a life with that enthusiasm and authenticity, you will build a community inspiring others to do the same.”
