‘Enjoy life in the now’

The Bordentown Regional High School Class of 2025 moved on to the next chapter of their lives with pomp and circumstance.

Principal Rob Walder welcomed family and friends inside the Performing Arts Center on June 19.

Salutatorian Isha Amin shared with her graduating class that after the first day of high school in September 2021, she took what felt like the longest nap of her life.

“After two years straight of Google meets [due to the COVID-19 pandemic) in-person schooling was exhausting,” she relayed. “It was my first time walking through a hallway in two years.”

Amin shared that she was not happy on how her first day of high school began because she had big plans, essentially no time for naps.

“Things about plans is that they don’t always go your way,” Amin said. “Plans fall apart sometimes [and] you just need to take a nap. And as freshman year went on, I realized that having a plan all the time was not always the best-case scenario. In fact, most of my favorite moments in the past four years were the ones that were unscheduled and full of light-hearted fun.”

Rather than offer advice since “many of us have already dealt with overbearing expectations and burnout crashes” Amin offered her peers an invitation.

“Let’s turn away from some of our plans and embrace the unexpected together,” she said. “Let’s walk into life without needing all the answers, before we do anything, let’s walk on the detours that life throws at us, the late decisions and impulsive adventures that we come up with on a whim.

“The best memories that we have from high school, the real nostalgia we’re going to miss, this kind that doesn’t come from our to-do lists on our schedules, they come from the spontaneous decisions we made to enjoy life in the now.”

Valedictorian Sameer Sharma shared that he faced a pressing dilemma whether or not to use chat GPT for his valedictorian speech. Then something caught his eye, the number 1,600 on his desk that he had etched in pencil the summer before his sophomore year.

Sharma spoke about the obsessed grind to reach that number – the perfect score – on the SAT.

“I thought I didn’t have enough time to spend with those closest to me,” he said, spending his time practice test after practice test.

After two years, three Saturday morning test days and more than 10,000 practice questions, he saw “that once seemingly impossible number implanted on my phone screen.”

“That day, the number 1,600 didn’t feel real … the same way that today the number 2025, it doesn’t feel real for some of us,” he said.

Graduation day is a time of celebration, Sharma said.

“A time for all of us to look back at our cringey photos from freshman year and think ‘Wow, why did I ever like this selfie?’,” he quipped.

“J. Cole, a famous American rapper once said that, ‘There’s no such thing as a life that’s better than yours.’

“His perspective cautions away from jealousy. Instead, he inspires listeners to respect themselves and their own achievements. In many ways his words echo the message I’d like to leave you all with here today,” Sharma continued.

“We all have control of our own lives and that we can achieve anything we can turn our dreams into reality and I know that sounds very cliché but seriously it’s true.

“I want you all to take a moment to reflect on a time you accomplished something big or small that didn’t come easy. Now think back to the work that you put in to make that happen …

“I urge us all to continue to chase our goals, our dreams in the next phase of our lives no matter how daunting they may seem as we cross off this checkbox of high school.

“I urge us all to never forget those who motivate us, our family and friends, our teachers, coaches administrators and counselors who drive us to achieve the impossible.”

After several more speeches including Interim Superintendent Edward Forsthoffer III and board of education members, as well as music from the Bordentown Region High School Senior Choir, Walder presented the diplomas to the Class of 2025.

The class then moved their tassels from right to left signifying the beginning of their next chapter.