CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Pomp and Circumstance ushered in the end of an era for 82 Umatilla High School students on Saturday at the 2015 commencement ceremony.
“It’s a mix of feelings,” Lesly Aguilar said. “You can’t believe it’s happening so quickly.”
Aguilar will be moving on to Blue Mountain Community College to pursue a career in nursing, and she’s one of many students who plan on moving on to higher education.
“I had a moment last year where I realized everything was going so fast and thought I wanted to stay in high school forever,” Moreno-Mendez said. “Now, with so many things ahead of me, I can’t wait for what’s next.”
The co-valedictorian will attend Dartmouth College in the fall and – right now – hopes to work with the United Nations and refugees. Moreno-Mendez has a good chance of accomplishing her goals; the Umatilla senior is a Coca-Cola Scholar – one of only 150 nationwide. The award included a $20,000 scholarship, and Moreno-Mendez said only 0.17 percent of applicants receive the award.
“If you had told me there was a 0.17 percent chance I’d get the scholarship, I wouldn’t have applied,” she said. “If you don’t put yourself out there, you’ll never know. Maybe if more students (from Umatilla) had applied, they would have won. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.”
Chelsea Winters is working on following her classmate’s advice. One of her biggest lessons at Umatilla High School was not to underestimate herself. Now, Winters hopes to become an ultrasound technician and plans to attend Lane Community College to begin that process.
“I would always underestimate myself,” she said. “I would said, ‘I can’t do it. I’m not smart enough,’ then I would do OK. I could do it, but I underestimated myself.”
A class of academic achievers, students of the Umatilla High School Class of 2015 repeated the same advice for the students behind them: Don’t procrastinate.
“Freshman and sophomore year, I was the kind of person who didn’t take education seriously. That changed junior and senior year,” Irydiana Alvarez said. “My advice? Take school seriously. Don’t mess around.”
Now, Alvarez plans on attending BMCC and would like to go into the police force – with an eventual goal of studying forensic science as a detective. Although he was one of the newest students at UHS after transferring to the school in January, graduate Marcos Mendoza agreed.
“Be prepared. It’s tough. If you’re not on task, you’re not going to succeed,” he said. “Just like anything else, it was a challenge. I really tried to get it done.”
Mendoza plans to attend a criminal justice program in the Tri-Cities in the fall.
Not all students have dreams of traveling the world or moving away for college.
Anay Mendoza has enrolled in the QUEST program at Eastern Oregon University in the fall, where she will work toward a career as an elementary school teacher. She said the career path came from her experience working with the afterschool program at McNary Heights Elementary for the past two years.
“I learned I really like working with kids and working in an elementary setting. I feel that’s where my strengths and skills are,” she said.
Umatilla High School Principal Scott DePew agreed.
“I remember it was the end of the day – and it had been a rough day – and three kids ran into my office and said, ‘The class is out of control and the sub can’t handle it.’ I went down there ready to throw a fit, and I walk in the room and there’s nothing going on. The students were all paying attention to someone – and it was Anay. I sat in the back with the substitute for a good 30 minutes and just watched Anay. She had it under control.”
Saturday, Anay walked the stage with her classmates at Umatilla High School. In five years, she plans to be right back in Umatilla – this time as a teacher at McNary Heights Elementary.
Even those students who will travel the world plan on remembering the positives about their home town. Looking back on high school, however, Moreno-Mendez said she will remember her friends.
“I’ve always been focused on school, but more recently, I’ve realized there’s a high possibility I won’t see my friends again, so we’ve been spending a lot of time together,” she said. “I’ll always remember my friends and all the good times.”
