Hoover High School said goodbye to 719 graduates in its Class of 2019 Thursday night in a ceremony at Bartow Arena at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
That's more students than 230 public high schools in Alabama have in their entire school and is believed to be the largest graduating high school class in the state.
"Graduating from the largest and most diverse high school in Alabama has tremendous benefits," Principal John Montgomery told the graduation crowd Thursday night.
"Our students are taught to independently navigate new experiences," Montgomery said. "They celebrate and seek diversity, and they take advantage of opportunities before them to reach and exceed their individual goals and visions for the future."
Even though Hoover's senior class is large, 98 percent of them qualified to graduate, according to the school's college and career specialist, Cindy Bond.
And more than 45 percent of them were offered academic, athletic or talent-based scholarships to attend college, Montgomery said.
The total amount of scholarships offered to Hoover's Class of 2019 was more than $47 million, a record for the school, he said. The amount of scholarships actually accepted was more than $16 million, Bond said.
The seniors were accepted to more than 220 colleges and universities across the country and even internationally, but many of them are continuing their education inside the state, Montgomery said.
At least 11 are enlisting in the military, including one accepted into the United States Military Academy, one going to the Merchant Marine Academy and one on a full Air Force ROTC scholarship, Bond said.
Others have secured employment by going through specialized training and earning industry credentials, Montgomery said.
"Regardless of the path they take after graduation, every graduate will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers for success in the future," he said.
Twenty percent of the senior class - 141 students - earned a GPA of 4.0 or higher, and three seniors - Will Couch, Debbie Fu and Emily Hagood - earned the highest possible score of 36 on the ACT college entrance exam, Bond said.
Hoover's Class of 2019 had seven National Merit Finalists: Couch, Hagood, George Chen, Shehzan Maredia, Anna Muthalaly, Abhinav Venkatesan and Ronald Yuan, and three members of the class (Couch, Hagood and Yuan) are candidates to become a U.S. Presidential Scholar.
This group of seniors has been involved in 18 state championships and won numerous local, regional and national competitions in academics and fine and performing arts, Montgomery said.
"Our world is ever-changing, and we need these bright, creative and open-minded graduates to help us adjust, learn and thrive," Montgomery said of Hoover's Class of 2019. "I am confident that the Class of 2019 is prepared for the changes and challenges ahead and will utilize many of the lessons learned at Hoover High School to create effective change for the future."
Change is inevitable, but the attitudes and perspectives with which we react to change will determine the final outcome, he said. "The world needs your ideas, your compassion and your willingness to stand up and fight for what you believe in."
Allie Couch, the Class of 2019's senior class president, said the world measures success by GPAs, ACT scores and the number of trophies or state championships won.
"But all those numbers will fade, and we will remember high school by something a little different," Couch said. "By the laughs we shared, the people we connected with, the quality of friendships made and the things we learned that will help us all go out and change the world, and most of all by the memories made at Hoover High School that will be with us for the rest of our lives. I hope that you will continue to live a life measured by things other than numbers."
Hoover's Class of 2019 had 30 students qualify as valedictorians this year, and three of them spoke at graduation.
Preeti Venkatesan, one of them, said her four years at Hoover High taught her the importance of friendship.
"High school brought me some of the most important people in my life - friends who were there through the tears and the laughs, through the late nights and the early mornings and in sickness and in health," she said. "These people are the family that I chose, and we will always be connected no matter how far apart we are."
They shared a lot of memories together, including long detours to get to the front office, year-round construction on Alabama 150, a new bell system that sounds like an airport, C hall stairwell traffic jams, and athletic and academic championships, Venkatesan said.
Quoting Jon Bon Jovi, she said that nothing is as important as passion.
"No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate. Mediocrity is nobody's goal, and perfection shouldn't be either," Venkatesan said. "We'll never be perfect, but remember .... passion plus persistence equals possibilities."
Lawson Shaw, another valedictorian, said they are all about to enter a tumultuous transition time in their lives in which they will have to be independent, find their self-identity and maybe even cook their own food.
They may come to realize that what they once wanted to be in life is no longer the right path for them, and that's OK, he said.
"We don't have to have all the answers right now. We don't have to know everything," Shaw said. "This is not the time to make hard and fast decisions. Whose idea was it anyway for us to make permanent choices in the midst of our teenage hormones?
"This is a time to grow, mature and learn. This is a time to have fun, live carefree and absolutely adore life," he said. "This is the time to enjoy every moment we have left without the responsibilities of adulthood. This is the time to cherish every single day."
He advised his fellow graduates to make mistakes, change their minds multiple times and not be afraid of the uncertainties of the future.
"Instead, seize the endless opportunities ahead," Shaw said. "Let go of the desire to know and control the outcome of everything. Trust the process, trust your intuition and most importantly, trust yourself."
Hagood, another valedictorian, said that when she was 4, she wanted to be a gypsy. When she was in middle school, she wanted to be a forensic scientist, and then later she wanted to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. Now, she wants to be a materials engineer.
But Hagood said she actually hates the question: "What do you want to be when you grow up" because a job title doesn't define who you are, what you believe or what makes a life worth living.
"I urge everyone in this room to instead ask, 'What problems do you want to solve?' Hagood said. "What kind of difference do you want to make?"
Some people might want to ensure that all people have access to clean air and clean water, while others might want to develop cutting-edge medical technology, educate future leaders or provide reliable electricity to their community, she said.
"Whatever problems you want to solve, go for it with a solution-oriented, service-based mindset," Hagood said. "We, the class of 2019, will change the world. ... Let us commit to work hard, to be kind and compassionate to people who are like us and to people who are not and to share with the world all that we have learned as students at Hoover High."
Other valedictorians were Lorenzo Addy, Jessica Bradley, Jacqueline Chavez Ochoa, Elise Collins, Will Couch, Samuel Eudy, Debbie Fu, Andrew Gerderman, Manish Gorre, Alanna Hauer, Abhishek Kamath, Christian Lam, Pippa Lother, Shehzan Maredia, Zoya Mulji, Anna Muthalaly, Ravikiran Nataraj, Christian Pegouske, Katelyn Ragland, Aahil Rajpari, Margaret Rayfield, Lucinda Sherrod, Kristin Simanyi, Abhinav Venkatesan, Abigail Williamson, Eshita Yadav and Ronald Yuan.
