The Sonoma Valley High School class of 2020 had two valedictorians this year, Lily Raaka and Reese Dobson. Both will be attending Stanford. Here, beginning with Reese’s speech, are their commencement addresses:
First, I’d like to give a huge thank you to everyone who showed up and logged on. I can’t express the depth of our gratitude for your support during this time, and throughout all of high school. I was surprised as COVID progressed and we learned that the class of 2020 wouldn’t be able to participate in Sonoma’s traditional end-of-year senior activities.
At first I was upset, but I’ve come to realize that this might be the most fitting end of high school for our class. We have already been through so much, but we persisted and learned new things about the world and ourselves in the process. This is just another one of these opportunities, and it shows us that as a community and a nation, coming together – by staying apart in this case – allows us to solve issues, save lives, and advance technology into a new age. It’s clear that the only constant is change. The class of 2020 knows this better than most. Our ability to persevere through adversities has readied us to face the future with courage, ambition, and hope. No one can choose the world into which they are born, but I feel that our generation will use our experiences to shape the future into a better place.
Many of us used High School as an opportunity to find a passion. Maybe Mr. Gibson’s history debates inspired you to become a politician or reading one of Ms. Manchester’s 600-page books convinced you to be the next Mark Twain. Maybe keeping a detailed journal in Mrs. Purvis’ is the reason you’re pursuing a science, or learning to chop in Mr. Beard’s motivated you into applying for culinary school. Perhaps Mrs. Neihaus’s six-lap mile proved you were meant for the military, or the film fest with Mr. Hansen sparked a desire to produce movies. Maybe Mrs. Purtell’s infinite patience taught you about the multitude of challenges in teaching high school students, and some of us just might be willing to risk our sanity to teach ideas the world has yet to encounter. It’s possible you found inspiration, not in a teacher, but in the constant failure of chrome books, and decided to become a hardware engineer. No matter where you’re headed, now is the time to continue exploring your interests.
Though the future is uncertain, it is time for us to embark on the adventure of forging our own paths. No matter where you end up, spend your time doing something you love. Make your decisions with care and in the interest of creating positive impacts. Filled with optimism and talent, our class has what it takes to make the future a brighter place.
Coming out of quarantine, I hope everyone looks toward what we can accomplish. I hope time apart from friends and peers increases our appreciation of the times we had together and those to come in the future. I know we will all play a part in rebuilding communities when the pandemic comes to an end, and I am certain we will take the opportunity to make a more fair, just, understanding, and accepting world. Thank you.
A year like no other: Lily Raaka
I would like to congratulate the class of two thousand and twenty, we finally made it. Who could have guessed that our senior ditch day on March 13 would have been our last day of high school? I’m not going to lie, these past 79 days sheltering in place have been extremely difficult, as I am sure they have been for everyone, but during this time I have grown to understand the strength of our class that will lead to our success in the future.
My grandpa, or as I called him Papa Bill, was one of Sonoma’s ophthalmologists, and being an eye surgeon he coined the class of 2020 as the class of vision when I was little. This nickname that started as a pun has turned into a perfect depiction of every single person in this class. Our class has encountered much adversity throughout our, shall we say…. unique, high school experience, but we still are graduating today with fortitude, ambition, and hope. Our experience coping with a global pandemic has demonstrated our class’s ability to rise above the uncertainty and keep optimism for our futures, which is remarkable. We created online trends, participated in challenges, continued to keep in touch with friends, and even used technology to hold virtual proms and this graduation. These are just a few examples of our class’s intelligence and innovation, which I am positive will only continue to increase in the future.
I know this class of vision will strive for excellence wherever our lives take us, because of the wisdom we have gained through our shared experiences here in our Sonoma community. We are all going to be on new and different life paths after today, but we will always have our Sonoma family and friends. Many of us came from Adele or Altimira, but others came from a small class from Woodland Star, Charter, Presentation, or like me, Saint Francis. We may not have started high school knowing many, but I believe that we have met, talked to, and become friends with such amazing people over these last four years.
For example, I met [Salutatorian] Olivia Weisiger at tennis open courts of our freshman year, and learned we were taking a mass class together; it also happened to be the math class where I met [fellow Valedictorian] Reese. Mrs. Purtell’s zero period math class not only helped establish our friendships but was the inspiration for my future, pursuing a degree in mathematics. Amy Poehler summarizes this perfectly, and I suggest we all follow her words for the rest of our lives, “Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.”
Whether it was through finding a creative outlet in band, drama, or art; debating in mock trial, Model UN, or forensics; focusing on sustainability in the wildlife center or FFA; exploring cultures through dance or new languages; training in sports to win league or set a record in state; or becoming a social activist participating in political protests, beautifying the campus, or interacting with the special needs community; every single one of us found a space and a group of friends that helped us become the young adults we are today. I stand here proud of our accomplishments, knowing we will put forth the same amount of resilience and compassion into our future goals as we have put into our past four years here at Sonoma Valley High School.
We may not be on Arnold Field ready to hug our friends and take pictures with our families saying our final goodbyes, but that does not diminish the last four years of effort that we put into school, sports, friends, work, and family.
The experiences that the class of vision has been through are unlike any other, especially in our town. As we move into the future we are much more equipped for the world than we ever could have imagined. Our journey at Sonoma Valley High School is coming to an end, but this means a greater journey is about to begin, and as a member of the class of vision, I foresee many extraordinary achievements in our futures.
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