By Eric Stevick
Herald Writer
The time-honored ceremonies, so much alike and yet all so different, will carry waves of high school seniors from Snohomish and Island counties across stages, gym floors, church aisles and stadium turf over the next few weeks for the affirmation that is graduation.
During the next 17 days, more than 5,000 students from public, private and home-school settings are expected to graduate in ceremonies that began Friday with Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy High and Arlington Christian schools.
For every graduate, there is some time for reflection.
"I’m just way pumped. I think everyone is," said Kat Cuevas, a Snohomish High School senior who is having trouble accepting the fact that the elementary school gym that once seemed so big really isn’t and that that she could have possibly worn the goofy stretch pants she sees youngsters still wearing today.
Cuevas will have another graduation to observe before her own. Her mother, Deborah, will receive her diploma from Western Washington University nine days before her in a ceremony for future elementary school teachers who enrolled in satellite classes at Everett Community College.
At 51, Deborah Cuevas, an educational assistant for 10 years, will enter the teaching profession when most people are close to retirement.
"They are thinking I’m nuts," she said. "I am kind of cheating the old empty-nest syndrome. Now I will have a whole bunch of little nestlings in a classroom."
Brett Perkins, a senior at South Whidbey High School, will continue his education in mechanical engineering with an emphasis in vibration, or shock technology, at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in California, in the fall. Whether he will be able to pursue his dreams of designing special equipment for wheelchair athletes remains to be seen.
Along the way, Perkins enrolled in a precision machining class at the Sno-Isle Skills Center in the Mukilteo School District. The course, he believes, should prove valuable.
"The engineer needs to understand what is being asked of the machinist," he said.
Gino Pineda, who emigrated from the Philippines when he was 7, nears graduation from Marysville Alternative High School thankful that he changed the direction in his life.
Many of his friends dropped out or were kicked out of school, and he was dangerously close to following in their footsteps.
As Pineda began working hard academically, his friends stopped urging him to hang out with them. It wasn’t that they no longer liked him; it was that they wanted to see him succeed.
"All my friends are, like, proud of me," he said. "They would tell me that I am a person they look up to. … They have good hearts."
"If our school had a turnaround award, Gino would be the recipient hands down," said Patti Cartmill, a teacher at the school. "When Gino first arrived at MAHS two years ago, his attendance was nothing to brag about. However, as soon as he started to focus on his career goals, Gino’s attendance went from bad to best."
His effort and performance were so good, he was awarded a two-year state scholarship, which he hopes to use studying business at the University of Washington after two years at Edmonds Community College.
He already helps with his family’s Filipino bakery.
"I want to help out my parents with their business," the soon-to-be-graduate said. "They are still learning."
You can call Herald Writer Eric Stevick at 425-339-3446
or send e-mail to stevick@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
