Fountain Valley Barons graduates off to next challenges after conquering high school
The grandstands inside the football stadium at Orange Coast College were packed from end to end, as family and friends left no seat untaken at the Fountain Valley High graduation ceremony.
Clad in blue and white caps and gowns, a senior class of 855 students prepared to cross the stage Wednesday.
“Remember Barons, it’s not necessarily where you start,” Principal Paul Lopez said. “It is where you finish. You will have a lot of opportunities come your way during your lifetime. The sky is the limit, so be ready. We look forward to watching you conquer the world after graduation.”
Lopez then moved into honoring the school’s distinguished scholars, graduates with honors, scholars with expertise, those who had earned the Seal of Biliteracy, and various other distinguished groups.
Prior to the presentation of the class of 2023, Benny Nguyen got up in front of his classmates and got his point across with a sour note. He drank lemon juice at the podium to say that additional ingredients are needed to make lemonade from lemons. In his metaphor for life, that included the “small things.”
“These are the things that brought balance to the high school experience,” Nguyen said. “So let’s take a moment to appreciate what we accomplished today, and let’s not lose sight of the little things, too. My fellow graduates, the lemons don’t stop after today. In fact, maybe they’ll come in bags. We get so caught up in the bad things in our life that we forget to see and appreciate the good things that we do have. So, when life gives you lemons, let’s not forget the sugar and water.”
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