Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Members of Presque Isle High School’s graduating Class of 2008 were told to follow their hearts by someone who knows the organ extremely well, Mylan C. Cohen, M.D.
Cohen, a member of PIHS’ Class of 1979, received his undergraduate degree from the University of Maine, his master’s degree in Public Health from Harvard, and his medical degree from the University of Vermont, College of Medicine. He also completed a fellowship in cardiology at New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston, and is currently the director of non-invasive cardiology at Maine Medical Center and a clinical professor of medicine at UVM’s College of Medicine.
“I cannot believe that just 29 years ago, I sat exactly where you are sitting and received my diploma as you will tonight,” said Cohen. “I knew at that time that I wanted to become a physician, but, like many of you, I didn’t know the path I would take and I didn’t know that I would become a cardiologist, a heart doctor.”
Recognizing that life is short, Cohen told the graduates that it’s “the brevity of life on earth, our mortality, that prompts human beings to rise to their greatest potential.”
“My advice to you today is to lead a meaningful life. And to do that, sometimes you have to listen to your heart because sometimes your heart is smarter than your brain,” he said. “My wish to you, my charge to you, is to have heart!
“Have heart! Seek meaning to your life. Have heart! Find balance in your life, balance between work, family, fitness, sleep, spirituality and recreation. Have heart! Live not by words, but by deeds. Have heart! Live by the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you,” said Cohen. “Have heart! Instead of paying people back, as Catherine Ryan Hyde suggested in her book that became a movie, pay it forward because if everyone did that, we could change the world. Have heart! Be civil, maintain your dignity, and live with integrity. No matter what someone can steal from you, no one can take these virtues from you. Have heart, Class of 2008! In the Talmudic sense, be wealthy, be wise, be strong, succeed!”
Class of 2008 Class Speaker Cassandra Rodgers said the graduates were preparing themselves “to enter the real world” where their parents will not always be there to help them up when they fall.
“However, we can’t let the fear of falling keep us from fulfilling the lives we have imagined,” she said. “Great African American author Zora Neale Hurston once wrote, ‘Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time.’
“Our dreams and goals are on these ships off in the distance, waiting for us to retrieve them,” said Rodgers. “Don’t watch your aspirations float just beyond your grasp; follow them and grab hold of them when they come in with the tide; let each passing day bring you one step closer to the edge of this tide.”
Rodgers encouraged her classmates to take chances in life.
“As the choices in your life become increasingly difficult; follow your heart always and regret nothing,” she said. “If a chance is worth taking, take it! The biggest regrets will come from the chances you don’t take, so straddle the line between comfort and risk and value each experience. With that will come a lesson learned, a tougher skin, and a more understanding heart.
“Don’t be afraid to take a leap into the unknown, because no matter where you land,” Rodgers said, “you’ll be in good company.”
PIHS Principal Eric Waddell urged the seniors to always be resilient.
“My high school history teacher was famous for saying, ‘If you remember only one thing from today’s class, remember this.’ So, to borrow his phrase,” Waddell said, “If you walk away from PIHS learning only one thing, I hope you’ve learned to be resilient … to be strong and courageous in the face of difficulties, because the truth is, life is tough.
“You must be prepared to take the good with the bad … it all takes resiliency. Adjusting to life’s joys like a new spouse, a new baby, and a new job … and to the curve balls like a divorce, a death, a disease, a lost job – they all require resiliency … the ability to adjust, to adapt, to succeed in spite of it all.”
Waddell told the audience about Beverly Sills, the American queen of opera, who passed away last summer. Sills’ daughter was profoundly hearing impaired, and her son had such severe developmental problems that neither of her children would ever enjoy their mother’s world famous soprano voice.
“In an interview following a performance one evening, a member of the press asked her how she always remained so happy,” said Waddell. “‘Happy?’ she said. ‘I’m not always a happy woman, but I’m a cheerful woman.’
“Seniors, you have some big changes ahead of you … new routines to learn, a new school in the fall, a new job, new friends,” he said. “Be resilient … toughen up, be cheerful, and continue to make us proud.”
Musical selections at the June 6 commencement included “For Good” from the Broadway musical, “Wicked,” performed by the PIHS Chorus, and “The Part Where You Let Go” performed by senior Allisen Donovan.
Presque Isle High School graduates included Kelsey April Albert, Carmen Christine Allen, Christopher L. Amero, Kristin Marie Anderson, Thomas James Anderson, Angela Whitney Barnes, Kara Marie Beaulier, Tiffany Ann Belanger, Nicholas Allen Bouchard, Katrina Lynn Boyles, Lydia Jane Brown, Parker Bradford Brown, Tyler Ray Brown, Jordan Tyler Buck, Angelica Rose Burlock, Daniel Butts, Richard Gerald Byrnes, Chad Eric Carlin, Steven Mark Carmichael, Bennett Donald Cassidy, Logan James Chandler, Joshua Scott Chasse, Tarah Clark, Kathleen Elizabeth Condon, Shannon Rae Cooper, Joshua Erik Couture, Nathan Scott Cronkite, Adam Gregory Curtis, Courtney Lynn Cyr, Gregory Patrick Cyr, Shantelle Brooke Cyr, Brandon Reynold Daigle, Brian Alfred Day, Allison Frances Dean, Gerard Paul Desjardins, Allisen Nadine Donovan, Rebecca Lynn Doustou, Tyler Dale Drost, Kassandra Denise Dumais, Bryce Patrick Fagin, Sean Alan Flanagin, Danielle Sue Fletcher, Rosalyn Clare Forbes, Christopher Henry Ford, Kalen Robert Fox, Caroline Marie Freeman, Nicolas James Gallant, Darryl Ann Girardin, Arielle Nichole Googins, Kathryn Elizabeth Green, Julia Anastasia Gribetz, Lance Arnold Hansell, Sarah B. Hansen, Matthew Ryan Harris, Brittany Marie Hewitt, Ethan Paul Hill, Courtney Mae Hoffses, Justine Danielle Holmes, Parker McBride Hovey, Matthew Richard Howe, Carrie Marie Jackson, Nicole Guadalupe Jimenez, Jillian Marie Johnson, Alicia Marie Jones, Adam Jeffery Kenneson, Adam Jonathan Kingsbury, Sarah Jo Landry, Amanda Sue Lynds, Ian Jeffrey Madore, Marila A. Marecos, Tiffany Rae Martin, Crystal Mary Martinelli, Joshua Jay McAtee, Melissa Paige McGary, Laura Marie McGlinn, Erika Logan McKay, Kristena Elise McKenney, Gregory Paul McLaughlin, Elizan James McLean, Lucas Andrew McPherson and Amy Lynne Michaud.
Also, Amy Marie Michaud, Lindsay Rae Michaud, Andrew Galen Morrison, Kasandra Lee Nelson, Paige Darby Nichols, Nicholas Keith Norton, Shannon Marie Ouellette, Corey Laurence Park, Joshua Eugene Pelkey, Kurtis Neil Perkins, Brittany Elise Perry, Katie June Philbrick, Samuel Dean Picard, Zachary Scott Pike, Hayley Rose Ritchie, Cassandra Dawn Rodgers, Meagan Marie Royer, Benjamin Quinn Schneider, Germaine Athylie Scott, Amber Rose Shaw, Nicholas Doak Shaw, Chelsie Carolyn Spooner, Kayla Lynn Spooner, Tyler Patrick St. Pierre, Terra Jean Steenwyk, Morgan Victoria Crosby Svitila, Matthew Douglas Talbot, Zachary Lee Theriault, Erin Rebecca Thomas, Belinda Carol Thoreson, Amanda Michelle Turmenne, Molly Ann Turner, Katherine Margaret Tuttle, Layne Alton Waddell, Keisha Lynn Ward, Zack James Ward, Amanda Jeanne Wark, Joel Thomas Whitaker, Ryan Joseph Whittaker, Christopher David Wilcox, Timothy James Wilcox, Bradley Donald Willette, Ashley Angelique Williamson, Scott Allen Wilson II, Ryan Todd Winslow and Michael Boyuan Yu.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
CASSANDRA RODGERS, class speaker, shared some advice and memories with her Presque Isle High School classmates at the June 6 graduation. Rodgers told her fellow graduates that, “If a chance is worth taking, take it! The biggest regrets will come from the chances you don’t take, so straddle the line between comfort and risk and value each experience.”
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
PLACING THEIR MORTARBOARDS over their hearts during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” are PIHS graduates, from left: Chris Ford, Tyler Drost and Michael Yu.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
LEADING THEIR CLASSMATES into graduation exercises at Presque Isle High School June 6 are class marshals, from left: Kasandra Nelson and Amy Lynne Michaud.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
WALKING DOWN SENIOR HALL for the last time are Presque Isle High School graduates, from left: Lance Hansell, Amy Marie Michaud, Parker Hovey, Tyler Brown and Ben Schneider.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
TYLER ST. PIERRE glances toward the audience at the start of Presque Isle High School’s commencement exercises, which were held June 6.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 2 Kirk Donovan, right, was able to get a two-week leave from the military to attend his daughter Allisen’s graduation from Presque Isle High School. Donovan is holding his other daughter, Jasmine, who is one-year-old. In the fall, Allisen plans to study music and theater at Dalhousie University. Donovan is presently stationed in Tallil, Iraq.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
ANNE BLANCHARD, principal at Presque Isle Middle School, caught up with Mylan C. Cohen, M.D., who delivered the keynote address, following Presque Isle High School’s June 6 commencement. Cohen, a member of PIHS’ Class of 1979, received his undergraduate degree from the University of Maine, his master’s degree in Public Health from Harvard, and his medical degree from the University of Vermont, College of Medicine. He also completed a fellowship in cardiology at New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston, and is currently the director of non-invasive cardiology at Maine Medical Center and a clinical professor of medicine at UVM’s College of Medicine. Cohen even referred to Blanchard in his address.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
MEAGAN ROYER, left, and Chris Ford walk into their commencement exercises at Presque Isle High School.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
REBECCA DOUSTOU, right, receives her Presque Isle High School diploma from SAD 1 Superintendent Gehrig Johnson during commencement exercises June 6.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
LAYNE WADDELL shares a word with Mary Trainer, a member of the commencement committee, after receiving his diploma June 6 at Presque Isle High School.
