HOULTON, Maine — “We started off on this academic and life journey with your radiant little junior high faces expectantly waiting for this face to impart wisdom to you,” said Lindsey Watson, guest speaker and GHCA faculty member. “Little did I know how much you would teach me.”
The Greater Houlton Christian Academy had four graduates from its Class of 2015. As a small group, they were close with each other and their teachers.
Graduating were Zach Ebner, who will go on to Thomas College; Cody Gould, who will attend the Pennsylvania Institute of Taxidermy; Rachel Potter, who will be attending Lancaster Bible Institute and Allana Walker, who will be studying at Liberty University.
Valedictorian Allana Walker stressed in her speech to “never underestimate the impact you may have on someone else’s life.”
Walker referred to three women who influenced her educationally.
“This accomplishment of mine — becoming valedictorian — is only a dream come true because of all the amazing people who have had a life changing impact on me,” she said.
She credited her elementary teacher Angela Mabey for teaching her the “value of doing things right the first time and the virtues of pursuing excellence,” Walker said. “Thank you for all the lessons you taught me, not just about cross-multiplying and diagramming sentences, more importantly, about raising others up instead of tearing them down and representing Christ wherever I go.”
Walker also mentioned her teachers Talitha Grant and Lindsey Watson.
The first person who began molding Walker’s life was her mother.
“You were my first teacher and continue to be my counselor, my life coach and my biggest fan,” Walker said. “I never would have made it to where I am today, if it wasn’t for you. Mum, you are my hero.”
Though Walker could have acknowledged so many more people who intersected her life, she shared this final piece of advice, “Never, ever, take people for granted; cherish the ones you love and always make sure to tell them how much you care about them on a regular basis. Love is the most valuable gift you can ever give someone, so be lavish with it.”
Salutatorian Rachel Potter addressed lessons in her graduation speech.
“This year, in particular, has held a lot of firsts and lasts for me and my classmates,” she said. “Though we have had a lot of fun these past few months, there were also lessons to be learned. Time management is probably the biggest lesson I’m going to take away from my high school years. Finding time to study, do homework, write papers amidst a busy schedule only got worse when I became a senior. I thought time was hard to manage when I was in the seventh grade — boy, was I in for a surprise later in life.”
Another lesson Potter learned was to never give up on your dream.
“The situation may not work out, but that doesn’t mean you can stop dreaming,” she said. “Some dreams may seem far out of reach, but they are not unreachable. Every person has a dream, but sometimes, when the road gets tough, those dreams can slip through your fingers. Hold fast to those silly dreams. That dream may be a reality.”
Watson highlighted each graduate, along with a humorous slide presentation.
Watson finished by reading a 1968 poem “The Paradoxical Commandments” by Dr. Kent M. Keith when he was a 19-year-old sophomore at Harvard. Poem excerpts include “people are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered to love them anyway; if you do good, people will accuse you of ulterior motives, but do good anyway; the good done today will be forgotten by tomorrow, but do good anyway; and what you spend years building may be destroyed overnight, build anyway.
“Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway,” Watson read.
