Congratulations, Graduates: Saint Joseph CHS

IC photo/Marie Mischel

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OGDEN — The St. Joseph Catholic High School Class of 2021 proved adaptable up to the end. After a year of dealing with changes to the way classes were taught and social gatherings managed, the 40 graduates and their families assembled in the early evening of May 21 on the campus’ new soccer field for a well-scripted event at which no unpleasant surprises were anticipated: the commencement ceremony.

The start of the celebration went as planned, with the seniors processing into the stands accompanied by the traditional “Pomp and Circumstance.” Holy Cross Sr. Catherine Kamphaus, associate superintendent of Utah Catholic Schools, gave the invocation, and the award recognitions were read by Student Body Officers Nick Wakefield and Delaney Wille.

Then John Lee, the senior class advisor, began his keynote address. Lee, who is giving up his teaching job to enter the monastery, recalled the difficulty he had in coming up with fitting comments.

“I found myself with a heart so full it rendered my mind as blank as the page was before me,” he said, and before he finished the sentence a peal of thunder came from the gray clouds overhead.

The crowd laughed, and Lee continued. But a few minutes later rain began to pelt down, and Principal Clay Jones announced that the ceremony would be moving into the school gymnasium.

Although the change of venue was completely unplanned, the Jayhawks showed their resilience. Within 20 minutes the graduates were seated in chairs on the gym floor with their families in the bleachers, the audio/video equipment was hooked up, and the ceremony continued.

“It wouldn’t be the end of the year without a little bit of excitement,” Jones said just before Lee picked up his speech where he left off.  

  Explaining how his own education took him from medical school to considering law school and then into the liberal arts and now to the priesthood, he said a turning point came when he read this quote from Leon Bloy, a French Catholic author: “The only real tragedy in life is not to become a saint.”

Saying that he wants to join the monastery “to die well,” he encouraged the students “to have death ever before you” because “all tragedies pale in comparison to the real tragedy of losing heaven. ... Die well by loving well, because all love is a rehearsal for death.”

 Salutatorian Jaylee Vasquez began her comments by saying, “It has been an adventurous year to say the least and I know we are all excited that it has come to an end. We have survived COVID tests, online classes, social distancing, masks, and many changes, and overall conquered 12th grade. We have done something that no other senior class has done before: survived a school year in a pandemic. Others have been watching us, watching us excel in this time of uncertainty. The Class of 2021 have been role models during this time, and I can confidently say that we will continue to be role models. I am proud to call you guys my peers and friends.”

Anyone can be a role model, Vasquez said. “Keep in mind that we are role models and someone is looking up to us so we must try our best and stay humble always.”

She also urged her classmates to “be proud of who you are and where you came from. Never be ashamed of your roots. There is one thing that my siblings and I are banned from saying in our house, and that is the phrase ‘I can’t.’ Makes sense, right? After all, we are MexiCANS,” she said, eliciting laughter from the audience.

“Follow your dreams and never let anyone hold you back,” she said, and repeated most of her comments in Spanish.

Like Vasquez, valedictorian David Needens complimented his fellow classmates.

“Although some of you may not think it, you have all accomplished something pretty amazing,” Needens said. “You, the Class of 2021, have graduated from one of the most difficult schools in the nation in one of the most challenging years our nation has ever experienced in our history.”

The unprecedented pandemic added an extra level of difficulty to their senior year, he said, and “The fact that you all made it is something to be really proud of.”

During his years at St. Joseph, Needens learned many things, he said, “but the most important thing I learned was to always challenge my beliefs.”

Commenting on the quote from St. Augustine, “The truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it. Let it loose. It will defend itself,” Needens said Lee, who taught theology, planted this truth in his mind.

“Opinions are not meant to be set in stone, they are meant to be challenged,” he said, and urged his classmates to challenge not only their opinions but also their faith.

If they challenge their faith, they will either find that their faith is full of holes and is practically indefensible, or find that it is rock solid.

“Changing your beliefs is not always a bad thing,” he said. “The more you test your faith, the stronger it will become. The more you test your beliefs, the more confident you will be in the truth.”

He ended by saying, “Thank you and God bless America.”