Congratulations, Graduates: Judge Memorial CHS

IC photo/Laura Vallejo

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SALT LAKE CITY —The Judge Memorial Catholic High School Class of 2021 held its commencement ceremony on May 23. That day, the seniors who had overcome the difficulties posed by the global coronavirus pandemic met one last challenge: Their ceremony, which was scheduled to be in McCarthey Stadium, was moved into the Weigand Auditorium due to bad weather.

Although they had no chance to rehearse in the indoor venue, the celebration went forward with the traditional entrance processional, the national anthem sung by Henry Poppe, and the invocation by Holy Cross Sr. Catherine Kamphaus, associate superintendent of Catholic Schools. Gillian Mozdy, JMCHS student body president, offered the greeting.

In her salutatorian address, Lauren Cook asked those in attendance to take a moment to reflect on and appreciate everything that happened to bring them there that day.

“Today is the most important day of our lives so far. ... It is a culmination of 13 years of hard work building friendships and personal growth,” said Cook, one of the first 10 honor graduates recognized for high achievement in AP and honors courses. She will attend the University of Utah on a Presidency Scholarship.

Emphasizing that this past year was not what anyone would have expected, Cook said that her generation rose to the occasion.

“We didn’t really get to experience what it’s like to be a senior in high school, we were not able to be the rulers of the school or enjoy that one year to make the best memories. … Instead, we were forced to grow up a little sooner than expected.”

Her fellow seniors had to trade their party hats for weekends at home and an unimaginable amount of hand sanitizer, but despite that, her classmates remained academically competitive, she said.

“Our resilience shown during uncertain times can set the tone for our future,” she said; if they can come out strong from a pandemic “we can have the confidence for the future. … We can enter our next chapter with confidence. I cannot wait to see the difference that we will make in this world.”

Principal Patrick Lambert began his remarks by acknowledging that in the school’s 100 years of existence the 2020-21 school year was one that required adaptation and innovation.

“This year brought an incredible amount of uncertainties and genuine reasons to be anxious,” he said, adding that all the faculty and staff shared those feelings. “We too had to fight and pull out the best version of ourselves.”

Typically, seniors don’t begin to feel unsettled until graduation time, when they are about to enter the unknown, Lambert said, but the Class of 2021 “started to live this early. This year forced you to be more independent. …Everything required you to adapt.”

While some of the graduates became stronger academically and athletically, “many also struggled, but through those struggles we may have learned how be more resilient. Through it all I saw a lot of kindness, empathy, and appreciation for one another,” he said.

“Graduates, I honestly could not imagine a better group of students to have gone through these challenges with,” Lambert said, mentioning some of the solutions the seniors devised, such as their outdoor prom at the zoo.

The commencement was held on the Feast of Pentecost, and Lambert told the graduates that “the Holy Spirit is with you, too. In the words of St. Ignatius, ‘go forth and set the world on fire.’”

Following the conferral of the diplomas, the valedictorian address was presented by Ashley Cluff, who received awards for academic excellence in three AP classes and completed 160 hours of community service at Lake-view Hospital.

“I think we often overlook the true value of the opportunity that we were given to come to Judge,” she said. “So many people are left without the choice of where they get to receive their education. … We were able to attend this school, which is in the top 2 percent of the most challenging high schools in the nation.”

Emphasizing the quality of the education that the Class of 2021 had the chance to receive at Judge, Cluff said that “we must take advantage of the opportunities that we have been given and be the change that we wish to see in the world;  be productive members of society.”

She urged her fellow graduates to lead by example. “We have been equipped to be true leaders; our generation is gifted with the ability to influence people across the nation and even the world through social media,” she said.

Cluff said that her hope for her generation is that they will use all those tools to advocate for change and inspire people to better care for each other, to “be there for people. … There is no limit to what we can accomplish.”

The pandemic shaped her generation to be a great generation, she said. “No one else can say that they survived a pandemic going through high school. The impact that we will have is unmeasurable and infinite … as long as we strive to be the change that we want to see in the world.”