Juan Diego CHS Class of 2022
DRAPER — The 159 members of the Juan Diego Catholic High School Class of 2022 celebrated their commencement exercises on May 28 in the school’s auditorium.
In keeping with the school’s tradition, the ceremony started with each graduate placing a red rose at the foot of the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the outdoor garden, then proceeding into the school to sign the Book of Graduates.
Wearing in stoles in the school colors and embroidered with the school cross, the graduates processed into the auditorium followed by members of the school administration and faculty.
The salutatorian address was presented by Thomas K. Varghese III, who thanked his parents for the opportunity to attend the school.
“Over the past four years, Juan Diego has helped transform me into the person I am today,” he said. “Through interactions with incredible teachers and my fellow peers, I have been able to grow not only academically but also socially as I mature into the per-son that I want to be.”
Varghese said that he will always remember the talents and gifts of his peers and went on to mention by name some of the outstanding athletes and scholars.
“Then there are lesser-known talents, such as Hayley Hickman and Lexi Blackett’s ability to wrap presents,” he said.
Many of his classmates also have admirable characteristics such as hard work, going above and beyond, being loyal, being welcoming, being nice, being brave, being honest, he said.
“Your gifts make you unique; they make you the person that you are,” he said, adding that it is “our duty to discover our gifts.”
Through those gifts and education, “we all possess the ability to make a meaningful impact in someone’s life,” he said. “And no matter what happens in your life, you will always still have your gift, and it is a core part of who you are.”
The class valedictorian, Aymeric Blaizot, expressed gratitude “on behalf of the graduating class … for the past four years of blood, sweat, and tears from the administration and teachers of Juan Diego. In addition, I am thankful to my parents for the giving me the opportunities to succeed, which include sending me to this campus.”
Recalled the academic effort that he put through his life at JDCHS, Blaizot said, “Given these cords around my neck, I have put forth considerable labor in my academics. In the thick of it, I felt pressure from family, friends, school, mentors, and society at large to take the hardest classes, get the best grades, get the highest scores, take internships, publish papers, compete in science fairs, and succeed in a number of other activities.”
Despite this effort, “From the perspective of some college admission officers, it seems to have been insufficient,” he said, although he had been told that if he worked hard in high school, then he would have many options later in life.
“It would be easy for me to say that it was all for naught or that I had misplaced my ef-forts,” except that he drove himself forward and therefore never resented the pressure others placed on him.
“In fact, the pressure was there precisely because the people around me believed in me. From discussions of physics and chemistry … the JD community as a whole sought to bring out my potential. Despite society apparently shifting importance away from high test scores and towards presenting a strong personal narrative, I do not regret getting those scores and grades,” Blaizot said.
Although there is no guarantee that hard work will lead to success, no one is condemned to failure, he said.
“We must come to terms with the fact that we can exhaust our abilities for little result, but we can also keep our heads high with the peace of mind granted by our efforts, which is perhaps a success in its own right. … Each and every one of us has faced hardships in the past four years, whether it was the pandemic or more personal factors that shattered our plans, or for some of us, our very lives,” he said, and implored his classmates to try to find their own meaning in their experience at the school.
“My own time here was very much dominated by academics, but I am profoundly grateful to the members of the Class of 2022 for the memories, connections, and relation-ships that we have formed,” he said. “I hope that all of us have something from this experience together that we can derive meaning from.”
Members of the JDCHS 2022 Class will attend 55 colleges and universities in the Unit-ed States, Canada and in London. Cumulatively, they received $19.7 million in renew-able four-year scholarships.
JDCHS Awards
Saint Cecilia Award: William Petis and Carolyn Vasquez
Saint Sebastian Award: Tyler Easter
Saint Thomas Aquinas Award: Aymeric Blaizot
Saint Teresa of Avila Award: Sophia J. Berrocal
The Soaring Eagle Class of 2022 had 33 AP Scholars, 12 AP Scholars with Honors, 37 AP Scholars with Distinction and three National Merit Scholars.
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