BY VINAYA SAKSENA

CUMBERLAND — There had been unexpected challenges along the way, and more challenges appeared on the horizon, but the Cumberland High School Class of 2009 had made it to a triumphant, rain-free graduation day —or so it seemed.

Gray clouds had gathered in patches over Cumberland and the surrounding areas throughout the day, but for the first half of Monday evening’s commencement ceremony, those participating appeared to be in the clear. It was only midway through the event, as Superintendent of Schools Donna A. Morelle took the podium, that it appeared anything might rain on the graduates’ parade.
“I think it’s raining,” Morelle said as she prepared to begin her address to the graduating seniors. “Let’s hope not.”
By that point, most of the event’s speakers — including Salutatorian Oluwatoni Afolabi Campbell and Senior Class President Nikita Duke —had already made their speeches. And as Valedictorian Allison Elizabeth Cotta noted in her speech a few minutes later, it would not be the first time that members of her class had come face to face with an unexpected setback and been forced to make the best of the situation. She noted that her classmates’ collective educational history — which took place both before and during recent major school infrastructure improvements — had been dotted with building construction, bomb threats and other setbacks.
“Four years ago when I was a freshman, I was terrified of going to high school,” Cotta said. “I never expected to be standing here today in front of you.”
In her speech, Cotta quoted from author Dr. Seuss’ “Oh the Places You’ll Go,” noting that she and her peers were about to begin experiencing a period of life filled with opportunities to distinguish oneself and excel. She advised her classmates to attempt to face intimidating challenges, something she said she learned the benefit of doing during her high school years by taking a class in public speaking — something she had previously dreaded doing.
Like Cotta, Campbell also recalled a past fraught with unexpected challenges. The result, however, was something much better than he could have envisioned four years earlier, when students of disparate backgrounds who had grown up in separate middle schools found themselves suddenly being lumped together in a single large, diverse high school.
“It seems remarkable to think how much we have grown and learned in the last four years,” Campbell said. “How many of us can say we had fun in ninth grade?”
Current economic challenges were a recurrent theme throughout the ceremony, with students being advised to be prepared to face challenging times, while simultaneously seeking the proverbial silver lining in the clouds. Principal Dorothy C. Gould, for example, spoke of a traffic study in which it was determined that massive city traffic problems could be alleviated in a traffic jam simulation by simply removing four vehicles that were contributing to traffic buildup. She advised students to remember the “power of four,” a metaphor for the surprisingly large effects a handful of individuals can have on society.
Morelle advised students to be prepared for an uncertain future, noting that they were coming of age in an “age of consumerism” and economic uncertainty. However, she pointed out that this uncertainty could also be a source of opportunity for those willing to think outside the box and actively seek solutions to major problems. She quoted auto entrepreneur Henry Ford, citing some of his ideas as examples of the idea that one’s success or failure, in part, depends on one’s expectation that they will succeed or that they will fail.
Morelle also advised the departing students to keep themselves informed by making a habit of reading, and to be make careful and considered judgments.
“Make promises sparingly,” she said. “And keep your word when you do.”