Samohi seniors graduate
By TRAVIS PURSER Special to the Daily Press
Santa Monica High School commenced its 148th graduating class Thursday night before a packed audience of more than 4,000 friends and relatives.
Security was tight at the ticketed event, where a guard walked rooftops while faculty and student leaders extolled age-old advice: “Life is a journey.” “The world is a village.” “Follow your dreams.”
There was not a beach ball in sight, at first.
A galaxy of digital cameras whirred and clicked throughout the jam-packed crowd when the school’s 685 graduating seniors solemnly entered the open-air Memorial Greek Theatre. Most smiled nervously. A few frowned. Four hundred and sixty of them were college-bound, the school’s newspaper stated.
What college counselor Emma Hipolito admired most about the class of 2002, was their “idealism,” she said during the invocation. “Because it leads you to believe that change is possible.”
Co-principal Kirsten Hibert compared life to a staircase. She read a long passage from a Dr. Seuss book, and that’s when the traditional beach ball began to bob around above the sea of blue mortar boards.
A teacher quickly captured it.
An appreciation for diversity was one thing that student body President Justin Brownstone said he was glad to learn at Samohi. “Like on Jewish (appreciation) day, and my mom came to make sure everybody was wearing a sweater.”
From his math teachers, he learned “there are three kinds of people in this world — those who can count and those who can’t.”
But most important, “knowing what matters to you as an individual” means more than a diploma, he said.
Erin Krozek, an honor student who plans to attend U.C. Berkeley, sang the Sting classic “Fields of Gold,” while clouds moved in, and an ocean breeze cooled the 33-acre campus, which sits a few blocks from the beach at Pico Blvd. and 6th St.
“It’s a great school, but after four years, you’re definitely ready to move on,” she said before the ceremony.
“It’s a great school, but after four years, you’re definitely ready to move on.” — — ERIN KROZEK Samohi honor student
Students, faculty and staff spent Thursday afternoon stringing banners, unfolding an army of chairs, setting out sunflower blossoms and tying down squadrons of balloons around a symbolic pond and bridge at the foot of the podium. Later, during the presentation of diplomas, seniors crossed the bridge into whatever lies ahead.
An all-night party was planned after commencement. As a gift to their students, and as a way to prevent them from drinking and driving, parents organized an elaborate casino over the school’s tennis courts for the party.
Senior-class president, Rocky Collis, was earnest during a quiet moment before the ceremonies.
“It’s exciting to be moving onto a new stage in our lives, but it’s sad to be leaving our friends,” he said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 16, 2002. Read the original PDF.