By JASON FARMER Special to the Daily Press
With the inspirational words of their salutatorian and double valedictorians echoing beneath their tasseled mortarboards, the 122 members of St. Monica Catholic High School’s Class of 2005 claimed their diplomas earlier this month.
The boys wore green gowns and the girls gold ones, but it would have taken a rainbow of colors to capture the diversity of the class, which is 35 percent Caucasian, 13 percent African American, 33 percent Hispanic, 11 percent Asian, 3 percent Filipino and 2 percent Alaskan Indian.
Co-valedictorians Christina Yamada and Cina Tabatabaee, who compiled identical 4.67 grade point averages over their four years, typified the diversity. Yamada, 18, is ethnically Japanese and Tabatabaee, 18, Iranian. Yamada’s twin brother, Brian, is class president.
Diversity also defines the class of 2005 by where graduates will continue their education. Ninety-eight percent will go on to 81 two-and four-year colleges nationwide that include UCLA, Berkeley and Irvine and seven other colleges in the University of California system; 19 state universities; 15 state private schools that include USC, Loyola Marymount and Occidental; and 31 out-of-state institutions.
For their salutatorian, the class of 2005 chose Andrew Lennig, 17, who will study chemistry at Santa Clara. From the podium, Lennig said: “Each of us had our circle of friends, our place to sit in the yard. But being a member of the class of 2005 has given us common experiences and memories we will all share. We have prayed together, all gone on retreats, done service hours, struggled through days at school, celebrated victories and endured defeats.
“Msgr. (Lloyd) Torgerson (pastor of St. Monica Catholic Church) always says ‘It’s not how you start, but how you finish.’ Well, we have finished, and I believe we have finished strong. So let us carry that strength, our knowledge, our faith, our friendships and our memories into the future and into everything we do.”
Valedictorian Tabatabaee, who plans to study mechanical and aerospace engineering at Berkeley, recalled what Walt Disney told an 8-year-old boy: “Think, believe, dream and dare.” Wherever their path takes the class of 2005, Tabatabaee said, “We know that we are in this together.”
Co-valedictorian Yamada, who has enrolled at Scripps College for Women, warned that “naysayers with their razor sharp red pens filled with doubts and criticisms (are) ready to suck the life right out of us. They will tell us that we are the apathetic generation who is more interested in why Brad and Jen broke up than the plight of millions of AIDS victims in Africa. They have written us off as hopeless and shallow. With these for enemies, why would we want to leave the safety and security of our parent’s wallets (and) homes? I’ll tell you why: because we are strong enough and smart enough for the battle.”
As their names were called out by new Principal Thomas Gasper, the class of 2005 accepted their diplomas from outgoing Principal Tamara Martinez-Payne and Msgr. Torgerson.
The new graduates waved and gave thumbs up to their parents and friends, who cheered, clapped and took pictures from the bleachers of LMU’s Burns Recreation Center.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 22, 2005. Read the original PDF.