To dream or not to dream that was the question on the minds of several student speakers at Great Neck South High School’s commencement ceremony on Thursday.
Student speaker Avir Waxman said dreaming was one thing the class of 2014 should not do as they prepare for college.
“We can get distracted by [dreams] ,” Waxman said at the Roger Tilles Center at LIU Post.
Waxman was one of the 320 graduates from the high school who received their diplomas at the commencement ceremony.
Waxman told his fellow graduates that while trying to fulfill one’s dreams is important, it can also blind you from other meaningful things in life.
“We focus so hard on one goal that we miss out on other opportunities offered to us,” he said. “We have to be open to the possibilities around us.”
Class salutatorian Dominique Tricarico, who plans to enter Adelphi University’s pre-dental program in the fall, also told the graduates to be aware of new possibilities.
“Be alert to the discovery of new knowledge,” Tricarico said.
Kevin Suh said during his speech that the members of the class of 2014 were not “dreamers” but “achievers and visionaries.”
“You may say that we’re dreamers, but we say that we’re victors,” Suh said paraphrasing John Lennon’s song “Imagine.”
But for Evangeline Giannopoulos, dreaming was the only thing she could do the night before graduation.
Giannopoulos described a “bizarre dream” she had Wednesday night, in which she relived her experiences at Great Neck South High School.
“It’s a reality that we all lived through,” Giannopoulos said of her dream. “Dreams can come true.”
Suh’s paraphrasing of Lennon was not the only Beatles-inspired moment during the commencement ceremony.
Members of the senior class, at the direction of music teacher Pamela Levy, performed an a capella version of “In My Life.”
Other musical performances during the ceremony included classical music performed by members of the freshmen, sophomore and junior class.
During the ceremony, Great Neck South High School students honored retiring school psychologist Patricia Goodman.
“You have touched all of us on so many levels,” student Rachael Warner said. “She has worked hard to ensure the welfare of every students who walks into her office.”
Warner said of Goodman’s service that “help is always given at Great Neck South to those who ask of it,” paraphrasing a line from the Harry Potter book series.
Student speaker Sehlby Reitman urged those on stage with her to keep in touch as they leave Great Neck South High School.
“Let us knot go back to being strangers,” Reitman said. “We have a home here at Great Neck South High School.”
Valedictorian Allison Kornich was unable to speak during the ceremony due to being ill, South High School principal Susan Elliott said.
