SOAP LAKE — Decked in gowns of blue and white, the seniors of Soap Lake High School gathered in the gym, this time to take a trip down memory lane.

“In my opinion, I would say we had a very hard route for our class,” salutatorian Julia Zubritskiy said during her speech. “Sophomore year we had COVID hit, and we all went online. I don’t know about you guys, but it was definitely hard for me to stare at a screen all day doing assignments, and for sure, paying attention to those zoom meetings.”

The class of 2022 shared a common theme of facing challenges during their four years as Eagles, notably the complications that came as a result of the pandemic.

The ceremonies began with the national anthem sung and performed by graduates Myroslava Goloborodko, Lillian Bugachuck, Cody Stutzman, Logan Frazier, Zubritskiy and music teacher Allison Pheasant. That was followed by an introduction by Stutzman, the Associated Student Body President, and a speech by principal Angela Rolfe, the program shifted to a slideshow of the students throughout the years, set to Taylor Swift’s “Never Grow Up.”

“There’s one thing I do know,” Rolfe said. “You have earned this day, you have worked hard.”

Levi Spencer then held a recognition of the generational Soap Lake High School students, including a graduate from the 1960’s. The program shifted to the ASB acknowledgement, and speeches from both RISE Academy class speaker Jameson Haworth and Stutzman.

Haworth’s speech focused on the change associated in moving to a learning through interests school.

“I went from learning about what other people thought I needed to learn about, to taking charge of my own education, and started learning about things I was truly interested in,” Haworth said on his change to RISE Academy.

Stutzman’s speech focused on the impacts that the pandemic made on attending high school, and reminisced on his time walking the halls of Soap Lake. He noted how it’s important to focus not just on the “big things” in life, but everything that goes into it.

“I encourage my classmates to focus on the little things,” Stutzman said. “When the little things are done, we will have changed the world, and the world around us forever.”

The valedictorian and salutatorian speeches followed suit, with Zubritskiy powering through technical difficulties to deliver a message of gratitude to her fellow classmates and teachers at SLHS. During the outage of the microphone, several of the graduates let out loud “Go Eagles!” chants.

“The biggest advice I can give to others is to get involved,” Zubritskiy said, “Learn from your mistakes, and surround yourself with the right people.”

The senior class voted Matthew Brewer and Tony Blankenship to give staff speeches, and both sought to give life advice to the new graduates as they prepared to take on the real world.

Blankenship shared a story from his youth with the message that your home town is always there for you.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it right now, I don’t know if it’s a really good idea to listen to a teacher when it comes to life advice,” Brewer joked at the beginning of his speech, though he gave some pretty standard advice shortly afterward, telling graduates that love is more important than hate, to stay curious and to always wear sunscreen.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.